Breathing Room
Part 2: Dollars and Sense
Pastor Rick HendersonJan 28th, 2018
Breathing room is the space between our current PACE and our LIMITS.
Observation: Your STANDARD of living ≠your QUALITY of life.
●Easy: Raise your standard of living with DEBT.
●Hard: Raise your quality of life through DISCIPLINE.
Question: Do you think God is more interested in your standard of living or your quality of life?
Mark 10:21-22 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Three Financial Reality Checks:
- You live on a percentage of your income, but you may not have DECIDED what that percentage is.
Proverbs 27:23-24 Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds; [24] for riches do not endure forever,and a crown is not secure for all generations.
- You think if you made more money, you wouldn’t have ANYMORE worries.
Proverbs 30:8-9 Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. 9 Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, “Who is the LORD?” Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.
- You adjust your lifestyle expectations to match your EARNINGS.
Ecclesiastes 5:10-11 Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless. [11] As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owner except to feast his eyes on them?
Uncommon Sense: I WANT is better than I OWE.
Luke 16:13“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.”
Bottom Line: Some masters may FORGIVE our debt, but Jesus is the only master to PAY our debt.
Discussion Questions
1. In your own words, describe the difference between a “Standard of Living” and a “Quality of Life.” Which one of those would you say defines your life right now?
Try to help people understand that a Standard of Living is often something that people chase after, and which is usually not fulfilled even in their lifetime. The bar is always raised. On the other hand a “Quality of Life” is often found when we are discipline enough to be content.
2. Most of us can relate to the belief that if only we had a little more income, things would be fine. Why do you think we’re all so prone to having that perspective, no matter our income levels?
Not only does our standard of living move on a sliding scale, but often with it, our happiness. John D. Rockefeller was once asked “How much money is enough?” To which he famously replied “Just a little bit more…” While our motivation for more money is often not because of greed, and instead out of necessity, ask one more question: if you had more money than you do now: what would you do with it?
2. In what particular ways do you observe people being tempted to let money become their master, instead of God? How can that temptation be resisted?
The way this question is phrased is to hopefully to help people come to grips with some of their own ‘slavery’ issues to money, but in a less intrusive way. Try to steer the conversation to invite people to open up about their own ‘mastery’ issues. Note: try not to talk about specific dollar amounts if possible, but instead guide the group to share their story and not all their personal financial info.
3. What does “quality of life” look like for those who look fully to God, instead of money, as their master? What difference does this really make in life?
You may steer the conversation to some of Jesus’ comments in John 10:10, that He came that people may have life to the fullest (highest quality of Life) here and now and beyond. Expand upon what Jesus means by this.
4. Why do you think Jesus said, “You cannot serve both God and money” instead of, “You cannot serve both God and the devil”? Does the devil represent less of a competitor for our hearts than money and possessions do?
Jesus talked about money and possessions more than anything else besides the Kingdom of God. In fact: 1/10 verses in Gospels about stuff & possessions.
There are less than 500 verses on faith, more than 2000 on money & possessions.
16 of the 38 parables parables Jesus told have to do with money & possessions. What do you think this tells us about the magnitude of this subject to God?
5. For restoring financial breathing room, consider these practical steps: (1) make a commitment to achieve this breathing room; (2) set a goal for what percentage of your income you want left over after spending; (3) have an accurate, detailed grasp on every dollar you spend; (4) find ways to cut spending; (5) develop a debt-retirement plan. (For special help here, Andy recommends the book Financial Peace Revisited by Dave Ramsey.) What value do you see in each of these steps?
Go over some of these practical steps with your group. Encourage them to take these next steps and follow up with them next week.