Finding Financial Wisdom in an Age of Fools | Unbreakable

Hey. Thanks so much for listening to Sandals Church. Our vision as a church is to be real with ourselves, God, and others. We hope you enjoy this message.

Hey, guys. Welcome to our series called Unbreakable. Man, hasn't it been incredible? Absolutely incredible. I've enjoyed Pastor Claude.

I've enjoyed our campus pastors. It's been such an incredible series. Today, I wanna talk about Unbreakable Wealth. You ever wondered why some people are rich and you're not? Come on now.

This our our vision our vision is to be real. Like, when I go to Newport Beach, I just get bitter. Amen? What if God doesn't want you to get bitter? What if God wants you to get wiser?

So many of us, especially in our day and age, we're more American than we are Christian and so we enter into this culture war of who has and who has not. And so here's the thing is, what if God wanted to bless you more financially than you're blessed today? How many of you would want that? Raise your hands. Okay.

If your hand is not up, it should be. You're like, no Pastor, I wanna be miserable and poor my whole life. Okay. That's not what God wants from you. What if I told you that God has more for you than what you're experiencing financially today?

You're like, well Pastor, you know, I don't want it, I don't want us to be one of those church where we're all supposed to be rich, fat and happy. Well, but couldn't we be a little happier? A little fuller, amen? A little wealthier? I think we could.

And here's the thing is, we're in this series called Unbreakable, and it's just in Proverbs. I'm only going to give scriptures from Proverbs. The Bible talks about wealth in almost every single book, but I'm only gonna talk about it from the book of Proverbs. Matter of fact, well, Jesus didn't talk about it. Did you know Jesus talked about money more than any other issue?

If you take the New Testament out, every 6th verse, you know what Jesus is talking about? Money. You know why that is? He knows what you struggle with. He knows what you struggle with.

And so here's the thing is, I didn't come from money. Amen? Anybody else? I didn't marry into money. I missed that one.

Anybody else? I just knew Tammy was cute, but she was also broke. We're gonna live on love that last 1 month. Right? And then it's like somebody's gotta work.

And I didn't grow up around money. I didn't grow up around people who knew how to handle money. And here's the thing is, I've had to learn. I've had to learn. You see, Sandals has grown.

Multi $1,000,000 budget. I've had to learn how to handle money. And here's what I've learned. God only gives you what you can handle. So you wanna learn to handle some more, amen?

I think you should. You see, God says he only gives more to those who are faithful with what they've received. And here's my prayer for you today, that you would position yourself at the end of this service to say, God, I'm ready for the next blessing. Whatever it is, I'm not saying you're gonna be the next Jeff Bezos. I'm not saying you're gonna be the next owner of Tesla.

But I am saying this. I believe God can bless you more. The book of Proverbs has 31 chapters in it and there are over 30 specific verses about wealth, riches, and money. You see, when God talked to his son, he said, son, you need to know how to spend. You need to know how to save.

You need to know how to earn. You need to be wise, son. And he talked to his son about money. Your parents may have never talked to you about money, but your Father in Heaven wants to. So how do we start?

How do we start saying, God, I want to learn about how to use my money? Number 1, write this down. Pray for wisdom when it comes to wealth. Men, I'd say 9 out of 10 people you watch on TikTok telling you what to do with your money are stupid. They're fools.

If I mean, if I knew what to do with money, I wouldn't be telling you. Right? I got this secret investment. It's a secret investment. I'm not telling you.

You know, all these people wanna do is have you watch them on TikTok. They don't have any money. I mean, all they've got is TikTok. That's it. It's a free app.

But listen, start praying about your wealth. Say, God, I I need to learn. You see, it's okay to not know how to handle money. It's not okay to stay that way. God is not in the business of blessing fools.

Stop being foolish. This is one of my favorite verses in the entire Bible. I told my wife, I'm so excited. I finally get to preach on this verse that has changed my life. Proverbs 37 through 9.

This is all the way at the end. Right before, guys, God tells you how to find a wife, he tells you how to spend your money. Because he knows you're stupid in both ways. Amen? He said, wrapping it up.

Listen to this. Oh god, I beg 2 favors from you. This is a prayer. Let me have them before I die. 1st, help me to never tell a lie.

2nd, listen to this. Give me neither poverty nor riches. That's wisdom. Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. Listen to this prayer.

For if I grow rich, I may deny you. That's why Jesus said it's impossible for the rich to inherit the kingdom of God. You can get stupid as you get rich. Like, every single day, every single day, I look at some of the wealthiest people in our country and I go, what are you thinking? You know what?

They're not. Money has changed them. For if I go grow rich, I may deny you and say, who is the Lord? Man, success can cause you to forget God. You don't ever want to be that successful.

And so you're like, praise God, the Lord's answered that prayer. But listen to this. And if I'm too poor, I may steal and thus insult God's holy name. Wow. Can I just tell you?

Whether you're young or old, rich or poor, it will always be easier to lose money than to make it. And that's why some of you don't have it. Can I challenge you to do something today? Would you pray today over what you earn? Like some of you guys, every single night, you pray.

You ask God to bless your cereal, you know, your unhealthy meal, your McDonald's and God's like, I don't even know if I can do that. Why don't you ask God to bless your paycheck? Why have you never done that? Why have you never done that? Some of us have an unhealthy relationship with wealth.

We think it's bad. No, no, no. The love of money is bad. You need money to live. And oh, by the way, you need money to give.

Next, pray over what you spend. You're like, nope, I'm out. This is the nope. Nope. The next time before you buy something, why don't you just throw this one up?

Lord, should I buy this? Should I buy this? I have avoided some of the biggest mistakes in my life by simply asking that question. You know the Holy Spirit loves you and he'll speak to you? Next, and here's how we're gonna end the service.

You knew this was coming. Come on now. I've got my Benny Hinn jacket on. Right? I wanna challenge you today.

Seriously, if you call yourself a Christian, I wanna challenge you today to pray over what you give to God. Don't ask me, ask him. Ask this question. God, am I generous like Jesus? Am I generous like Jesus?

We're gonna talk about wisdom today, but I wanna pray over you today. I'm gonna pray over your earnings. I'm gonna pray over your spending, and I'm gonna pray over your giving. Can I just pray over you before we jump into this message that is so important for for for living the life as a Christian? Let me pray over you.

Would you just lift your hands? Lord, I wanna pray over everyone in this room's earning. God, I pray over their paychecks, that they would increase. God, I pray over their career choices, that they would be wise. God, I pray over every aspect of their life, and I pray that you bring riches to them.

Riches, Lord, that they can handle, and riches, Lord, that they can navigate. But Lord, I ask that you bless them. Lord, I also ask that you would give them wisdom when it comes to spending. And God, I pray that you would convict us all to give like Jesus, that you would convict us of our giving. Speak to us today, Lord.

We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Now, let me say this before we move on. Like I said, it's okay to not know how to handle money.

It's not okay to stay that way. We have Financial Peace that's starting in our church September 18th. We have this for you. There are people in our church that are good with money, and they can help you become better with yours. Stop making excuses.

Stop. Change your calendar. Get in that class. Sign up today. There are enough idiots in this world when it comes to money.

You don't need to be 1. You need to get smarter. You get need to get wiser. Some of you, as married couples, need to have a come to Jesus moment. Look, if you could fix your finances, you would've.

And if you're single and you've got problems, you've got no one to blame. You can't blame the dog. The dog can't use the credit card. Its paws can't touch the buttons. So let's talk today about how to be wise financially, because I believe there's more for you.

You see, the wise person listen to me. This is key. We can't move forward without this. The wise person values integrity over wealth. If our country no longer exists, it will be because we have valued wealth over integrity.

And let me tell you something. Your politicians lack integrity, so you better have it. You better have it. I was recently convicted. My wife was out of town.

I went over, to a pastor friend of mine's house and and and they just said it's family night. So what does that mean? We're gonna watch a movie I would never watch. And we sat down. Wives asleep on the couch.

Me and the kids are on the floor. And we watched a movie called Blue Miracle. Anybody seen it? Blue Miracle. You need to go watch it.

It's on Netflix. Great movie. But there's this scene in the movie where this guy who's running an orphanage, he's trying to raise money, and he can't figure it out. And if he doesn't pay the bills, all the orphans are gonna lose their home and go back on the streets. And he has an opportunity to cheat.

And if he cheats, he's gonna get this money and the kids are gonna be safe. He has all the reasons in the world to cheat. But he doesn't. But he doesn't. And there's this beautiful scene where one of the orphans is watching him as he processes out loud whether or not he's gonna be a man of integrity or not.

Let me tell you this, men. Your children are watching you. Whether you know it or not. Let me tell you, men. Your wives are watching you, whether you know it or not.

And one of the reason we have a broken culture is we haven't had Christians who have said, I'm gonna be a home, a man, a woman, a single person of integrity, and I'm gonna do what's right even if it doesn't bless me. This man in this movie, Blue Miracle, chooses integrity and the Lord blesses him. This is a Netflix movie. Here's what blew me away. I was at a campus last week while all of our campus pastors were preaching and I met somebody and and I had met this guy for the first time.

I said, what do what do you do? He said, oh, I'm I'm a director in Hollywood. I said, oh, that's great. I said, what, you know, what are some of your films? He said, well, the film I have out right now is Blue Miracle.

I was

like, I just watched that. It was family night at the Melendres'. I just watched that. Do you know how much that meant to me that there's a director in Hollywood? Take back everything you've said about Hollywood.

There's a director in Hollywood who is making films that convict people of integrity. And he began to talk to me about all the moments he put God in the movie. And I was like, oh my gosh, I missed that. I missed that. I'm a pastor.

I should have seen that. Wow. And it was incredible. Sandals Church has a director, a man, full of integrity making films that convict people to be better. Listen to this.

Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in all his ways. And I know, I know, cheaters get ahead. They never do. They never do. It catches up with you.

Here's the one thing you need to know. You cannot outrun your sin. You can't. It will catch you. And some of you say, Well, I just see all the people who cheat.

I just see all the people who cheat on their taxes, who lie a little bit about I see them getting ahead. Let me tell you something. They may get ahead in this life, but it will catch up to them in the next life. Listen to this. Proverbs 11:4.

Proverbs 11:4

My son, listen to me. Riches will not help on the day of judgment. Woah. You see, money gets you places on earth it will get you nowhere in heaven. Because what you're gonna find out in heaven, God's gonna be like, it's all mine anyways.

Come here. You're like, I thought it was mine. He's like, I know you did.

Do you know

how many rich people are gonna be disappointed on judgment day? The Bible says their gold and wealth will testify against them. But right living can save you from death. Here's what I love about Blue Miracle. Listen to me.

Especially to the men. I don't know how wealthy you're gonna be, but integrity makes you rich. A couple weeks ago, Pastor Claude preached on this, and it convicted me that I want my kids, when I'm dead, I want them to say, My dad was a man of his word. My dad had integrity. I want that for you.

I want your sons and your daughters to be able to say, My dad wasn't the richest. Maybe he wasn't the smartest and he wasn't the coolest. You know dad's how you dress. You know what it looks like. Like your wife just gives you the Costco outfit and you just put it on, Hey, ain't nothing wrong with that.

There's nothing wrong with that. But imagine your kids saying, my dad had integrity. I always trusted my dad. I always trusted my dad. Look, husbands.

I'm not the best husband in the world, but the thing that matters to me most is that my wife trusts me. All the money in the world can't buy that. It's more precious than gold. Ladies, guys, become men and women of integrity. And God will take care of the rest.

God will take care of the rest. Number 3. The wise person works, listen to me, especially if you're a millennial, I love you. I love you. I do.

I do. While they can. Look, if you can't work it when you're 20, what are you gonna do when you're 50? Your back doesn't hurt. Shut up.

It doesn't hurt. You're not aching. You're not tired. You're at the pentacle of your physical career. The marines don't want me.

They want you. If I showed up, they'd be like, thank you so much. We appreciate maybe you can say a prayer. Listen to me. Here's what Proverbs says.

Lazy people want much but get little. Why on earth would God bless you if you're not willing to work? And somebody, like, well, I'm waiting for God to move. You know what God's waiting for to move? You.

You. But those who work will prosper. Look. Let's move from Christians from quiet quitting to intentional earning. I know.

Boy, that'll preach. I'm waiting for my dream job. Let me tell you something. You know how you get your dream job? You work at jobs you hate.

You think I love everything about my job? No. One of the most difficult things is you. It's you. It's true.

It's why I got the Twitch. Some of your parents will get to my children. I have 1,000. 1,000. Listen to this.

Especially if you're young, listen to this. Proverbs 21/25. Remember, this is from a father to his son. Despite their desires oh, I got dreams. Who cares?

You know what a dream is that you don't act on? A dream. A dream. It says despite their dreams, the lazy will come to ruin, for their hands refuse to work. Well, Pastor, you don't know what's happened to me in my life.

You're right. I don't. But you know what I know about God? God's never God's never built a chair. Did you know that?

God's never built a house. You know what God builds? Trees. You know what kind of trees you wanna build your house with? You wanna know what kind of trees you build your furniture with?

You wanna build your house, your furniture, your chairs from trees that have endured hardship. You know what makes a tree strong? Difficulty. You want your dream to come true? Toughen up.

Take 1 on the chin. I mean, some of you guys can't even take a punch. It's like a shadow and you're like, I'm out. I mean, some of you guys, you don't even fight. One of my favorite things to watch on YouTube is just 2 boxers.

They come to the ring. 2 heavyweights. They're a standard. They're both professionals. They've both decided to do this.

And the one professional, he's like, no. And he just walks out. All the people paid money to watch him fight. He's like, no. And that's how some Christians are.

It wasn't God's will. It's like the Lord wants you to fight. Take 1 on the chin. It's what makes you stronger. Look, you're more valuable than a tree.

All these hardships are to prepare you to become who God's called you to be. Toughen up. Toughen up. Life is not easy, but God is good. But you know what the problem is?

Lazy people always think they're smarter than everybody else. Listen to what Proverbs says. Lazy people consider themselves smarter than 7 wise counselors. I'm waiting for my dream job. Look.

How are you gonna be a CEO if you can't show up for a minimum wage work? So here's my advice to you. Listen to me if you're 20. Stop partying. Stop going to Coachella.

Start working hard. You know what your twenties is about? Your twenties is about figuring out what you can do. I don't care what your teacher said. I don't care what your parents said.

I don't care what your ex said. The your twenties is find out what you can do. Find out how hard you can work. Find out your limits. That's what twenties is.

Because some of you, you're just smoking weed, you blinked in your 30. What happened? I don't know, bro. What happened? Your twenties is you push it to the limit.

K? The world has lied to you. You can't do anything. You can't become whatever you want, but you can become something, so figure it out. Figure it out.

You gotta find your wall. How do you know when you hit it? When you're, like, almost dead. That's when you know whack you hit it. Oh, that's my wall.

So in your twenties, go for it. When I planted Sandals Church, I was 27 years old. Listen to me. I planted this church. I was teaching full time.

I was in seminary on Tuesday, Thursday nights, and all day Saturdays, and I preached all around Southern California on Sunday mornings to make ends meet so I could preach for you for free on Sunday nights. And I found my wall. You listen. You can't do that when you're 50. You can't even think about that.

You're like, yeah, I need a nap. So let me tell you something. In your thirties, live within the limits of what you learned in your twenties. Quit partying like a 20 year old when you're 30. Some of you 30 year olds, you think you're young.

You know what you are? You're in midlife. I know. All the 30 year olds are like, Oh, I'm not in midlife. I'm just getting started.

1 in 17000 Americans, one, lives to a 100. When you're in your mid thirties, you're in midlife, old folk. Yeah. I see that gray. I see it.

It's sneaking out, boo.

Yeah.

Live within reality. You know why so many people are depressed? They hate reality. You know where that is? You didn't push it in your twenties.

You need to push it in your twenties so you can deal with reality in your thirties. And then what happens in your forties? You start to thrive. Because you know something. Listen, 20 year olds.

I know you think you know. You don't know. And the scariest thing is you don't know. Well, you don't know. In your forties, you know because you've made some mistakes.

You've screwed up life a little bit. You have some wounds. Now, you have something to say. Right? Like if you're 20 on TikTok, I just scroll, scroll, scroll.

Call me when you've been just beat up a 1000 times when you're 40, then I'll listen to what you have to say. Then when you're in your fifties and sixties, Come on, man. We need you. We need you. You have wisdom.

You have wisdom. Like if you're 50 and you're not leading a small group, what are you doing? What are you doing?

I'm gonna keep all of this wisdom to myself.

Meanwhile, all the 20 year olds like they need you. They need you.

When you're

in your fifties and your sixties, that's not the time to buy an RV and go off into the sunset. That's where the 20 year olds are now. Right? That's what that's what they're doing. They're traveling the world.

23. Okay? And then you're 70. Right? You're 70.

You're in your eighties. You know what? You become a cheerleader. You can do it. You can do it.

You can do it. That's right. That's okay. That's okay. You tell the 20

year olds, you gotta make it. Just keep trying.

You tell the 30 year olds, I know it sucks. We've been here a while.

You tell the 40 year olds, you need to start speaking up. You tell the 50 year olds, don't go on vacation. Get in the game. When you're 50, you're coaching. I don't care how good the team is.

If they don't have a coach, they lose. They lose. Listen to me 20 year olds. You're stronger than me, but you need a coach because you're gonna run-in the wrong wall. You're gonna die in the wrong hill.

Number 4. A wise person anticipates tough times. Every single year when we put our budget together, I ask some of the wealthiest, most influential people I know, what do you foresee? One of my favorite ones last year was, I have a friend named Dave. He's a multimillionaire, has all kinds of businesses.

I said, what do you see in 2022? This is what Dave said. 2022 is clearly murky. I was like, that's wise. So listen to me, 20 year olds.

If the 50 year old businessman who owns multiple businesses, who's a multimillionaire time over time, if he doesn't know what the future holds, you shouldn't either. I know, but on TikTok, I've heard. Stop. Stop. Proverbs 2712.

A prudent person foresees danger. Well, now you're using big words. Prudent. What it means is wise, aware, precautious. You wanna know what you are when you're young?

Not prudent. And it's okay. You're not supposed to be. We need you to be energetic and go for it. That's what you do when you're young.

But we need people who can see the future and say, okay. Here's what's going on. I've never been more frightened in my life to be an American than I was last week. I was asked by a congressman to come and meet with him personally. This is a congressman that I don't agree with on a lot of political things, but whenever I'm invited, I go because that's what Jesus did.

Don't send me an email. And so I went and I met with this congressman, and he made the mistake of asking me what I thought the biggest issues were facing California. And I was like, well, I have 3, and I feel comfortable sharing with you too. And here's what I said. I said the 2 biggest issues facing Californians, and this unites all people of all color.

This this unites people of all social, you know, wealth. This unites people that are gay, straight, trans. This is an issue for every Californian. I said, water and power. He looked at me like I said, the moon is made of cheese.

And then the next day, our governor came on and started regulating our water and our power. Our politicians are clueless. They I I mean, they are clueless. Like, I don't know how you can go to Lake Mead and and not go, I think we have a water problem. You know, I'm not the smartest guy, but when it the well's empty, I'm like, yeah.

That's that's an issue. So you better start paying attention because our politicians are not. The only thing they want is your vote, and they're willing to give you money for it. They don't care if it burns us all to hell 10 years down the road. They don't care.

They just want elected. That's it. You you better wake up. The prudent person sees danger coming and takes precautions. You need to start saving for your future.

You need to start thinking about this. That's why you need 50 year olds in your life. They've been through some storms before. But listen to this. This this verse will change your life.

Man, that's the problem with Proverbs, is we could sit in every proverb and just talk about it for a month. The prudent sees danger coming and takes precautions. The simpleton, you're like, what's that mean? The stupid person goes on blindly and suffers the consequence. And then, you know what the simple sin does?

Blames God. I am not a financial genius. But listen to me, young people. If everyone is buying, I'm thinking about selling. I hear young people say this all the time.

I'll never be able to afford a home. Listen to yourself. If you make good money and you can't afford a house, what does that mean? Something's gonna change and I've heard the stupidity over and over again. They're not making any more land.

Yeah, they are in Hawaii. I've been there. I've been there. It's pooping out land every day, Every day. Like, I I I I come on 50 year olds.

We've heard this stuff before. It's just it's just stupidity from the nineties, from the 2 tens, from the teens, and now we're in the twenties and we're still dumb. Look, if you're doing what everybody's doing, you're gonna lose. Amen, crypto? Right?

When everybody's doing it, it's too late. It's too late. The wise person pays attention, sees what's going on, and does something different. Number 5. The wise person plans for the future.

You see, when you're in your twenties, you're like this, and you can't help it. Because, like, 5 years ago, you were in high school, and before that, it was junior high, and before that, it was elementary school, and before that, you couldn't read. Right? And before that, you you you pooped yourself. You know what I mean?

You're right. We we need we need help. We all need help. Okay? You need to know this.

Don't expect others to save for your future. The wise man saves for the future, but the foolish man spends whatever he gets. When my kids were little, we would always give them money on vacation to spend, and, one of my daughters, you know, she she would wait till the last day of vacation to spend. You know? She I mean, even then, it would be, like, reluctant.

It'd be, like, you have to pull the money that I gave her to spend, like, out of her pocket. She's like, I don't know. It's like the vacation's over. You need to spend it. But my other daughter, man, she she'd be broke 6 minutes into vacation.

You know? And then, you know, inevitably, you know, a week into the vacation, she'd want something. I'd say, well, where's your money? And she would say,

I don't know. It's gone.

I don't know, daddy. It's all gone.

Look, that's cute when you're 6, not when you're 30, not when you're 40. Some of you come to church. You're like, I need

my water bill paid.

Where did all your money go?

You're like, I don't know. It's all gone.

Well, did you get robbed? No. It's you. Here's what you need to start working for right now. You need to have a savings fund, because you might lose your job.

You might lose your job. And then you're gonna go, God, and he's gonna go, I told you in Proverbs to save. You're like, Next, listen to me. Once you get a savings fund, this is key. You wanna be wealthy?

Get an opportunity fund. An opportunity fund. What's that for? Opportunities. Listen.

You never make money by buying. You make money by investing. 3 years ago, if instead of buying a Tesla, if you took that same money and you invested in Tesla, you'd be a millionaire. And you're like,

I didn't know.

God's like, you should read Proverbs. You never make money by buying. You make money by investing. K? And you need to start thinking about that.

The first step is a savings fund. Now, I know some of you, man, you're struggling. You can't pay the rent. You don't know how you're gonna eat tomorrow. I love you.

I'm praying for you. This is not you. The first thing you need to do is be able to pay your bills. Then you need to be able to have some savings. Then you need to be able to have an opportunity fund.

Look, work work hard now so you can do what you want later. Work hard now while you can because your back and your knees and your shoulders and your eyes like, man, you think it's never gonna happen. I used to make fun of my friends when it would come time to pay for the check and they're like, woah.

Woah. Woah.

And now you wanna know what I'm doing? Ow. I have to ask the server what the bill says because I'm too proud to actually wear my glasses. I know. It's embarrassing.

It's coming to you. It's coming to a theater near you. And one day, one day, your eyes are just gonna be like, we're done. We're done. Number 6.

A wise person learns from their mistakes. Can I just say this? It's okay to make a mistake financially. Married couples, it's okay to make a mistake. I've made a mistake.

You're gonna make a mistake. It's okay. Just don't make the same mistake over and over and over and over again. Learn. You know what the fool does?

The fool never learns. Listen to Proverbs 2611. This is one of my favorite verses of all time. Are you ready for it? As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his foolishness.

You're not a dog. You're a child of God. Stop acting like a dog that pukes it up and licks it up. Stop going back to the same decisions over and over and over again and blaming God. Change your life.

If it hurt, don't do it again. If you went broke, don't do it again. The amazing thing is your pastor, I've been your pastor 25 years. I've watched people get into trouble. We've prayed them out of trouble and then they go right back into trouble.

They're like, pastor, pray for me. I'm like, no. We did that. We did that. You know?

Go to SoulCare. They'll pray for you. I'm not I'm not doing that. And some of you guys are, well, that's harsh. Jesus said don't cast pearls before swine.

Don't do it. Like, if I got you out of trouble and you jumped right back in, well, why am I gonna waste my time? Maybe you need to hurt a little more. Stop doing it over and over and over again. But you're like, well, Pastor, listen to me.

The way of the fool is right in his own eyes. That's not my words. That's God's word. You think you're smart. You're not.

One of the funniest marriage counseling sessions I ever did in the history of Sam's Church was 2 of the dumbest people in our church arguing about how smart the other one was. And I was I was just sitting there and counseling and I'm like, you're both so dumb. I didn't say that. I didn't say that. I thought it.

And that's why they don't let me do counseling. Right? I'm not kidding you. These these 2 and and you know what they lost? They lost their marriage.

The husband ended up losing his life. They lost their careers. Their whole world blew up because they thought they were smart and they were really actually dumb. But a wise man listens to advice. I have many, many wise people in my life, and the biggest mistakes I've made is when they speak and I don't listen.

Man, when someone wise speaks to you, listen. And here's the thing I've learned. You know when you're in a group of friends and the person that's talking all out loud, very loud about what you should do, that's the person you probably shouldn't listen to. You know the person you should listen to? The person who's sitting in the corner saying nothing.

Because they know what to do. Because you know what wise people do? They don't offer advice to people who don't care. So find people that are wise. Start at Financial Peace University.

We have people in our church, listen, we have people in our church who are extraordinarily wise and gifted with money. And you're like, I'm not. I know. Talk to them. Talk to them.

You see, that's the amazing thing about the body of Christ. Your family may not have been rich, but there are people in this church that are rich and they can help you. They can help you. And they're not on TikTok. They're in your church.

They actually care about you. They actually love you and they're not trying to gain something from you. They're trying to They're here to teach you how to gain something. Now, here's the hardest thing, especially if you're young, because you're impatient. So one of the things about social media See, what was so cool when I grew up when you were poor, you didn't know it.

Like, you didn't know it. Like, everybody on your block was poor. Everyone was poor. No one had a new car. Like, you know, it was just like, we we just thought that's how everyone lived.

And then all of a sudden you got social media and you're like, oh,

this

is what rich people do. And if you're rich, quit putting it on social media. One day, all the poor people can come take it from you. I'm just telling you. I don't I don't know what you're doing.

I don't know what you're thinking. I know you got security. They're gonna run. I'm just telling you. You know?

Because if I was security, I'm not dying for you. You put it on social media. You're stupid. I mean, that's just that's what I would do. That's what I would do.

Right? I mean, why are you putting that stuff out there? Look. Number 7. The wise person is willing to grow wealth over time.

Don't be afraid to take your time. Listen to this. Proverbs 2820. The trustworthy person will get a rich reward, but a person who wants a quick riches will get into trouble. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Can I just help you? If somebody's selling something to you and it cures everything let me say that again. If someone is selling something to you and it cures everything, Nobody at Harvard figured this out. The drug companies didn't figure this out. They're investing 1,000,000,000 in dollars trying to figure out how to heal you, and there's this berry that a monkey ate, and when he poops it out, it changes your life.

Right? It's probably too good to be true. Listen. Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers it little by little will increase it. Some of you parents, you're in your seventies, your eighties.

And I left out those of you in the nineties. You're like, Well, what do I do in my nineties? Whatever you want. Whatever you want. You're 90.

Right? Yeah. I mean, right, amen? You did it. You're there.

Yes. But you're like, what should I do for my kids? Listen to me. The best wealth to leave your children is the wisdom to earn their own. That's the best wealth.

There is not a survey in the world that says giving money to your kids that they did not earn does not benefit them. Listen. Some of you play the lottery, it may destroy your life because you didn't earn it. You won it. And let me tell you something.

A lot of a lot of young people, man, oh, I think this should be free. I think that should be free. When something's free, it loses its power. It loses the point. It loses the point.

Free things make you a slave and then you're not free at all. You're dependent. Make your money a little bit at a time. And let me just say this. Here's my investing strategy.

Here's my commitment to my wife. I will never invest what we need and risk that for what I think I want. Ever. What does that mean? I'm not gonna go to Vegas and gamble if I don't have money to pay the rent.

That's not responsibility. Rent comes first. I I I I protect what I know I need. I protect what I know I need, and I never risk it for what I think I want ever. Ever.

Why would you do that? That's why people go broke. That's why people lose everything. And here's the last point, and this is this is a real challenge, a real challenge. And this is not what you wanna hear, but listen to me.

It's what most of us need to hear. 80% of the people who go to sandals don't give. Ain't that crazy? Or if they do, it's occasional and minimal. The wise person honors God with what they have.

Proverbs 39, when he's speaking to his son about wisdom, listen to what he says. Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of all you produce. Tammy and I, for 26 years of marriage, we made a decision 26 years ago. When I asked Tammy to marry me, I said, are you ready to be poor for the rest of your life? I guys, I wouldn't suggest that's how you propose, but that's what came out.

Look. I I I didn't come from money. I didn't marry into money. I didn't choose a profession for money. I was just trying to be realistic about what she could look forward to in the future.

K? I was gonna give her all I had and that was that was this. That's what this was. But we made a commitment. We made a commitment 26 years ago.

We're gonna put God first. And it was painful, and it was scary, and it was hard. And there were moments where we had to say, we're gonna wash diapers because we don't have money to buy diapers, and we gave to the Lord. But I am telling you, God has blessed us. He has blessed us, and he wants to bless you.

You have to learn to honor God with the first fruits. Tammy and I give on everything we make. So you, as church members, you give money to the church. The church board figures out, I don't know, I'm not in those meetings, how much to pay me, and I'm grateful for it. Thank you.

I would love to work for you for free. I can't afford to do that. Okay? I'm grateful for what you pay me. I tithe based upon what the church pays me.

And do you know why that is? Because I think that's what you should do. I think it's the good thing to do and my wife and I have done that. When I write my books, we tithe off that. When I go and speak somewhere else, we tithe off that.

We just recently sold our house. Why? People are like, where are you gonna move? Look, our home is is not our home. I told my wife, you're my home.

Wherever you are, that's where home is. You know what my house is? It's an investment, and I thought it was time to sell. And I had some counselors, some advisors, some people that I trust say, you ought to think about selling. And so we did.

And let me tell you something, we did really well. And the first check we wrote was to Sandals Church. But I want you to listen very carefully. Pastor Claude was preaching and Manny Claude was dynamic. He was amazing.

My favorite point was when he says, People always think I smoke pot. Can you imagine if he smoked pot? Like, he would just be asleep forever. Like, just like, what happened? Yeah, he smoked it and he's gonna be there, you know?

But Pastor Claude was preaching, he's preaching on integrity, and I'm literally sitting there just like you are in just a minute and I got my checkbook out and I'm getting ready to write the check and I want you to hear me very careful. I was sitting right where you are. I was feeling convicted, just like some of you will, and I was trying to figure out what I was gonna tithe on the sale of the house. And it's not it's not because I didn't wanna be generous, or I and I didn't wanna tithe. It's because I didn't know what the actual number was yet.

I hadn't done the math over 12 years living in a house what we what the actual profit number was, but I had an idea. I had a low idea and I had a high idea, and it was $10,000 difference of what I was gonna tithe to the church. And I was sitting there just like you are, just a second, and I said, what am I gonna give? And here's the thought that I had. The next time the Lord goes to bless me, do I want him to pick the big number or the little number?

I'm like, can you? I mean, Pastor Claude, God was moving through him. The Holy Spirit was speaking. And you know what I said? I said, I want God to go with the big number.

Here's what you don't know. It's the day we closed escrow, the air conditioning went out on our house. Now, if you've ever had this, you know that can be $500 that can be $5,000 that can be $15,000 So here I am trying to consider this 10,000 number. I know in the back of my head the air's out. Now, I got lots of friends.

I got lots of people that know lots of stuff that I don't know. I had several friends look at this and they're like, yeah, we don't know what's wrong with your air, which is never a good sign. It's never a good sign when an expert's, like, I'm confused. And so listen to me. That day, I was sitting in church, getting ready to write that check.

An air conditioner guy was gonna come on a Sunday to try to fix it one last time. Remember integrity? It I knew that it broke the day before we closed escrow, so I knew the air was still mine, still my responsibility. Remember integrity? So I gotta pay for it.

I could have pawned up.

I don't know what happened. That's weird. The air broke right when you moved in. I'm sorry.

But that God doesn't bless that. So I said, I'm gonna fix it. I rounded up to the number I told Tammy and Tammy said, That's the number I told you to write. You know, it's like We put it in. We put it in.

We got home. I kid you not, the air conditioner guy from our church called me the next day because that on Sunday, he couldn't fix it. On Monday, he called me, he said, air is fixed. I said, great. How much do I owe you?

Listen to what he said. Pastor, I heard God say I just need to bless you. He said, it's all taken care of. It's on me. 24 hours.

24 hours. It didn't cost me 15,000. It didn't cost me 10,000. It didn't cost me 5,000. It didn't cost me 500.

It cost me 0. Let me just ask you, what blessing are you about ready to miss out on because you won't trust God? What could happen tomorrow that won't happen because you tell God, no, today? Proverbs 137 says this. This is the 2 problems in giving.

1 pretends to be rich and has nothing. I know that's a nice car. You lease it. Some of you why are you acting like you're rich? You're not rich.

God wants you to be who you are. Stop acting like you're rich. That's why you can't give. And you make up all these excuses. I'm done with money and I spend too much, therefore I can't give God what I should give God.

And you're missing out. And then there are some of you, man, you really drive me crazy. You pretend to be poor. We had this super rich guy one time in our church, man. He's multimillionaire.

Wrote a check for $50 and asked me personally for a receipt. Oh, yeah. I got the crazy feed. I was

like, whoo.

I said, no. No. No. I'm not giving you a receipt for $50. This rich guy was like, I said, I'll give you your $50 back.

And then, you know, and then all the ushers are grabbing me. I mean, I was like, dude, I lost my mind. Are you kidding me? $50? Drove off in his Bentley.

$50. Man, whoo. That guy lost $50 in his change drawer and he doesn't miss it, but he wants a receipt from the church. Man, how do you want the Lord to be for you? The Bible says as you give, the Lord will give to you.

Maybe the reason you're not blessed is you don't bless the Lord. So what we're gonna do right now is we're gonna enter a time of offering. You're like, Oh no. Yeah. This is worship and I wanna challenge you.

This is, we're heading into tough times. Church knows it. I know it. I know our president doesn't know it. I know it.

We're heading into tough times. Okay? These are difficult days ahead. I wanna challenge you to do 3 things. Number 1, start to give consistently.

Give consistently. You need to give to God like you give to your landlord. You know who God is? He's the landlord. He owns everything, everything, and when you short him, the rent comes due.

Give regularly. Next, give generously. Round up. And let me challenge you, give to God whenever he gives to you. Look, you don't have to give what you don't have, but I wanna challenge you to give.

Proverbs 10/22, last verse. The blessing of the Lord makes rich, makes you rich. Listen to this. And, wow, and he adds no sorrow to it. A lot of rich people I know are miserable.

Their marriages are a mess. Their kids are a mess Because they've gotten money from the world and not from God. When God gives you money, listen to me, you're rich and there's no sorrow to it. Wow. You know what that means?

You sleep in a nice bed and you sleep. It's wonderful. So in just a minute, at every campus, I'm gonna invite the campus pastors to lead you into a time of giving, and I want you to be praying right now about what you give, and then I wanna challenge our online audience. Our online audience needs to step up and give more. I love you.

We work hard to provide this for you, and we reach you all over the world. I want you to stop just being a watcher and I want you to start being a contributor today. I want to challenge you and just ask God. Don't ask me. Ask God.

Say, God, what am I supposed to give? And then give that. Give that because you don't owe me anything, but you owe him everything. So, let's bow our heads and let's close our eyes and let's ask God, God, what kind of offering would I give today? How could I start giving?

And God, how could I become wiser when it comes to money? Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus, the one who gave everything he had, the one who said it is more blessed to give than to receive, Lord, we gather in his name. God, we cannot worship a giver and not be givers. God, I pray that you would convict us and that today we would make a change.

We're gonna be smarter and wiser with our money and we're gonna be more generous with how you bless us financially. And, God, we're we're gonna we're gonna help this church through tough times. We're gonna help this church, Lord, because we have a home that we live in and we have a spiritual house that we worship in, God. And we care about this house too. So God, move in our hearts, spur us on to be generous, and bless this humble offering that is so much less than what you gave to us.

We ask that you bless it and multiply it so that we can accomplish your will. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.