Financial Friday 1/31/20
So it’s been a while since the last Financial Friday. I apologize for that, but I’m back to doing them every Friday (or almost every Friday:). The last time we looked at a formula for being good stewards of our money from the book “Too Much: Living with Less in the Land of More” by Gary Johnson. In the book (which is one of THE best books on a balance biblical view of money) his formula is simple:
4 Principles (gratitude, contentment, trust, humility) + 4 Practices (debt-free living, saving, budgeting, giving = REAL PROFIT
And I talked about the first part of that equation last time. On the other side of the equation are the practices of debt-free living, saving, budgeting, and giving. I and a few others are getting schooled very well on those topics every Monday night in the Financial Peace University class that Tim and Heidi Caswell and doing a great job leading. It’s a great class that I wish I’d have taken 30 years ago if it existed. But it’s never too late. Most of you know of Dave Ramsey through his radio show, podcast, books, or if you attend First Church of Christ you’ve heard me talk about him. It’s just a great class and as I have been listening to his daily podcasts I am getting all “Ramseyfied.” I told my wife (who isn’t able to take the class with me this round) that the other day as we prepared to discuss our finances.
“What does that mean?” she asked me. I said it means getting mad at things like debt and not saving. It means doing everything possible to do those 4 practices above. You see, Ramsey’s principles aren’t really just his. And Gary Johnson’s formula isn’t just his. It’s all straight from the Bible and God’s plan for how to be faithful with money. But the thing about Dave Ramsey’s books and material and FPU is just the motivation couple with the knowledge that gets me “Ramseyfied.” And in the class what he calls Baby Steps (1-7) all involve those four practices above.
Nearly every day on Ramsey’s podcast he has families on the show who travel many miles to do their “debt free scream.” He does the show from Tennessee, but the other day there was a family from Macomb MI who travelled to TN just to do their debt free scream on his show. They tell their story of how following these simple, biblical principles Dave teaches allowed them to radically change their lives through getting rid of debt. The stories are pretty motivating and keep me focused on doing better with what God has entrusted to us to manage for His glory. So today I would really encourage you to subscribe to Dave Ramsey podcast, pick up one of his books, and take Financial Peace University at the earliest possible time. We’ll be offering it again next January for sure at our church. But don’t wait until then! It’s never too soon to get “Ramseyfied”!
Chris Higgins 