Rick Warren - What God Says About Money, Debt & Financial Freedom

Jesus talked more about money than he did heaven or hell.

Did you know that? He talked more about money than

heaven or hell. Why? Because we spend more time thinking

about money than heaven or hell. We spend much of

our time thinking about how to get it, how to

make it, how to save it, how to spend it,

how to invest it, how to protect it, how to,

you know, insure it, and all the other things. And

it dominates much of our lives. And so Jesus had

a lot to say about money management. He also told

us that money management is a spiritual discipline, that God

is actually watching how I handle my wealth to see

what he can trust me with, with true spiritual riches

in heaven. Jesus, when he told the parables, you know,

the stories, the famous stories of Jesus, over half of

the parables Jesus told deal with material possessions. So there's

a lot of material in the on how to get

out of debt, how to stay out of debt, how

to control money instead of having it control you. Now,

this weekend, before we begin Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, I want

us to look at Matthew chapter 25. If you have

Matthew 25 · chapter mention

a Bible, you might want to open to Matthew chapter 25.

Matthew 25 · chapter mention

We're just going to look at the story that Jesus

told there. If you don't, pull out your message notes

and all of the verses we're going to look at

are there. This is called the parable of the talents. Now,

Many people misunderstand this parable because it has the word

talent in it. And when we hear the word talent,

we think of gifts, abilities, your shape, your personality, your

spiritual gifts, your heart, the things you love to do,

what you're naturally good at. The word, the English word

talent actually comes from this chapter in the Bible. Before

there was this, Jesus told this story, the word talent

didn't exist. But a talent is actually a measurement of money.

And while this does have application to your talents, your gifts,

your abilities, this is actually a parable, a story about

money management. A talent was a specific weight of gold.

And there was a Babylonian talent, there was a Greek talent,

and there was a Roman talent, which was a specific

amount of money. So we're gonna look at it. Now

in this chapter, we're gonna start in verse 14. We

have the story of a rich businessman. And Jesus tells

the story of a guy who's very, very wealthy. We

can know that by what he gives his servants to

take care of. And he says, I'm gonna go away

on a trip. And I'm gonna be gone for a

long time, so I'm gonna put you in charge of

my property. And he divides up his wealth. You know,

in those days, there weren't any banks. And so you

didn't keep your money in a bank. So he's got

all of his wealth at home and he divides his

wealth up among his three servants. And he says, I

expect you guys to make the most of this. And

when I come back, we'll see what happens. And so

he's gone for a long time. And later the businessman

comes back home and he says, okay, give me an account.

What'd you guys do with my money? And they tell

the story and two of the guys have a good report.

One of the guys has a bad report. And then

Jesus draws some spiritual truths out of this. Out of

this story, We learn seven foundations for financial fitness. If

you ever needed to take notes, you need to take

notes this weekend. Because these are foundations that base the

stability of your life on in order to become all

God wants you to be. Now let's look at it together.

They're on your outline. In Matthew 25, verse 14, we

Matthew 25:14

see the beginning of the story. And it says this.

The kingdom of heaven, Jesus said, will be like a

man going on a journey, this businessman. And he called

his three servants together and he entrusted his property to them. Now,

if you're taking notes, I want you to circle the

word his there on that verse. It says he called

his three servants together and entrusted his property to them.

It's not the servant's money. It's the master's money, but

he's giving it to them to take care of. This,

by the way, is called stewardship. You've heard this word before,

a steward or stewardship. That's the old English word for manager.

Any of you who are managers or involved in management

in a business are actually stewards. A steward is a

manager and stewardship simply means management. We are called to

be stewards of our time, manage your time. We are

called to be stewards of our influence. We are called

to be stewards of our health, of our minds, of

our relationships, of our opportunities. Everything you have you were

to be a steward of or a manager of. Now,

he says here, he entrusted his property to his servants. Now,

this is the first law of financial freedom, and it

is this. The law of possession is this. You might

write this down. Everything I have belongs to God. I

need you to settle that one right up front. It's

not my money. It all belongs to God. You say,

wait a minute. But I worked for this. Where do

you think you got your body to work for? Where

do you think you got your mind to work for?

Where do you think you got your energy to work for?

Where do you think you got your intelligence to work?

Everything you have is a gift from God. So you

don't really own anything in life. It's all on loan.

Someday I'm gonna write a book and the first sentence

of the book will be, what you think you own

is really on loan. You see, I didn't own anything

before I was born. I didn't bring anything into the world.

I've been there at the birth of all my babies

and grandbabies. None of them came in carrying a satchel

full of money. You didn't bring anything into the world.

And I've been there at the other end too at

the funerals. Nobody takes it out with them. You never

see a hearse driving a U-Haul with it. So you

only get to use it while you're here. It's God's money.

God loaned it to somebody before you. He's loaned it

to you for 80 years, and he's going to loan

it to somebody else after you die. You don't own it.

It's all under management. The master owns it all. God

is the owner. Now, this is really important because we

tend to forget it. We forget, and when we forget it,

you know what is the sign that you've forgotten that

it's God's and not yours? When you think it's yours,

you worry about it. Worry is the sign that you

think it's all yours. Now, let's say you had a

beach house and you said, Rick, I'm going to Spain

for a year and we're going to let you and

Kay use our beach house for a year. So we

use your beach house for a year. And then you

call up a year later and go, you know what?

We think we're gonna stay, we're having a good time,

so we're gonna stay another year in Spain. Use our

beach house for another year. And so then on the

third year, you call up again and say, hey, go

ahead and use it for a third year. By this time,

I'm starting to think, this is mine. You come home

about year four and you say, I'm ready to move

back in. I say, what do you mean? You're not moving,

this is my house. You know, possessions, nine-tenths of the law.

It's mine now. And we tend to think because God

has loaned it to us for an extended period of

time that it's ours. It's not. Now, if you would

remind yourself of this first truth every day, you'd worry

a whole lot less. Now, in the next verse, verse 15,

it says, this master, he loans his money out. He says,

to one servant, he gave five talents of money. And

to another, he gave two talents of money. And to another,

it says he gave one talent of money. Now, what's

he talking about here? Well, a talent... Literally, a Roman

talent is 71 pounds of gold. Think about that. This

is not a small amount. He's really trusting. And God

has made a huge investment in you. We'll talk about

that later. But the first law, the law God possesses everything.

It all belongs to him. And then this is the

second law. And it says he gives five talents to one.

two talents to another, and one talent of gold to

another guy, each according to his ability that he left

on his journey. This is the law of allocation. And

it is this. God has loaned me money. I just

talked about that. You don't really own it. He's loaning

it to you for 30, 40, 50, 60, 80, 90,

at the most 100 years. Now you notice in this

story that Jesus tells, everybody gets a different amount. That's obvious.

We're not all equally wealthy. We're not all equally, you know,

have the same economic status. It says some guy get

one talent, some guy gets two talents, some guy gets

five talents of gold. But the point is this, everybody

gets something. Now, there are no no-talent people in the world.

If you're breathing, that is a blessing. If you are alive,

that in itself is a blessing. Now, everybody gets something.

And they all began to go out. Now notice the

next verse, verse 16 there in your outline. The man

who had received the five talents went at once and

put his money to work and gained five more talents

of gold. And so the one with the two talents

also doubled his money. But the man who had received

the one talent went off, dug a hole in the

ground and just hid his master's money. Now there's a

couple things I want to point out here. And the

first is this. Money is a tool to be used.

You put it to work. You use money and you

love people. Now if you get that reversed, you're going

to be in trouble. Because if you start loving money,

you will use people. No. People are to be loved first.

Money is to be used. You are to never love money.

You are to use it. It is a tool to

be used. You say, well, wait a minute. Isn't money

the root of all evil? Isn't that what the Bible says? No,

that's not what the Bible says. The Bible does not

say money is the root of all evil. It says

the love of money is the root of all evil.

Money is totally neutral. It can be used for good

or bad. It can be used by Hitler to bomb Europe.

Or it could be used by churches to spread good

news and feed the hungry. You can use it on

very selfish centered purposes or you can use it for

very unselfish purposes. You can use it to create businesses

and products that bless the entire world. Money is a

neutral thing. It's neither good nor bad. It's what you

do with it. But he says, put your money to work.

One of the things we're gonna learn in the next

several weeks together is how to put your money to work.

The reason why most people are in debt and the

reason why most people never get out of debt is

because they are always working for their money instead of

having their money work for them. You gotta reverse this.

This is a whole different way of thinking about money.

You gotta learn how to put your money to work

for you instead of you working for money. If you

work for money, you will always be needing more. You

will always be in debt. But if you learn how

to make money work for you, then money becomes your servant.

Money is a wonderful servant. It is a terrible master.

It is a terrible master. And you know it's a

master when it's causing stress in your life. Then it's

mastering you. It's controlling you. Now, he says he gives

the money out to these three servants. One goes out

and invests it, puts it to work. The other goes

out and puts it to work. The third guy goes

and hides it in the ground. Here's the point. You

get to choose what you do with what God gives you.

You don't get to choose what you're given. Some people

are given one talent. Some people are given five talents.

Some people are given 10 talents. Some people are given

two talents. There's just different amounts. But you do get

to choose what you do with it. And what you

do with it is what God is watching. Today I've

got a quick note from a listener in Minneapolis. His

name is Bill. And Bill wrote to me, Rick, I

want to let you know that I prayed with you

this morning accepting God into my life. Wow, that's great.

Daily Hope has become the way that I start each

day listening to your podcast. So much has changed in

my life over the past year. I had a job loss.

I had a transition. I had a divorce. My dad

passed away. Cancer and my faith all in the same year.

I'm so thankful for all that you do. Well, Bill,

I want to tell you, I know you've been going

through some really tough times this past year, but there's

no greater news than hearing that you've accepted Jesus into

your life and the fact that God used the Daily

Hope podcast to lead you to him is such a blessing.

And I want you to know that as you continue

to study God's word every day, you're going to find

that your faith is growing and you'll see God actively

working in your life. I really am as excited today

to think about what the next year is going to bring.

Year two in your life will be very different than

the last year. And to the rest of you, all

of our Daily Hope listeners, I just want to thank

you because we're able to provide the Daily Hope podcast

to people like Bill because of your generous support. Thank you,

thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you

for helping us share the good news all around the world.

We love you. And imagine what it's going to be

to get to heaven and see all these people who

came to know Christ because of your giving. God bless you.

You can join us in bringing hope to others. Just

scan the QR code or go to dailyhopetv.com. Now, when

you get to heaven one day, God is not going

to say, why weren't you more like your brother? Why

weren't you more like your dad? Why weren't you more

like your mother? Why weren't you more? No. You are

only responsible for the talents you've been given. And I'm

talking about not just money, but your time and your

abilities and all these other different things. When you get

to heaven, God is never gonna compare you to anybody else.

And you can't say, well look, you only gave me

one talent, you gave that guy five talents. God isn't

gonna say, who you talking about? God wants to know

what did you do with what you were given. What

did you do with what you were given? Not what

I gave somebody else, but what I gave you. So

God says, you get to choose what you do with

the money I gave you. Now, what can you do

with that money? You can waste it. And there are

plenty of ways to waste it. You can spend it.

You can use it. You can invest it. You know,

they're all different. You could hoard it. There are lots

of ways, and God lets you choose which way you

want to do it. But you will have to give

an account one day for the reasons you chose to

do what you did with the money he loaned to

you while you were alive. This is a test. One day,

you're going to have to explain it. And that's why

in verse 19 it says, After a long time, the

master of the three servants returned to settle his accounts.

Circle the word accounts. He said he returned to settle

his accounts. This is the next law, the third law.

And the third law is the law of accountability. And

the law of accountability is this. One day, God will

audit me. One day, God is going to audit me.

He's going to come and settle accounts. There's gonna be

a final exam on the life God gave you. It

will be a life audit, not by the IRS, but

by the G-O-D. And the difference between the IRS and

the G-O-D is God has all the records. You don't

have to bring any to that audit. He's already got it.

He's seen everything you've ever done with your time, with

your words, with your money, with your life. The times

you used it for good and the times you just

flat out blew it But you will give an account

one day. And it is foolish to go through life

thinking that I'm not gonna have an audit at the

end of life. You think God would create you, put

you on this planet, and then at the end say,

now what'd you do with your life? I put you,

I created you, and I made you for a reason.

And so there's gonna be this audit. God has made

an investment in you. He has given you certain gifts,

certain abilities, certain opportunities. He's given you certain resources. He's

given you a certain heritage. He's given you certain freedoms.

He's given you a certain amount of intellect and intelligence

and energy. And God's going, what'd you do with all

that stuff? Well, I made a lot of money, retired,

and died. Ah, wrong answer. You think I put you

on earth to live for yourself? I mean, come on.

I mean, really, come on. You think I put you

on earth to live simply for yourself? And to stockpile

a bunch of things that you're not gonna take with

you anyway when you die? Life is not in the

acquisition of things. You've seen that bumper sticker, he who

dies with the most toys wins. No, the sticker should say,

he who dies with the most toys still dies. And

he wasted his life because life is not about the

acquisition of things because you're not taking any of it

with you. It all belongs to God. God has loaned

it to me. He's watching what I do with it.

And one day I'm going to give an account of

how well I used the money, the resources, the time,

the energy, all things that God gave me. The Bible

says this here on the screen, Romans 14, 12. Each

of us will give an account of himself to God. Now,

you know, it's fun to be irresponsible, but you can't

be irresponsible your entire life. My guess is that when

you got out of high school, You either A, went

off and tried to get a job, or you went

off to college. And either way, whether you went to

college or went to work, there's probably a few years

in there you were just slacking around. You're thinking, I'm

out of the house, I'm gonna have some fun. And

you're kind of irresponsible. You sleep in, you don't really

try to get a job. You're watching cartoons, eating Cocoa Puffs,

and playing video games, and things like that. But at

some point, you have to wake up and go, excuse me,

I gotta get a life. I cannot be irresponsible my

entire life. It might work for a year or two,

but the master's gonna come back and I'm gonna give

an account. And irresponsibility never lasts. It always catches you

in the end. And that's what happens to people when

they get in debt. We are financially irresponsible and it

eventually catches up with us. And the chickens come home

to roost. Right now, America is really, in the results

of decades of overspending. And how the most blessed and

most prosperous and the most wealthy nation in the world

can be on the verge of bankruptcy isn't amazing, but

it can happen. All you have to do is just

spend trillions and trillions and trillions of dollars and keep

spending it. You cannot be irresponsible forever. At some point,

you have to kind of man up. Now, the law

of accountability says that one day God's going to say,

what'd you do with what I gave you? Now, notice

these three guys have three different responses. The first guy,

he's got a good report. He's got a good ROI,

return on his investment. And in verse 21, 20 and 21,

it says, the man who had received five talents, okay,

brought the others. Remember, this is about nine million bucks.

Brought the other five he had made. And master, he said,

you entrusted me with five talents. See, I've gained five more.

His master replied, well done, good and faithful servant. Well,

I guess so. He's got 100% return. I'd be happy

for a tenth of that today. Wouldn't you? I mean,

100% return. He doubled his investment. I mean, this guy

bought Google. You know, Okay, he clearly, he got in

on the front end of Amazon or something and his

stock has really soared. He doubles investment, 100% return. Same

thing with the second guy. Second guy has another good

return and a good report to share. Verse 22, that

servant who was given two talents of money also came

and said, master, you entrusted me with two talents. Now, see,

I have gained two more. He's doubled his. And his

master replies to him, well done, Good and faithful servant.

100% return on investment. Now the third guy does not

have a good story to tell because he has not

used what God gave him wisely. And he doesn't have

a good report. In verse 24, then the man who

had received the one talent came and said, Master, I

knew that you are a hard man. Now notice he's

turning the tables. He's trying to put the blame on

his boss. Master, I knew that you are a hard man.

harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you

haven't scattered seed. So I was afraid. You know, I

was afraid of losing your money. And I went out

and I hid your talent in the ground. I buried it.

Just buried it. Now here it is. Here's what belongs

to you. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. And what is the

master's reply to the servant? You wicked, lazy servant. Now

let's just Tear this apart a minute, because this story's

in the Bible for a reason. This guy buries what

God has given him. He does nothing with it. He

doesn't use his talent. And then he blames his master

for his own mismanagement and for his failure. He says,

I'm a victim. We've got people doing this today. They

mess up their lives, and they mess up their lives,

and they don't know what to do. So they blame

the government. or they blame the boss, or they blame

their parents, and they blame everybody else. God didn't cause

you to put all that money, all those expenses on

your credit card. God didn't tell you to go buy

a brand new car when you couldn't afford it. God

didn't tell you to go buy a house that you

couldn't afford. The Bible says this, here on the screen,

Proverbs 19, three. People ruin themselves by their own stupid

actions and then blame the Lord. You've heard me say

this before. Anytime I blame, you spell blame, Be lame.

Every time I blame you for my problems, I am

being lame. Now, notice the master's response to this guy's whining.

He says, verse 27, he said, you know, you should

have at least put my money in the bank so

I could make some interest. I mean, just put it

in a passbook account. It's not making anything, but that's

better than digging a hole in the ground and just

burying it. You could have at least made some money

on it. Now, this leads us to the fourth law

of financial freedom, and it is the law of utilization.

And the law of utilization is this. I must wisely

use God's money. God expects me to use what I've got,

not to hoard it, not to sit on it, not

to hide it, not to bury it, not to deny it,

but money is a tool and it is meant to

be used. It is not meant to be stockpiled. Money

is like manure, okay? If you spread it all around,

it helps things grow like fertilizer. But if you pile

it up, it just starts stinking. God expects me to

invest what he loans me. Now this third guy, what's

the problem with him? He's cautious, he's conservative. They said

nothing ventured, nothing gained. And what's he do? He just

sits on it. And he takes what his master has

given him and doesn't do anything with it. And does

this upset the master? Are you kidding? The master says,

you wicked, lazy servant. Doesn't that seem a little strong

to you? Okay. He says, I was afraid of losing it,

so I didn't do anything with it. And God says

to him, or the master says to him, you're wicked. Now,

that's not a word we would usually use for money management, mismanagement.

But what he's saying here is this. This is a

serious sin. See, when we think of the word wicked,

we think of rape. We think of murder. When I

think of wicked, I think of child abuse. I think

of sex trafficking. I think of forced slavery and bondage.

I think of those things as wickedness. But you know

what God says? He's saying, Rick, it's wicked Anytime you

misuse or abuse the resources I gave you and you

don't use them wisely, that's wicked. This is a test.

I put you on earth to see if I could

trust you. And if I can't trust you in heaven

with greater responsibility, if I can't trust you on earth

with some serious money management issues. He said, doing nothing

is inexcusable. Now that's true with everything. Doing nothing with

your talent. You just sit on it. You don't use

your talent. Doing nothing with your money. You just sit

on it. You don't use it. Doing nothing with your time.

You just sit on it and you use it instead

of using it. You don't invest it. The greatest use

of your life is to invest it in that which

will outlast it. Thank you.