Rick Warren - Why More Money Won’t Make You Happy (The Bible Explains Why)

Now the Bible is full of money management advice.

I don't know if you know this or not, but

there are two books of the Bible particularly, one's called

the book of Proverbs and the other's called the book

of Ecclesiastes, which are filled with the laws of money,

the principles of prosperity. the rules for wealth. Now let

me make it very clear. We are not a, quote,

prosperity gospel church.

We are not.

We do not believe that God wants everybody to be

a millionaire. In fact, Jesus taught the exact opposite of that.

But the Bible is filled with principles that he says,

if you will do it God's way, then you get

God's blessing on your finances. And the Bible is filled

with principles of how to invest wisely, how to save wisely,

principles of saving, of investment, principles of spending, principles of

managing your money, principles of insuring. There are many, many

laws of financial freedom in both Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. Now,

the first law of financial freedom is the one we

have to look at today. Because if you don't get

this one, none of the other ones will work in

your life. I can't take you into the principles of

how to invest wisely how to save, how to spend wisely,

how to budget, all of these principles until first you

get this first one, which I call the law of contentment. Now,

this is very important because as long as your yearnings

exceed your earnings, you're gonna be in deep doo-doo.

You're gonna be in trouble. You're gonna have debt.

And your entire life you're gonna be frustrated with your

finances because your yearnings are always going to exceed your yearnings.

And until you learn this principle of contentment, you're always

gonna be frustrated by your money.

And you're never, never gonna have enough no matter how

much you make.

Now, this is not only a problem for individuals, it's

a problem for our entire nation. The chickens have come

home to roost because for decades, the government has been

spending more than it makes.

Recently, Time Magazine.

Did an article on this and explained that for every $ 1, 000

that Americans make, we put $ 1, 300 on our credit cards.

Hello?

It isn't rocket science to figure out why people are

stressed out. why people are in debt, why people are

going into foreclosure, because our yearnings are exceeding our earnings. Now,

here's what the Bible says. If you pull out your

message notes, and we're going to look in the book

of Proverbs and the book of Ecclesiastes today, the Bible

says in Proverbs 1430, let's read this verse aloud together.

It's healthy to be content, but envy will Eat.

You up, it'll eat you up.

He's saying it's not only financially good for you to

be content, it's actually physically good for you to live

a contented life. The Bible says a heart at peace

gives life to the body. It is invigorating. It is

good for your health to be at peace, to not

always be under tension, to not always be stressed out,

to not always be worried. He said envy, this desire

to always have.

More, will eat you up.

It will eat you alive. You see, when it comes

to your health, it's not just what you eat that matters.

It's what eats you alive. And if your life is

filled with worry or bitterness or guilt or resentment or anxiety,

it's what is eating you that is gonna cause you

to be in bad health. Now another verse in Ecclesiastes

also written by Solomon. These two books were written by

a man named Solomon. Solomon was the wisest man who

ever lived, the Bible says. God says he was the

wisest man who ever lived, so he's got some good

advice for us. He was also the wealthiest man in

the world when he wrote these two books with the

principles of money management in them.

Ecclesiastes 6.9 says.

This, it's better to be satisfied with what you have

than to always be wanting something else.

That's the principle. That's the law of contentment.

It's better to be satisfied with what you have than

to always be wanting something else. Now, the Bible says

that there are five damaging effects that when I want more,

it brings a lot more with it, not just wanting

more material goods. It brings five other things, and they're

all in the book of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. Number one,

The first effect of always wanting more is that wanting

more brings more fatigue. More fatigue. You're gonna be more tired.

If you're always wanting more, you're always working harder and

you are tired all the time. Being tired all the

time is a symptom of your trying to do too much.

Most people give up their health in the first half

of life in order to get money. They give up

their health in order to get money. And in the

second half of life, they give up all their money

to try to get their health back. Be wise and

figure that out in advance. The first thing is more fatigue.

Proverbs 23, verse 4, the Bible says this. Do not

Proverbs 23:4

wear yourself out to get rich. Have the wisdom to

show restraint. He says it's dumb, it's stupid, it's foolish

to wear yourself out trying to get more things. Because

even if you win the rat race, you're still a rat.

Now number two, not only does bringing, having more, wanting

more bring more fatigue, it brings more expenses.

Did you know that?

It always costs more to have more. It always costs

more to have more. It brings greater expense. You know,

I always say that if the grass is greener on

the other side of the fence, so is the water bill.

Because somebody had to pay for that green. Now, Ecclesiastes 5.11

says this. The more you have, the more people come

to help you spend it. I like that, it's true.

The more money you got, all of a sudden you

gotta have an accountant, or you gotta have a housekeeper,

or you gotta have somebody.

Mowing your lawn.

The more money you have, the more money you spend,

and it says the more people you have, the more

money you have, the more people help.

You spend it.

So what's the advantage of wealth, except perhaps to watch

it run through your fingers? I saw a bumper sticker

the other day that said, I used to dream of

the salary I'm now starving on.

You know, that's not funny. That's reality.

You used to dream of the salary that you now

are finding it hard to make ends meet on. And

just about the time you get ends meet, somebody moves

the ends. You say, I'm trying to keep up with

the Joneses. Well, don't, because they just filed for bankruptcy. Now,

we think that we don't make enough. We think that's

the problem. We think we don't make enough. The truth

is we want too much. That's the real problem. We

want Too much. And a lot of things we think

are needs are actually just greeds. Now God has said,

my God shall supply all your needs. He has not

said I will supply all your greeds. God is not

obligated to just give you anything you want. So, it

brings more frustration, it brings more fatigue, it brings more expenses.

The third thing wanting more does is it brings more anxiety.

More anxiety, because the more you have, the more you

have to worry about. If you don't have it, you

don't worry about it. You know, I have to be

honest with you. I never, never worry about my yacht

getting barnacles.

I just never worry about it.

Why? Because I don't own a yacht. And if you

don't own something, then you don't worry about it. And

the fewer things you own, the fewer things you have

to repair, the fewer things you have to maintain, the

fewer things you have to insure, the fewer things you

have to pay the taxes on, and all these other things.

And now we have so many things you can't even

keep it in your house, you have to buy a

place to rent to store the things. Now what's the

logic of that one? You're paying rent on stuff you're

not even using. Okay, so more anxiety. The more you have,

the more you worry about. Ecclesiastes 5.12. A working man

can get a good night's sleep, but the rich man

has so much that he stays awake worrying.

What's he worrying about?

How to save it, how to invest it, how to

maintain it, how to insure it, how to avoid taxes.

I read a study once that said insomnia increases with income.

Isn't that interesting?

That the more money you make, the more likely it

is you are to have sleepless nights.

Why? Because you worry about more. You got more to

worry about.

Now, if you have more fatigue plus more expenses plus

more anxiety, you know what that equals? Number four, more conflict.

You're going to have more conflict in your home because

of these things. Because when you're tired and you got

more expenses and you're more anxious, you get in more fights.

You have more conflict. It causes more turmoil in your family.

Proverbs 15, 27 says, a greedy man brings trouble to

his family. And we know that today the number one

cause of divorce is financial tension. Every study shows this.

The number one cause of divorce is people divorce over money,

money issues. It is now till debt do us part.

First Timothy six says this, People who long to be

rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish

and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin. He's talking

about debt, financial ruin, and destruction.

Why?

Because when you long to be rich, you are a

sucker for get rich quick schemes. If you are contented,

you don't fall prey to get rich quick schemes. Nobody

can scam you. You're not going to take risky things

because you are contented. People who are discontent are always

looking for a way to make a fast buck. They're

always looking for the get rich quick scheme. They're always

looking for the fast solution, the double your return on

your money instantly and all of that. And the Bible

says over and over and over and over again, we'll

see this when we get to investments, do not ever

get involved in get rich quick schemes.

If it's too good to be true, it is. Hi, everybody.

This is Pastor Rick.

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Warren Buffett, you know, the wealthiest man in the world.

His number one rule of investment.

You know what it is? Very simple. Buffett's number one

rule is this.

Never lose the money you've already earned. In other words,

it's more important to keep what you've got than to

take the big risk on it.

Never lose.

It doesn't matter if you make a high return. If

you keep losing stuff, you're going backwards over time. Buffett's

number one rule for becoming a billionaire, never lose what

you've already earned. And yet people lose it all the

time in an attempt to get rich quick.

And it's foolish.

I have to tell you, Kay and I have never

lost a penny to get rich quick schemes.

I've never lost a penny that I've earned. on the lottery.

I've never lost a penny in.

Vegas. Why? Because I'm not about to involve myself in

those easy come, easy go, get rich quick schemes, which really,

you're going to lose it. You may as well just

go to Vegas and just hand them the money and

come home. The house is going to win. Somebody pays

for those tall buildings.

It's you.

You pay for it. And the odds are not in

your favor. And the Bible says that's foolish when a

contented person is not lured, ever lured by the lottery

because you're contented. So you're keeping what you've got. And

as I said last week, Albert Einstein said, the single

most powerful force in the universe is the power of

compounding interest. that you set it away a little bit

at a time and you let compounding interest, it'll make

you rich.

Not instantly, but over time.

I started putting away 50 cents a week toward my

retirement at age 17. And that's why I've served this

church for free for 10 years. Because essentially I retired

10 years ago. Because I don't have to take a salary. Why?

Because I had been saving since I was a teenager.

And the power of compounding interest builds up over time.

It's called the little by little principle. We'll look at that. Now,

he says you're gonna get trapped if you're not contented. Now,

there's one other problem that happens. The effect of always

wanting more is that wanting more brings more dissatisfaction. It brings,

number five, more dissatisfaction. You see, we think having more

will make me more happy. Having more will make me

more secure. Having more will make me more important. Having

more will make me more loved. None of that is true. Now,

it is true that you can buy happiness for short term,

but it doesn't last.

The feelings don't last. They go away very quickly. It's true.

You can go out and buy a new car, and

when you get that new car, you're gonna be happy.

You can buy happiness for a short period of time.

And you'll be happy, and you get in the car,

and it smells, you know that new car smell?

Ah.

But how long does that new car smell? About a

couple weeks. And then, you know, the moment you drove

it off the lot, it was less $ 10, 000 than what

you paid for it. because it's not new anymore. You

just lost $ 10, 000 in equity just right there, bam, just

like that. And then in a couple years, you don't

care about it anymore. Now this is true with everything

you buy. You go out and you buy a piece

of art, and you go, man, I just love that art.

And you put it up in your house, and it's beautiful,

and it looks so great, and it makes you happy

for a while. But after a while, you're not happy anymore.

And you get new drapes, and you love those drapes,

but after a while, you're not happy anymore. Why? Because things,

people change and things don't. Things don't change. So we

get bored with them and we have to redecorate and

we have to remodel and we have to refurbish and

we have to rearrange and we have to replace and

we are addicted to upgrades. Ecclesiastes 5.10 says this. It

says if you love money, you will never be satisfied.

If you long to be rich, You will never get

all you want. Somebody asked, how much does it take

to make a man happy? He said, just a little more.

He said, it's useless. He says, you will never be satisfied. 2,000

years before that great theologian Mick Jagger, Solomon was saying,

I can't get no satisfaction. And he's the wealthiest man

in the world when he is writing this. He's not

some poor guy. He got more than you or I

will ever even imagine. He says, you'll never be satisfied.

Living Bible says it's foolish to think that wealth brings happiness.

So let me ask you a question. Just get gut

level honest here. How many of you would say, I

would like to live a life of less fatigue, of

less expenses, of less anxiety, of less conflict and of

less dissatisfaction. How many say, I kinda like to live

that life? Yeah, I think that would be all of us.

You must learn the secret of the law of contentment.

Now Ecclesiastes 6 and 9 says, it's better to be

satisfied with what you have than to always be wanting

something else. That is the law of contentment. Paul talks

about it in Philippians chapter four. Look at the bottom

of your outline. Paul says, I have learned the secret

of being content whether living in peace plenty or in want.

Now, I want you to circle the word secret. It

is a secret.

Most people don't know how to be content. And notice

it is something you have to learn. It is a

secret you must learn. I'm going to teach it to

you this morning. Now, we are not by nature contented people.

By nature, I am discontented. I'm always wanting to change things.

You're always wanting to change things. I'm not satisfied. You're

not satisfied. It is not natural to be contented. You

must learn the secret of being content.

Now, how do you do that? Because it's not automatic.

Well, the Bible tells us that there are four steps,

four keys, four principles to the law of contentment.

Here they are.

Number one, first, stop comparing myself to others. That's the

first step in becoming a contented person. You've gotta stop it,

stop it, stop it. Stop comparing yourself to others. Now,

God made you unique. You're not one in a million.

You're one in billions. Nobody is ever like you. God

doesn't make clones. He never makes copies. Even identical twins

are different. So it's really foolish to think that you

have to be like anybody.

You can't copy anybody else. You're unique. They're unique.

And 2 Corinthians 10, 12 says this. We do not dare.

He says, how dare you do this? It's a rejection

of God. How dare you do this? We don't dare

classify or compare ourselves. It is not wise. He said

it's foolish, it's dumb, it's stupid, it's immature. Now the

problem is, we naturally do it. And we do it

all the time. It is America's favorite indoor sport, comparing.

We love to compare. You walk into somebody's house, And

the first thing you do is you start making comparisons.

Ooh, I like their floor. Ooh, that's kind of nice. Ooh,

look at that drape replacement. Look at that TV. Whoa, wow,

what a television. And you're making.

Comparisons all the time. And that's what keeps you frustrated.

You gotta stop it. If you're gonna learn contentment, you've

gotta stop comparing everything around you. I heard about this

couple in our church who they were in deep financial

problems and they went to small group. And the people's

house was a pretty nice house. And when they left,

she said to her husband as they're driving, did you

see that?

He said, what are you talking about?

She said, their furniture goes back to Louis XIV. He said, yeah,

and ours goes back to Ikea on the 15th. Because

we don't have the money for what we got, so

don't even think about getting their furniture. Don't even think

about it. And we're doing this all the time. I

want you to write this down. I must learn to

admire without having to acquire. That's the principle of contentment.

I must learn to admire without having to acquire. You

need to learn to rejoice in other people's prosperity without

you getting jealous and envious and feeling like you have

to have it too and then being bitter or mad

because they've got something you don't have. You must learn

to admire, wow, that's a nice, painting you've got, wow,

that's a nice backyard you've got, without having to acquire. Now,

this is one of the great principles that Americans don't understand.

I don't have to own it to enjoy it. I mean,

you say, well, I like to go camp out in

the mountains. Well, why do you have to go buy

a mountain cabin when you can just rent it the

one time a year you're gonna go to the mountains, okay?

I don't have to own it in order to enjoy it.

I learned this a long time ago, I don't have

to own it, I just use your stuff.

Which by the way, if.

You got a good mountain cabin, let me know, I'll

be glad to use it for you. Get the cobwebs

out for you, I'll be glad to do that. And

so you don't have to own something. And you may

have a friend in the church who has something you need,

well just borrow it. Don't feel like you gotta go

out and buy everything yourself. You don't, because once you

own it, you gotta repair it, you gotta maintain it,

you gotta store it, and all these other things. I

can learn to admire without having to acquire. Now here's

what you do. The next time you walk into somebody's

house and they got something nice that you don't have,

instead of starting to get discontent and envious, you just

pray a little prayer that says this. Thank you, God,

that I don't have their payments. Thank you, God, that

I don't have their payments. Because they're paying for that.

They're paying for that. And maybe, just maybe, you don't

want to put your money there. Maybe you want to

put it in the bank and save it and make

your money work for you instead of putting it on

your wall where it's not making any money. The money

you put on the wall isn't helping you. The money

you put in the bank and saving is making you money.

While you're sleeping, it's making you money. So, This is

so important.

And when I'm talking to you about stop comparing yourself,

this is not just a good idea to make you happy.

Comparing yourself to other people is a sin.

In fact, it is such a serious sin that God

put it in the big 10. Yeah, the 10 commandments.

It's in there right along with don't murder, which you'd

never do. Don't commit adultery. Don't rip somebody off and steal.

You know what the 10th commandment is? Don't compare yourself

to anybody else. It's there on your outline. It's right there.

Exodus 20, 17. You shall not covet anything that belongs

to your neighbor. Don't look at it and go, man,

I wish I had that. And you start comparing and coveting. Now,

what is coveting? It's a word we don't use a

whole lot today. So let me define it for you.

Coveting means the uncontrolled desire to acquire. That's what it

means to covet. The uncontrolled desire desire to acquire. And

when everything I see and I've gotta get it because

somebody else has got it, that's called coveting. And it's

such a sin, it's right up there with don't murder.

It's that important to God. He says, I don't want

your coveting. Now the word covet in Hebrew, in the

Old Testament, literally means.

To pant after. I gotta have it. It's to pant after.

The word in Greek means to grab or to grasp

so tightly that your hands are tight you can't even

let it go. If God ever gives you something and

he tells you to give it away and you can't

give it away, you don't own it.

It owns you.

Thank you.