When Stuff Ruins Our Lives
Ladies let us stand as we read the word of God in Matthew 6:19-24.
Let us pray. Lord we thank you for your word. God I thank you that your word is our instruction book even when it comes to money. I pray that you will use this message tonight to change lives and how we use every gift you have given us. In your name we pray Amen.
Ladies you may be seated.
I hope you are enjoying this series. We are so excited to be using the book Living Well Spending Less by Ruth Soukup as a foundation for this study. We have looked at what it means to lead the good life, we talked about the power of service, we have talked about using our time wisely, and today we talk about stuff.. When Stuff Ruins Our Lives.
Ladies how many of you have stuff? (raise hand) I mean lots of stuff (raise both hands).
So let’s define stuff so we are all on the same page. Definition of Stuff:
a group or scattering of miscellaneous objects or articles
materials, supplies, or equipment used in various activities
or as the british like to use the word: informal worthless or foolish ideas, speech, or writing; rubbish "stuff and nonsense!"
I think we will stick with the first two for tonight’s discussion.
How much stuff is enough stuff? I am reminded about Ruth’s stories in Secrets 5 &6 about shopping and being literally addicted to shopping for more stuff.
So I have to share. This morning I decided to complete my weekly errands- post office, bank, produce store, sam’s club and this week I also needed to go to walmart.
So yes here I am this morning in the pouring down rain determined to get my shopping done. Can you tell where this story is going? So in the rain umbrella in hand I begin my journey. Post office and bank where typical get stamps and deposit a check nothing out of the ordinary there. I was safe.
Next stop was the produce store. Now mind you I do make a list before I even leave my house- a very detailed list. I list out by stop/store what I plan to pick up there. I have my coupons in the evelopes by store. So I go into the produce store only to pick up cherries for my daughter and broccoli for my son. Two items. Take a guess how many items I walked out with? (let ladies guess)
Seven. 5 more than I went in for. Now mind you I had already read my chapters I was preparing this lesson so I knew about controlling my spending, and not getting stuff. So what did I get? Well I remembered I needed cucumbers for my salad, potatoes to make curry chicken, spinach, yams to make sweet potatoes, and the grapes just looked so good. See how easy this is and this was just my first stop.
So then I headed over to walmart. I was to pick up gel, hair ties, lotion and a magazine- my children are featured in this months Parents magazine for our garden so I wanted to grab a few copies. Guess how many items I walked out with? (let ladies guess)
Seven again and no magazines. I went in for 4 items and came out with 3 of the 4 and 3 other things. Now mind you two of the tank tops I picked up were on sale for 3.00 and I remember I needed makeup remover wipes and of course while in the lotion section I saw a new cream for stretch marks- had to get that. (laugh)
Ladies I have to share my own example so you can see how easy this is to overspend. So by stop 3 I did better only two items not on the original list but ladies I share this to share a point.
When Ruth talks about discipline even in shopping – she is trying to help us not ruin our lives over stuff. When is enough stuff enough stuff?
So here in Matthew we see Jesus teaching about money. As we have said before Jesus spoke a lot about money due to the culture and society He was in. I would say if Jesus was here today He would still need to be talking a lot about money. Amen.
v. 19 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy. Every time I read this passage of scripture. Moth balls come to mind.
You remember moth balls right? Little round balls we use to protect our clothes from damage from mold or moth while we would store them. We would use them in my home growing up, to protect our winter clothes or summer clothes when we would store them out of season. You would box up your clothes with a few moth balls and by next season they would smell but they would be usable.
It is interesting to me to wonder- why this is not a common practice anymore? Why are mothballs no longer a household necessity? Probably because many of us just throw things away or buy more instead of saving.
This generation is not about preserving “stuff” to use again. Why when we can buy it? A simple concept like mothballs really shows us the change in society and the mentality of holding on to the stuff we have.
The Bible tells us in Isaiah 55:2
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.
Jesus was telling us what had been shared in the Old testament that money should not be wasted on stuff but that we should seek after God and the kingdom of God even with our money.
We can spend our money on stuff that will not satisfy our souls. We see shows like Hoarders, where people are filling their homes with stuff sometimes to the point where their homes become unlivable – and yet they are trying to meet a need internally. Stuff can never fill that void -only Jesus can.
The term shopaholics as Ruth pointed out is often used to describe women. Many advertisements feature women for this reason. Advertisers know who does the shopping in most homes- women.
Shopaholic means a frequent shopper, especially one who is unable to control his or her spending. Not necessarily a positive name.
So let me be clear. There is nothing wrong with shopping. We have to shop in order to get even the basic things that we need. But what is of concern is the lack of control that happens with shopping. Jesus addressed this idea because again our Spirit would be lead by earthly desires and not spiritually things if we let money and shopping control us. Control and discipline have to be a part of our shopping.
There is a show I love to watch called Til Debt Do Us Part. Gail VazOxlade comes in to couples homes to help them with their finances. Kind of like a nanny 911 only helping families deal with debt and spending. It shows on CNBC.
I love this show because Gail will in the beginning go through their home and assess the “stuff” in their home. She looks to see their spending and how it is represented in their home. Then she pulls out this computer that has the family spending for a month, and she breaks in down into categories.
It is always amazing to me when she shows them how much they are spending over what they make each month, by using credit cards and then how much they will be in debt if they continue spending at this rate. Sometimes the number is in the hundreds and thousands due to overspending.
So she then works with the couples through 3 exercises to help them improve their spending and their marriage relationship. She literally puts them on a cash diet where they can no longer use credit and have to learn to spend within their means. She helps them develop a plan to pay off their current debts and if they succeed with her tasks then they win money to go towards debt repayment.
How many of us could do that? Ironically the show is named Til Debt Do Us Part – I think about how many couples divorce over financial issues in the home? So many marriages are ruined due to the lack of discipline and control we have over money.
I know of couples who hide purchases from their spouses, who hide packages from their spouses, or even hide the bills from their spouses just to avoid a fight for now. But ladies we may fool people for a little bit but sooner or later our lack of control will catch up to us. I know couples who keep everything separate because they do not trust their spouse with their money. Wow…
And is it worth fighting and losing our marriages over stuff? I pray that I never lose my marriage but if I do I want it to be more serious than over “stuff” Amen.
What can we do about stuff? Ruth gives us some suggestions of things we can do about our stuff:
- Clear out the clutter. This is really a great place to start. I find that every season before I even think about shopping I go through our stuff. For example Christmas- I go through all the toys boxes and my children’s toy baskets to see what they have first. I do clear out things they are not using but it also helps to me to focus on what we do have. I find that I spend less during the holidays because I already know “what stuff” my children have. Clear the clutter so you can know what stuff you have.
- Stop the flow. Stop buying more stuff. Stop using shopping as therapy, stop telling yourself you deserve it, stop buying more stuff that is non essential. Think about each purchase. Do you really need this or do you just want this? I have answered that question and have saved myself so much just by answering honestly to my wants versus my needs.
- Value quality over quantity. I would rather have a few quality handbags than an entire closet filled with handbags. Does that make sense? Sometimes we get focused on quantity- to be able to say I have over 50 handbags. Who cares? You really only need one- you have one shoulder –right? I remember my husband encouraging me to buy my daughter a queen size bed when she was 14 months old. I looked at him and thought no she should have a cute toddler bed and then she can get a bigger twin bed later. He then showed me the price of each bed that she would need with age- we would spend 3x as much just changing her bed two times as she grew. Both of my children have adult size furniture sets in their rooms that they have had since toddlers .my husband is 6 4 and I am not shorty either. My daughter is already at 8 as long as her bed..and we use the money we saved on other things for them.
If money is so evil and so misleading…Why do we even have money? Our main reason for money is To honor God –turn to proverbs 3.
Proverbs 3:9-10
Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.
God gave us money to show him honor. We are to use our wealth to bring glory to God, to help further his kingdom on earth. To share the gospel, costs money.
Turn to Luke 16
Luke 16:10-13 Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much….
Here Jesus is telling his disciples about money and stewardship. We are to be able to hear from God- thy good and faithful servant even as it relates to the money God has trusted us with. Is God able to be pleased with how you spend the money He gives you?
And finally turn to 1 Timothy 6
I Timothy 6:6-10
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
You see Ladies Jesus knew that money would make us to wander, to leave our first love and for some ruin our lives.
We have to show discipline when it comes to our spending and our use of the gift of money. God wants to bless us, God wants our vats to be full of wine, He wants us to have the finer things in life- but He wants us to be disciplined, filled with the Holy Spirit and be in control. And contentment is key. We have already all that we need.
We are to be spirit led- not money led- Being money led we run the risk of losing our marriages, our relationships and even our own happiness.
Ladies I encourage you to use money God’s way. God’s way is to tithe from your first fruits, to use the rest wisely, so that you can have more in abundance…in accordance to His word. Amen.
Let us pray:
God I thank you for your gift of money. I thank you Lord that you have promised to take care of us and to meet every need. I pray for discipline and control for myself and these ladies as we trust you with our finances. In your name we pray.
Ladies I love you I am honored to serve you and I am praying for you. Have a blessed week. At this time you will be dismissed to small groups….