Living on the Edge

Dave Drury: Today on Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Imagine with me for a second, you are in heaven, standing before the God of the universe, and he asks you, "What did you do with the life that I gave you?" How would you answer? Let me remind you, this is not hypothetical. We will all answer this question. I want to help you give a good answer. Stay with me.

What you trust with your life has a way of showing itself. In your choices, your priorities, and the quiet decisions nobody else sees. Paul knew that, and it is why he saved his most direct challenge for the final chapter of First Timothy. I am Dave Drury. This is Living on the Edge, and we are in a series called, "You Can Make Disciples: Personal Coaching from the Apostle Paul."

Remember, you can always revisit or share these daily lessons by going online to livingontheedge.org. Now, let us join Chip Ingram for today's message titled, "Step Away!"

Chip Ingram: We are in chapter six. The Apostle Paul doing some life coaching. He says, "All those under the yoke of slavery are to regard their own masters as worthy of honor, so that the name of God and our doctrine will not be spoken against."

"Those who have believers as their masters must not disrespect them because they are brothers or sisters, but must serve them all the more, because those who partake of the benefit are believers and beloved. Teach and preach these principles."

And then he is going to make a hard turn. Notice what he says. "If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to," circle this word, "godliness." That is the goal of everything. I want you to live out your life so that you reflect Christ.

"He is conceited and understands nothing, but he has a sick craving for controversial questions and disputes about words, from which come envy and strife and abusive language and evil suspicions and constant friction between people of depraved minds, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain."

And so, he gives a little correction here. He says, "But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accomplished by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we can take nothing out of it either."

"If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content." Verse nine. "But those who want to get rich," and put a box around "want to" in your Bible. There is nothing wrong with being rich.

"Those who want to get rich fall into temptations and a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge people into ruin and destruction." And then he gives the reason. "For the love of money," and then circle "is a root." It is not "the root," "is a root."

"Of all kinds or sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."

And then he says, "Timothy, here is the recommendation. Contrast, 'But flee these things, you man of God. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith, take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and for which you were made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.'"

"I direct you." Last time it was, "I command you." "Now, I direct you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Jesus Christ who testifies the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep the commandment without fault or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will bring about at the proper time." Speaking of judgment.

And then he goes, "He who is blessed and the only sovereign, the King of kings, and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to him be honor and eternal dominion forever."

So, he ends it in such a positive way. He says, "Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to set their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy."

And so he says to rich people, "Just instruct them. Don't be proud." In other words, "Don't trust in your riches, but on God." And don't trust in your riches because they are unreliable.

But he says instead, "Instruct them to do good. To be rich in good works. To be generous and ready to share, storing up," I love this, "for themselves treasure of a good foundation for the future." Purpose clause. "So that they may take hold of that which is truly life." I love the translation, "the life that is really life."

"Timothy, protect what has been entrusted to you. Avoid worldly chatter, the opposing arguments of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and thereby have gone astray from the faith."

And our response is, "The love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." You might just circle all the negative things in there.

And so, what do you do? "Flee from these things, you man of God." Put a box around, "Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness." Then put another box around, "Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses."

Boy, those are strong, strong words. Pursue, fight, take hold. Well, Paul's coaching, the subject is God and money, false, true teaching.

The issue is, at the core, is motives and loyalty to Christ to the very end. He has raised the issue of the other God and his tactics, money, mammon, who promise all the things that God says, "You are secure in me. Your future is with me. You are significant because of who I made you and your position with me."

And the underlying question is, "Am I willing to be content with what I have at any given time and to make decisions based on God's will, not the world's values?"

And there are different seasons. And by the way, it works two ways. My parents were school teachers. We, I call us lower middle class, and you buy the little ranch house that is, you know, like 900 square feet. And then after a few years you get a 1,500 square foot house. And then coming out of seminary, we did not, you know, have anything.

And, you know, little by little by little, I found myself in multiple different economic worlds. And then when my three boys were done with college, I found myself for the first time in my whole life with my, oh my, I live in Atlanta in a nice housing development, and I have I have more coming in than I need.

And, you know, we were on the journey of generosity, so we were, gosh, we were getting to do things we thought only rich people could do with their money. And I will never forget, we were driving back home. I had picked up my daughter. She went to her last high school years in Atlanta and went to a really, really good public school. And one of her friends lived in a country club of the South. You probably know what that is, that is a beautiful golf course. And she said, "Oh, Dad, you know what, you know we have a few of those little prints in our house. They have actual real paintings. And you know some of those famous people, you know?" Yeah, she named a few artists. "They have actual paintings of them hanging in their house."

"Dad, they are really rich. Dad, they have a jet." And we pull into our housing development, which by the way is very nice. And then my cute little daughter said, "Dad, are we rich?"

And I, I remember having just, you know, my first thought was, "Well, if Country Club of the South is rich, no, we are not." And that is how most of us identify wealth. We always find someone richer and say, "I am not."

And in a moment of, I think, Holy Spirit, I said, "Annie, yes, we are rich." This house is, it is the nicest house I have ever been in. And we have no pressure financially whatsoever. We are rich.

And she said, "Well, what does that mean?" I said, "It means we have a lot more responsibility than most people." Because it does not matter how old you get, Annie. Money changes how you think. And if you do not constantly choose to put yourself in places of being dependent on God, you will, we are just human, we all will trust in money.

I remember saying, "Annie, you know what I have realized is, I was way better at being content when I was poor than I am being rich. I do not know how to work through it."

I felt guilty a lot. And, you know, we got where we tithed, and then it was 15 and 20, and then 30% and more of our income. And, I think the Apostle Paul was right. He had learned, it is a process. It is a learning to be content with little or much.

And then I think in one of those rare moments, you know, when you are a father and you get it right, you kind of realize, "Wow, I do not know where that came from. Thank you, Lord." I said, "Honey, here is the deal. If God decides to shift our world," and it sure could happen, "we have got to be just as content."

So that is where you have got to keep the equilibrium.

Dave Drury: You are listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Chip will be right back. But first, if you have been wanting to dig deeper into these Bible teachings, our YouTube channel is a great place to start. You will find video teaching series on important matters like trusting Jesus, no matter what, and content that goes beyond what you hear on the radio. Just search "Living on the Edge" on YouTube. And when you find us, subscribe so you never miss a new upload. We would love to have you join our growing community. Now, back to our message.

Chip Ingram: The action here is to step away. And let me get really practical as we wrap things up. I do not know that there is anything more helpful, because your money always reveals your heart. Do a personal inventory of your finances.

I mean, just get clear. This is exactly how much comes in. This is what goes out. This is my level of debt. This is how much if I have anything on credit cards. This is how much equity I have in my house, if I have a house. I mean, just do an absolute personal inventory of your current finances.

Read or take a course on biblical finances. Whether it is Crown, or Dave Ramsey, or, but get where there are some excellent, excellent books and courses you can take where, how does God view money?

And then align your money with God's principles. That is sort of the general game plan. The unspoken need I think is to develop a spiritual financial game plan. And I put that perfectly, a spiritual financial game plan. And by the way, some of you have a financial planner or people who help you. Some of them are Christians, some are not Christians. Let me just, let me just pause to say, some people that will help you with your financial game plan think that security is the only issue you should consider, and how do you make sure you can take care of you? And they have built into it ideas about retirement that you need to think through for your own self to say, is it really God's will to stack up as much as I can, so in case I do live to 100, I can live at X level?

I think we have to really start asking ourselves some really hard questions. So that is why for me, I think it is important to have someone who is helping me with my finances, that has the freedom to speak into my life and has also the same biblical worldview that I seek to have.

Know what the Scripture teaches about money. Let us, let us read. Just follow along. This is, this is Jesus, because it is so important. Matthew chapter six. "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth." Why? "Where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal."

This is not a prohibition about money. It is about being smart. If you store stuff up where someone can get it or destroy it, it is not good. But store up for, if you have if you are watching, for yourself treasure. I do not think most people believe in heaven or a new heaven or a new earth or all that is coming. You can actually store up for yourself treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroy, nor thieves can break in and steal. For, here is the principle, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

It is just axiomatic. In fact, I have often flipped it the other way. When I wanted my heart to be somewhere, and I know it was not a good place, I started giving money to that. And over time my heart caught up. I was reading through the Psalms and reading through the Psalms, and Proverbs, it keeps talking about the poor, the poor, the poor, and the orphan, the orphan, the poor, and the poor. And I just realized in a moment of truth, I do not think I care about orphans.

And I just thought, God cares about orphans. And I had a buddy that I had done, he started these orphanages throughout Zimbabwe. And I had to teach in South Africa and I said, "Glenn, could I come and visit?" We did a little pastor's conference and I, I went to all these orphanages and this little girl, her actual name was Blessed.

She would not leave and I walked with her on my hip, and they heard about Jesus, and they had little chickens. And, and we went home and we started giving a little, and then a little bit more, then a little bit more, then some big chunks. And then I had a big contract income from a book, and we give a really big chunk. Guess what? I really care about orphans.

I really love orphans. And I did not give a rip about them probably 15 years ago. Not that I did not want to. Once my treasure started caring about orphans, then my heart got moved. Second is, start with the 10-10-80 principle. Give the first 10% of what comes in to the Lord. Save the next 10% and live on the 80%.

"Oh, I could never do that." Yeah, yes you could. You are going to have to have a budget, you are going to need help, and you have to make hard decisions. But don't, don't get thinking that now that I have given 10%, God has got his and I have got mine.

He owns everything. I am going to give an account for the 10 or 20 or 30 or 40, whatever percent I ever get to, and all the rest that he lets me keep to do other things with. But you have got to start somewhere.

And what happens is giving forces you to live by faith. Remember the manna? Do you ever, do you ever understand like the very first thing God did with the Israelites was manna and it was daily? Why? He wanted. The goal was not food, the goal was, "Will you trust me?" One day at a time.

And so that is just a great way to start. And Luke 6:38, "Give and it will be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, back into your lap. For whatever measure you give." This by the way is a non-financial passage. It applies to finances, but this is life.

If you are miserly with your time, miserly with your money, miserly with your gifts, you will be as that word fully comes out, you will be miserable. And if you are generous with your time, and generous with your gifts, and generous with your money, you will find great joy. It is axiomatic.

And then finally, share your entire financial plan with a mentor. Matthew 13:22 is the parable of the seeds and the sowers, and it is the third seed that falls into the earth. It grows up and the thorns are the desires for other things and the deceitfulness of wealth that chokes out the Word of God in our life.

And so, this, this is, this is a journey. My experience and the research says that most of us as men, most of us as Christians, our finances are not in good shape. And if your finances are not in good shape, you may not know it, but your soul is not in good shape. There was a man and some of you that are older, could I encourage you maybe to do this for your pastor, or do it for maybe one of your sons or grandsons.

A guy named Jack Cowles came to me. He was in the church, I did not know him very well. He said, "Chip, I would like to do something for you." And I said, "Well, that is what is that?" He goes, "I would like to, I would like to pay for the first year of a financial planner." I said, "Oh, Jack, I do not need a financial planner. I do not have any money." So he said, "Well, you know, even if you do not have money, having a plan is really important."

I know this group is called Ronald Blue and Company, and they do a great job and they are biblical and they would really help you. "Please let me pay for that." And, I said, "Well, I mean, I mean if you want to, I mean, gosh, thanks, but I do not think I really need it." And then he said, "Well, you know, I learned that you, you have a book coming out soon." I said, "Yeah." He said, "So what are you going to do with the money?"

This is probably why he met with me. I do not know. I do not even know if there will be any money to tell you the truth. I am not an author, I am just Chip. He said, "Why do not you and your wife pray and come before God and decide in advance what you are going to give out of that?"

"Because right now, it is really easy. You do not have anything. Right? You can be as spiritual as you want, you do not have anything. It kind of reminded me, know your weaknesses better. Oh man, I am that guy that likes to gamble. I am that guy that likes to, this is from God." So my wife and I prayed and, and we were probably a little more spiritual than we would have been, so we designated this big, big, big chunk of anything that ever comes in to the Lord. You know, "Wow! Well, you did great. What is, give it away, you know?"

And, I am not sure I could have ever done that if I would have known someday I might write like 20 books. And we started with a tip. The tip is, know your opponent well. You do not have a more formidable opponent in your life than the temptation and the deception around wealth and money and stuff.

Second, know yourself better. How do you structure your life around the areas of money to protect your heart from being deceived? Because this, this sounds really funny, and when I say it, I almost laugh. You do understand that when you are deceived, the person that does not know it is you.

I meet a lot of pastors and I will talk like this to them and, "Oh, well, you know, I work so hard at the church and, you know, I do have some debt and this and that. I do not really give because," and I am thinking, "You are deceived, my brother." Lots of debt, lots of stress, lots of pressure. "If you continue in the truth, the truth will set you free."

Dave Drury: This is Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. In a message from First Timothy six called, "Step Away!" part of our ongoing series, "You Can Make Disciples: Personal Coaching from the Apostle Paul." If you missed any part of this lesson, you can easily catch up online at livingontheedge.org. The series is streaming now on the Living on the Edge podcast. Subscribe and take it with you all week. And if you prefer the full sermon experience, the Chip Ingram Sermon podcast has every message uncut and unedited, available wherever you listen.

Chip was direct today. Real life change doesn't happen until something on the inside actually shifts. That is the core of his book, "Yes, You Really Can Change." A clear, biblically grounded look at why change is so hard, where the power to change actually comes from, and how to make it last. And right now, to go along with our current series on discipleship and community, we are including a second copy with every order, so you can read it alongside a friend, a family member, or someone in your life who is ready to grow. Find it at livingontheedge.org/offers.

We would love to have you alongside us as a financial partner in this ministry. Every donation, whatever the size, helps keep this teaching on the air and reaching more people. Join us today by giving online at livingontheedge.org or by calling us at 888-333-6003. If you are giving through the mail, write to us at Living on the Edge, P.O. Box 3007, Atlanta, Georgia 303024. Well, now here is Chip with some closing thoughts.

Chip Ingram: Your money reveals your heart. Your money reveals your relationship. Your money and your debt level, and your spending, and your giving, or your lack of it, all those things will tell you more about your genuine heart relationship with God than almost anything. And here is the principle, and this is why I am so emphatic. Your life will never be in line with God until you get your money in line with God. The reason that Jesus spoke more about money than heaven and hell combined, is not in any way to get our money. It is that it is our priority meter. It shows us where our values are. And so, could I encourage you to do an inventory? I mean for 30 days to just track where your money goes. Could I encourage you to find, you know, one other person that would help you get a biblical view of finances? Take a course. There are so many good resources.

And then third, could I encourage you to take a step of faith, and to do the very simple acts of giving the first portion of your finances to God with each paycheck, to next save, even if it is not a lot, to actually save something, and then to live on less than what is left, rather than continue to go into debt? It will be hard, it will be challenging. It will change the course of your life. I will tell you, you will never, ever regret it. And that is our prayer for you. I hope you will take this coaching from the Apostle Paul in a really serious way. It will produce great results in you and through you. Keep pressing ahead.

Dave Drury: I am Dave Drury. Coming up, Chip Ingram opens Second Timothy and begins the next message in our series, "You Can Make Disciples." The subject, boldness, and why too many followers of Jesus are living in fear instead of faith. That is next time on Living on the Edge.

Today's program is produced and sponsored by Living on the Edge.