9 Keys to Financial Success

In “9 Keys to Financial Success” episode #105, Meredith Curtis shares 9 financial keys that unlock blessing in the financial realm. These principles will work! No matter how young or old you are, it’s time to stop falling into financial pitfalls and start living the way God wants you to live. Meredith offers an alternative to the ways of the world so that you can manage your money in a way that honors God and can be a channel of His blessing to others.

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Being World Changers, Raising World Changers!

Show Notes

God is our Provider and He meets all of our needs. So why do we struggle so much financially?

Often, as adults, we find ourselves in a money pit that we are trying to climb out of. Teens can be starting up habits that will eventually lead to living paycheck to paycheck, always struggling.

Is there Freedom?

Yes!

Here is God’s plan!

Key #1: God Owns It All; We are Stewards

The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it. (Psalm 24:1)

All of our needs, bills, possessions, and money belong to the Lord.

Key #2: The Tithe Belongs to the Lord

“Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. ⁹You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you! ¹⁰Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows. ¹¹Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes,” says the Lord of hosts. (Malachi 3:8)

90% with God’s blessing is a whole lot more than 100% without it.

Key#3: Live Debt-Free and Love It!

The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender. (Proverbs 22:7)

The Borrower is Servant to the Lender. Debt brings stress.

Key #4: Live Below Your Means with Gratitude

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (I Thessalonians 5:18)

Key #5: Ask God First

We see, we want, we buy. But, is this wise? What if God wants to just give it to you or knows it isn’t your best right now. Let Him be the financial decision maker in your house.

You do not have because you do not ask God. (James 4:2)

Key #6: God Most Often Provides thru Hard Work

Though God does provide supernaturally, the most common way is through hard work!

The craving of a sluggard will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work. (Proverbs 21:25)

Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies have no sense. (Proverbs 12:11)

All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty. (Proverbs 14:23)

Key #7: Save for Future Needs

Where do you get capital to start a business? Money to send kids to college? Money for retirement? That’s right! Savings!

Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; ¹⁰then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. (Proverbs 3:9-10)

Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the autumn rains because he is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. ²⁴The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil. (Joel 2:23-24)

Key #8: Be Generous—You Can’t Out-Give God!

God takes giving personally. He loves to bless those who are generous.

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Luke 6:38)

Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done. (Proverbs 19:17)

Key #9: Be Choosy about How You Spend Your Money

Think and pray first before you start spending money. What do you need? Trendy vs. Quality.

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. (James 1:5)

How to Get Back on Track

If you have blown it in the financial realm, it is never too late! God is the God of Miracles, especially when we want to honor Him and do thinks His way!

Surrender your financial mess to the Lord

Start tithing.

Pay off all debt.

Giving time and possessions—you are using all your money to pay off debt.

Make a budget. Stick to it!

Give thanks in everything!

Work hard!

Just wait, you watch, you’ll see! J

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Today we’re talking about one of those most practical of all topics – money, and particularly how you teach your young people about it. This was easier with the older kids because with the older kids, I mean, you get a job, start a business, make a budget, save money, easy. You can’t tell your five year old to go get a job.

So how do you teach these young kids to manage money? How do you teach them to take it seriously?

We do need to take it seriously because of the things we noticed when we were researching our book on marriage. The Holmes-Rahe Stress Test, something psychologists developed years ago, ranked major life events in their order of impact on your health. The death of a spouse is number 1. Number 14 was “financial issues,” but everything above number 14 had a financial impact of some sort. It touches every aspect of our lives and you know, it’s something that we need to be intentional about teaching, starting from very early, to be stewards of what God’s given them.

So what does that look like?

Part of it is just teaching them what money is and what it’s about. For example, we teach our kids that money is like a voucher for work. That’s a concept which we don’t think everybody has really thought through. We’re in the business of writing and publishing books, but we can’t take box loads of books down to city hall to pay our electrical bill. They’re not going to be impressed because they don’t need books. You need money because money is a voucher – we get a check for the month for the work we do and we take it to the bank and when we use that money to pay other people to their work,

That’s an important principle to get to the children to see that every piece of money that passes through your hands, somebody worked and did something productive. Either they did some labor or they produced something for sale, and that that piece of money represents certain amount of their work, time, and effort.

It’s really super important for young kids to grasp because you know when you connect it, when you can say, okay, well dad had to work for this money. What he did earned the money that we’re spending. That makes it real and helps the child understand that spending is not just, “Oh, Daddy has this wonderful magic card and we just hand it to the merchant and they give us hamburgers.” … (listen to the whole thing below!)

This episode brought to you by

Evangelical Christian Credit Union

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