
Giving Breaks the Grips of Materialism
Message Notes
Notes on Giving Update
Pastor John’s Story
What if you were able to let go of the “need more” and instead were happy to say “enough?”
74% of Americans have a budget, 26% do not.
Budget Breakdown by Generation
- 83% of millennials have a budget
- 76% of Gen Zers
- 74% of Gen Xers
- 67% of Boomers.
84% of those who budget say they sometimes exceed their budget.
24% of Americans have no emergency savings.
- An additional 39% have less than one month’s income saved.
The average credit card debt per couple is $12,436.
This doesn’t include car payments, mortgages, or any other debts that are not credit cards.
How you move from “need more” to have “enough”
1) Pursue living a godly life above all else, not the pursuit of money.
Jesus says,
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
Matthew 6:24
If you pursue money because you love money, you will never have enough.
The pursuit of money is an endless quest. You will never have enough because you will always need more.
If you put God first, you trust Him to provide your needs.
- Put God first. Give God His 10%.
- Tithing is a tangible way to demonstrate your faith.
- When you tithe, you trust God to extend that 90% to 120%.
You need to take a step of faith in order to receive the blessings.
After Jesus states that you can love God or love money, but not both, he explains the difference,
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Matthew 6:24-34
Jesus states that non-believers worry about worldly things. They live with a scarcity mentality.
A scarcity mentality is one that says, “I never have enough, I am not secure, I need more.”
“Once I get it I need to keep it because I will never get it again.”
2) Don’t develop a scarcity mentality
God doesn’t want us to live like that.
Trust that God will meet your needs, whatever they are. You might not know how, but He will meet them. This takes faith.
Elijah was sent to a place where he had to depend on God.
- God told Elijah to go to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and there he would meet a widow and she would provide for him.
- This widow was not rich, and had a son to care for.
Elijah asks the widow for a drink and some bread and this is what she says,
“As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”
1 Kings 17:12
She didn’t know God was going to provide for her needs as well as his.
She could only see what little she had, not the abundance that God would bring.
“Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’”
1 Kings 17:13-14
Elijah told the woman with nothing to make something for him first, then make some for herself and her son.
This woman was a person of faith.
- She made Elijah food first, then made some for her and her son. He was a stranger.
- She had ever right to make food for herself and her son first, but she didn’t.
- She knew he was a man of God and had the faith to give away the little she had.
- In return, God met her needs and her sons needs and Elijah’s needs every day he stayed with her.
“She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.”
1 Kings 17:15-16
The reason we need more all the time is because we have not chosen to be content with enough.
Having enough has less to do with what you actually have than making the choice to be content when you have a lot or a little.
The Apostle Paul explains it this way,
“…I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”
Philippians 4:11b-13
Set financial goals.
You will be more committed to reaching the goal is you actually have one.
Three goals that will make a big difference in your life
- Set aside $500 for an emergency.
- Contribute to your 401k.
- Pay down high-interest-rate debt.
On a balance of $6,218, at 22% only paying $100 a month
- It would take you 8 years and 10 months to pay it off
- The total payment amount is $12,616
On a balance of $6,218, at 22% paying $300 a month
- It would take you 2 years and 3 months to pay it off
- The total payment amount is $7,894
3) Practice Gratitude
Thank God for what you already have.
When you thank God for what you already have, you have less capacity to think about what you don’t have.
Your focus will be on praising God for His provision.
You have a lot to be grateful for, spend time every day just thanking God for all He has provided you.
Share your gratitude with God in prayer.
How you move from “need more” to have “enough”
1. Put God first
2. Don’t develop a scarcity mentality
3. Practice gratitude.