114 - Divine Budgeting 101: Exploring Biblical Financial Principles

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One Timothy six and ten for the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people eager for money have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. What does this mean? This means money in itself is not bad. Money is a piece of paper that we have given some value to, say, one US dollars $1.        

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$5 is $5.10 is 1020 is 2050 is 5100 is 100,000 is 1000. This verse reminds us that money is not inherently evil. The love of money can lead to greed, dishonesty, disintegrity, if that's a word, and other kinds of negative consequences. Welcome everybody. Welcome back to another episode of Motivate Grind Succeed, the podcast where our goal is to help you improve your life in the four foundational cornerstones of Faith fellowship, fitness and finance through practical tips and takeaways with every single episode.        

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All the links to everything will be down in this episode description, so check that out for more information, guys. And today we're going to be talking about wealth, wisdom, and we're going to be using biblical principles to help you manage your finances. Now, I know what you're thinking. I thought we were in the Faith series. We're not in the finance series.        

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Yes, we're in the Faith series. However, this is going to be almost like a teaser of things you can expect to hear in the finance series once that actually gets dropped. So the Bible does have things to say about our finances, whether you knew it or not, and today we're just going to touch on those things. I really felt like this was an important topic to bring up. Even though it bleeds a little bit into what I'm planning for the finance series.        

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It's very important that we talk about some of those things here. So financial stability, it is a key, key aspect of our lives, and yet so often it's overlooked and sometimes neglected. So many people live paycheck to paycheck. I read a stat that said I believe it was 80% of Americans or so somewhere around that number. This is around 80% of Americans don't even have $1,000 in their savings account, which was shocking.        

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Okay. Anyway, it is essential to consider how we can be good stewards of the resources that God provided us. With, and that includes our finances. So how are we supposed to do this? We're just going to hop right into the actionable tips, because I really just want to leave you all with a bunch of value today.        

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I was feeling generous, so I was like, you know what? Let's just drop a whole bunch of value today. Okay? Number one is that it's important to live within our means. Cliche.        

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I know it's cliche. Live within your means. Rashawn I know what that means. Okay, great. So just make sure you're actually doing it now.        

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This means create a budget and stick to it. Avoid unnecessary debt, save for the future. So, living within our means, we can avoid the stress and burden of financial insecurity and build a solid foundation for not only our future, but for the generation that follows afterwards. Another key principle is to invest in our future. I know I said at the beginning, too, it's important to save money.        

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However, it's also important that if you have the financial capabilities and means to do so, it's also important to invest. Now, again, before I get more into this, I'm going to say, as most people do, I'm not a financial advisor. I just do a lot of research and make choices based on what I believe is best for my long term goals in terms of my finances. So do not take what I'm saying here as financial advice, as legitimate financial advice, as from, like, a financial advisor point of view. This is just what I've done from my own personal research.        

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So obviously, do your own due diligence when you're doing these kind of things. Obviously. So when I talk about investing in the future, I'm talking about including things such as setting aside money for retirement, investing in your education, career development, rainy day funds, all those kind of things, right? Or just your traditional stock, shares, REITs, ETFs, all those kind of good things. Invest in those things.        

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I know people say invest in your future, invest in yourself, do these kind of things. Yes, that is crucial to do. And that is part of what it means to invest. It means to save up that money. So that way you can reap a positive ROI or return on investment in the future.        

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This means investing in yourself by investing in education, investing in books, investing in mentors, investing in coaches. Whatever you want to do, do those kind of things. That way, when you do that, you can create a sense of financial security and stability that will serve you for years and years and years and years and years to come. Also, it's important to be mindful of spending habits and avoid impulse purchases or unnecessary expenses. It is tough, I know sometimes when I'm going to the store all the time, I will see things that I want and I fall to it too.        

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Sometimes I'm just like, you know what? Let me just swipe the card there. Swipe the card there. Swipe the card there. And so quick tip that I gave for that is that if your bank allows you to, I would recommend setting an alert on your phone or on the app of whatever bank that you use to let it know every time that you swipe the card or something is used that a transaction was made.        

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Yes, quite literally go into the app. And then, for example, like, if you have a credit card, I know, for example, because me, I use Discover, at least that's one of my credit cards, which, again, one of my credit cards, we can get into that in the actual finance season. But one of my credit cards for Discover, every time I use it, I have a notification that pops up saying, every time a purchase over one penny was made, notify me. So every single time I use that card, I get a notification for one of my checking accounts. Every time I use the card, I get a notification saying, you just used, I don't know, $10 from this checking account at this certain point of service system.        

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So your new available balance is now, like, $33.06. So now I'm keeping a constant mental tally of, okay, I allocated, let's say, $50 for my willy nilly expenses for the next two weeks. I have $33 left. I want to go eat lunch with some friends tomorrow, or I want to go and do this the next day. I want to go do that the next day.        

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I want to be able to go out and play, like, disc golf with some friends or something. And you realize $33 ain't quite enough to do that. I'm just going to have to take some money. I'm either going to have to take some money from something else that needs something. Let's say I was also really trying to eye getting that nice shirt, but I still want to go golfing with friends.        

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Opportunity costs. One thing's got to give. You either go out with your friends or you go buy the shirt. But people want to do both. They want to say, I'll buy the shirt and go out with the friends.        

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Okay? That was the choice that you made. So now also realize if you make that choice now, now you're out of even more money, which means you're going to have to pay for it on the back end, which means you have to take out double from something else that you didn't want to have to do. See how this starts stacking up? Right?        

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But like I said, because I don't want to keep this truly just straight finances, right? We got to bring some Bible into it, okay? We got to bring a little bit of faith into this. So what does God have to say about our finances? Okay, you don't want to hear anymore?        

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Go ahead, lock off the episode. Those are the three main tips I wanted to get out to you. Living within our means. Invest in your future and be mindful of your spending habits and avoid impulse purchases. However, if you're still intrigued, I have five verses that the Bible has to say about managing finances.        

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Okay. Verse number one, proverbs 21 and five. The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty. This verse emphasizes the importance of making careful plans and working diligently in order to achieve your financial success. So what does that mean?        

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This goes back to the last point that I made of impulse, unnecessary purchases. If you do things in haste, impulse, you it will lead you to poverty. If you just buy a whole bunch of remember the example that I gave where I said that if you want to go and just, oh, I really saw this right? I'm just going to go buy it right there. I want to just go do that.        

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I want to go buy it right there. How fast are you going to run out of money, or at least money that you allocated in your budget for doing whatever you wanted to do? Assuming you have a budget, that is. You're going to run out pretty quick, man. Pretty quick.        

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Okay, so again, Bible says you have to have plans that lead to profit. The plans of the diligent lead to profit. Meaning if you make a plan stick to that plan, you'll be successful in terms of financial success. That does not mean you're going to be a multimillionaire, but you will have a profitable life. Proverbs 22 and seven.        

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Now, before I say this, hold your horses and let me finish my entire point before anybody starts leaving any comments. Okay? Proverbs 22 and seven. The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender. This verse is warning of dangers of debt and encouraging people to live within their means.        

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This does not mean that if you have more money than somebody, that person now has authority over you. In terms of person to person, that does not mean let's say you're making $60,000 a year and someone else is making $100,000 a year and now that means they're going to rule over you. That's not what that's saying. This is talking about debt. Think about this in terms of a credit card company.        

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The credit card company is willing to give you this money. Credit card companies, okay, here you go. We'll give you this credit card and you're approved for, I don't know, let's say $5,000 or something. And then it says, there you go. What this means is that you have $5,000 of someone else's money in your hands to use whenever you want to.        

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That doesn't mean you have to use it.        

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This means live within your means. You can use it, but use only what you need to pay for what you need with the intention of paying all of it back when you're done at a very bare bones not getting to any of the caveats. That's what this is saying. Don't fall into any unnecessary debt because it says the borrower is slave to the lender. If you can't pay back the debt, you will forever have that debt looming over your head.        

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Think credit cards, think student loans that will always remain over your head. Think mortgages, think car notes. It will always remain over your head until it is done and it is paid off that's the dangers of debt live within your means. So yes, I know you all want that super nice sporty car, that giant mansion, to show off to the Joneses, which side note, most people don't even care anyway. But regardless, make sure you live within your means.        

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Make sure you can get stuff that you can afford, not just stuff that you're trying to use to show off to other people. Okay, third verse, luke 1428 through 30. Suppose this is a parable. Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won't you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?        

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For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you. Saying this person began to build and wasn't able to finish. This parable from Jesus is stressing the importance of careful financial planning and counting the cost before embarking on a project or investment, raise of hands or other show of hands. How many people wanted to do a project and they got so into the emotions of it, they figured, oh my gosh, I have to get this project. I really want to get this project done, it's so cheap, and yada, yada, yada.        

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And then you didn't have the money to do so because you didn't think that far. Chances are some of us are probably in that position. That's okay, that's okay. That's I don't worry about it. Just know as a lesson for next time, take more care to plan better financially.        

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Verse well, the fourth verse that I have for you, this is one of my favorite verses in the Bible because people misquote it so often. Listen to me carefully with this verse one, Timothy six and ten. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people eager for money have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. What did I say?        

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The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Not Money is the root of all kinds of evil. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Okay, what does this mean? This means money in itself is not bad.        

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Money is a piece of paper that we have given some value to, say, one US dollars, $1. $5 is $5.10 is 1020 is 2050 is 5000 is 100,000 is 1000. That piece of paper in and of itself is not bad. It's a piece of paper with a pattern on it. The problem comes in is when people love it too much that they do anything and start bending morals.        

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They start becoming dishonest. They start becoming not integrity driven. Episode 113 check it out. They lose their honesty. They lose their integrity.        

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In order just to make a quick buck, they step on all kinds of people's heads, neck, shoulders, knees and toes just to be able to get above and beyond somebody else. That's where the problem comes in. This verse reminds us that money is not inherently evil. I will continue to stress that money is not inherently evil. The love of money can lead to greed, dishonesty, disintegrity, if that's a word, and other kinds of negative consequences.        

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Okay, last verse for you guys. Matthew 619 and 21. Again, listen to the whole verse please. Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermins do not destroy, where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.        

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Long story short, this passage from Jesus is urging people to focus on the eternal treasures rather than material wealth and to avoid becoming overly attached to worldly possessions. This does not mean you cannot have nice things. You can have nice things. For me, for example, I have a nice job, I have a nice car, I have nice things. I have nice clothes, I have a nice bed, I have a nice computer, I have a nice microphone.        

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You get the idea. I have nice stuff. However, I am not so attached to this stuff that if it were to go away, I would be up a gumtree, as my dad loves to say in his accent. I would not be up in arms and trying to go riots and go try to kill somebody. Okay?        

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I'm not that attached to if this microphone were to break, would I be upset? Yes, it was an expensive microphone. I would be very upset. However, I know it is a thing. It can be replaced.        

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I can get another one. I have backup microphones. If my audio interface were to break, would I be upset? Yes, I would be upset. But this has a warranty on it, so I can go ahead and get that thing replaced.        

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If my Quest headset that's next to me, or if my Xbox controller or if my keyboard, or if the TV, or if one of my computers were to break, would I be upset? Yes. But I'm not so attached to it to the point where I can say, this was the only one and this was the no, I'm not that attached to it. It's a thing, it's an object, it could be replaced. Okay?        

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I should be focused on trying to make impact on people's lives. That is where, for me, the treasure is it's very enjoyable for people. For me, at least, when people come to me for advice on things that I know about, and they come to me honestly, openly, wanting information, it's so interesting for people to want to come up to me and they say, hey, I need your advice on something. Hey, I need you to give me some advice on something. Hey, I need you to be my accountability partner.        

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Hey, I need you to coach me on something. Hey, I need you all those kind of thing. When people come up to me and say those things, it gives me pleasure and gives me joy. And I know I'm making impact in people's lives. And because I'm able to do that, that is where I get all of my joy, all of all of the things from.        

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And doing those things will also lead to, as the verse says, treasures in heaven. Because those things that I'm doing, I'm doing them to the glory of God. I'm doing them to try to bring glory to Him, to try to bring all everything back to Him and what it is that I'm doing and bringing you all this information. And so, while what I do does, will and does bring in monetary income and things, the true impact is in me giving back to you guys. That's why I do what I do.        

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I've been doing this for years. You can tell if you check the website. I've been doing this since 2020. I've been doing this for years guys. And I have no intention of slowing these things down.        

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In fact, I have intention of just continuing to grow this brand, grow this podcast and do all those kind of things because I want to give back to the people, I want to give back the impact. And me doing that naturally stores up treasures in heaven. Am I actively thinking if I give back impact to people, will I get treasures in heaven? No, I'm just doing this because I'm doing this out of the kindness of my heart. I'm doing this because this is what I felt like I was led to do.        

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And I just love giving back to you guys. Absolutely love doing it. So what's the point of this verse again before already getting started to get sidetracked here? The goal of life is to not try to get as much stuff here in the 80, 85, 90, however many years you have on this earth, that's not the goal. You can have nice things, yes, but the goal is not to accumulate as many nice things as possible.        

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If you get a lot of nice things and you were blessed to get a lot of nice things, fantastic, the Lord has blessed you. However, that's not the goal. The goal is for us to come to this earth, live a purpose driven life of what we were born to do and then leave impact in life, leaving the world at least a little bit better than the way that we came. That's the goal.        

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That's the goal. Now this is also not saying we're going to be living in poverty, we're going to be poverty stricken people all the time. That's not what this is saying either, because if we were, because if that verse was saying that we were going to be poverty stricken people, then that would be kind of contradicting Proverbs 21 and five, would it not, where it says the plans of the diligent lead to profit. So that doesn't mean we're actually going to necessarily be poverty stricken and poor and struggling to make ends meet 24/7, because as long as we are diligent in what we're doing, and we are doing our God given purpose, it will lead to profit. Whether it be monetary, whether it be emotional profit, physical profit, whatever it may be, it'll lead to profit.        

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So long story short, guys, for Matthew 619 and 21, don't focus on trying to get a bunch of nice stuff on this earth, focus on trying to leave your impact on people's lives. Live a purpose driven life so that way you're pleasing God instead of trying to please other people. That's what I got for you today guys, as always, submitting reminders here. I'm always accepting questions as well as comments, concerns, all kinds of stuff for the show via voicemail. Check out the website@motivateg.com and give that tab a schmackaroonie on the side.        

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Open that thing up and leave whatever you want to leave. You got 45 seconds. Leave me whatever message you want to leave. I'll appreciate every single message that you all send. Finally, fourth wall site guys, still under construction.        

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And guys, that is what I have for you this week. Thank you so much for listening. But before you go, if you like what you hear, don't be afraid to leave a rating and review. It really does help to go a long way. There's also an email list where you can join where you can get access to new episode releases, merch drops, upcoming events, and so, so much more.        

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Anyway, you guys take care of yourselves and I'll see you all next time.