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Financial Peace University Lesson 13 – The Great Misunderstanding
Unleashing the Power of Generous Giving
This class marks our final FPU lesson and introduced the final baby step. I appreciated that this lesson was included as the final class in FPU. I felt it was, in a way, the culmination of all the earlier lessons but not in a wrapup/summary kind of way. Instead, this lesson answered the question, “Why?” Why should you be responsible with your finances? Why should you get out of debt? Why should you attempt to build wealth? Is it not simply to have loads of money to greedily hoard for yourself? Or is it to gain enough to feel like you are self-sufficient and do not need to rely on God? Thankfully, no. So why do we do all of this…
Baby Step 7 – Build wealth and give
Dave started off this final lesson with this quote found in the workbook:
You can do everything we teach and you will prosper, but if you don’t understand this lesson, you will never have financial peace.
The “Great Misunderstanding,” as Ramsey calls it, is the incorrect view that the best way to have more money is to hold tightly onto what you already have. Dave used the visual aid of tightly grasping some cash – yes, you probably won’t lose any out of your hand, but it also won’t be possible for more to get into your hand. In contrast, when your hand is open and money is able to flow out of it to others, it is also easy for more to flow into your hand as well.
We are asset managers for God
Remember that we are not owners of anything in this world, we are simply stewards, or asset managers, for the real owner – God. If you have read the Bible, you will see that we are repeatedly told to give …why are we told that so often? Ramsey presents a number of reasons for this, some of which are:
- Giving makes us more spiritually mature, more Christ-like
- Giving makes us less selfish – less selfish people are more likely to prosper in relationships and wealth
- Giving is a reminder that we are not the owners – you’re not even giving away your own money
- Giving is praise and worship
- Giving is offensive spiritual warfare
Remember, neither God nor the church need your money. What they need are “sold-out believers” and giving will just a by-product of living out that sold-out faith.
How to Give
You’ve probably heard of what has become a fairly controversial topic in Christian circles – the “tithe.” You’ve probably heard arguments such as should Christians tithe? Must they tithe? How should they tithe? Where should they tithe? Ramsey addressed these topics in the following way. First, the tithe is a tenth (that’s literally what “tithe” means) of your “increase.” The Bible states that you are to give of your “first fruits” – so not what’s left over at the end of the month. Furthermore, in the Old Testament, God tells the Israelites to bring the tithe into the storehouse of the temple. This money in the storehouse was used to take care of widows, orphans, and the Levites serving in the temple. Our modern day analogue is your local church which is still tasked with taking care of widows (including military spouses, single parents, etc), orphans, and your church staff. The Bible also mentions “offerings” separately from the tithe. These are given above the tithe and are given from your surplus.
So, if I interpreted Ramsey correctly, he suggests that Christians should give 10% of their gross salary to their local church and any offerings above that to other Godly organizations.
Remember this about giving…
Dave then spent a few minutes reminding us about some truths from the Bible. He started off by telling us that the tithe was not initiated as part of the Old Testament law; it was introduced prior the law. For instance, Abraham gave a tithe to God and so did Jacob after his ladder dream. Finally, never give with the motivation of getting what you gave, or more, returned to you (sorry about that if you’re a prosperity gospel kinda person). We should give because God tells us to give. Now, God does say that we will be prospered if we do so, but that doesn’t necessarily mean financially prospered.
Wrap-up
Ramsey wrapped up this final class with these two thoughts:
Financial Peace is more than just God’s system for understanding money, becoming debt free, and building wealth.
Financial Peace is when the Great Misunderstanding is understood
So that was the 13th and final class and it was quite motivational to me. I would love to get to the point, both in attitude and resources, where I could freely give money to help those around me. How much fun would that be? Frankly, I’d love to spend my days going around meeting with church planters or missionaries or school administrators or whatever handing out checks. I’d get business cards printed up that had as my title, “Major Donor.” Wouldn’t that be so cool!!
I’ll do at least one more FPU post next week – a wrap-up type post of what I learned, what I liked and didn’t like, what steps I still need to accomplish, etc. In the meantime, with many new FPU classes starting up around now, if you have the opportunity to take part in Financial Peace, I would highly recommend it!
Check out my previous FPU posts:
- Introduction
- Lesson 1 – Super Saving
- Lesson 2 – Relating with Money
- Lesson 3 – Cash Flow Planning
- Lesson 4 – Dumping Debt
- Lesson 5 – Credit Sharks in Suits
- Lesson 6 – Buyer Beware
- Lesson 7 – Clause and Effect
- Lesson 8 – That’s Not Good Enough
- Lesson 9 – Of Mice and Mutual Funds
- Lesson 10 – From Fruition to Tuition
- Lesson 11 – Working in Your Strengths
- Lesson 12 – Real Estate and Mortgages
- Financial Peace University Lesson 8 – That’s Not Good Enough!...
- Financial Peace University Lesson 1 – Super Saving...
- Financial Peace University Lesson 9 – Of Mice and Mutual Funds...
- Financial Peace University Lesson 6 – Buyer Beware...
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