Pathway to Victory

Speaker 1

Hey podcast listeners, thanks for streaming today's podcast from Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory is a nonprofit ministry featuring the Bible teaching of Dr. Robert Jeffress.

And right now your generous gift will have twice the impact, thanks to the Now Is the Time Matching Challenge, active now through December 31st. To give a special year-end gift, go to ptv.org/donate or follow the link in our show notes.

Now here's today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.

Speaker 2

Hi, this is Robert Jeffress and I'm.

Speaker 3

Glad to study Word with you every day on this Bible teaching program.

Speaker 2

On today's edition of Pathway to Victory.

Speaker 3

Did you know how we handle our money in this life, Jesus said, is a test?

One of the most important skills we can develop in our Christian life is handling our money according to God's plan and passing that wisdom onto our children and to our children's children.

And that's what we're going to look at today.

Speaker 1

Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress. In the good old days, getting ahead required the simple discipline of spending less than you earned. But today's financial landscape requires far more sophistication.

Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress shares timeless wisdom from God's Word regarding work and finances that really still applies to any generation.

But first, let's take a minute to hear some important ministry updates.

Speaker 2

Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. We're approaching a brand new year and a season when well-meaning people make promises or resolutions. Sometimes the personal ambition is fueled by a lie, and the lie is accumulating: money is the key to happiness. But let's be clear on this point, and I think you know it. Money alone does not guarantee happiness, and wise are those who learn to stay within their means. That's my subject in today's message.

First, it's very important that I remind you about the Now is the Time Matching Challenge that's active for a few more days, friend. There's a spiritual awakening happening across America. People are demonstrating deep hunger for truth. New believers need discipling. Lost sheep need a shepherd. Pathway to Victory is uniquely positioned to meet this moment. And now's the time to respond.

For just a few more days, every gift you give to Pathway to Victory will be matched dollar for dollar, doubling your impact before the deadline at midnight on New Year's Eve. We're pursuing a $1.7 million goal that will propel this ministry into unprecedented territory in 2026. Your gift today, matched dollar for dollar, will reach searching hearts through radio, television, and digital media. But time is running out. This matching opportunity ends at midnight on December 31st. You can give your generous gift right now at ptv.org. We'll give more details later.

But right now, it's time to resume a practical study I titled "What Parents Wish Their Children Knew About Money."

Speaker 3

You know, the Bible has a great deal to say about God's blueprint pattern for how we handle our money. I'd like to talk about five lessons about money that we as parents need to impart to our children and our children's children. And I've marked each of these principles. I've given it a rhyme that might help you remember it a little bit more.

First of all, in the area of earning, here's the little saying I want you to remember: Your job is a gift from God. Would you say that with me? Your job is a gift from God? The ability to make money, to have a job, comes from God. Deuteronomy 8:18 says, "But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who is giving you the power to make wealth, that he may confirm his covenant, which he swore to your fathers. And as it is this day." Does God want to provide for our needs? Of course he does. The way he provides for our needs is through the job that he gives us. And that's why one of the most important lessons we can teach our children is to view their jobs as a gift from God and to maximize that opportunity and maximize that wealth he wants to transfer to us.

There's a second lesson, though, about work that we need to learn. Here's the saying I want you to remember: Wanting more is the key to becoming poor. Would you say that with me? Wanting more is the key to becoming poor. Think about this. It doesn't matter what your salary is. It doesn't matter how much stuff you've accumulated. If you don't think it's enough, in your mind, you're poor; you're lacking. And so Americans plunge themselves into debt trying to maintain an unrealistic level of living. And that's why one of the most important things parents can teach our children is this: There will always be somebody with more than you have. There'll always be somebody who has fancier clothes, a nicer car, a larger house. There'll always be somebody up the organizational ladder from where you are, who's earning more money than you are. There'll always be somebody with more.

I mean, just think about it. Of the 400 wealthiest Americans on the Forbes 400 list, 399 of them are looking at somebody who has more than they do. And that's why you can't allow what others have to be your barometer of contentment. Like Horton from Dr. Seuss, we have to learn to be able to say, "Enough is enough. I've had enough." You know what the key to satisfaction in life is? It isn't spelled M O R E. It's spelled E, N O U, G, H. Enough. Learn when enough is enough. Paul expressed it this way in 1 Timothy 6, verses 6 to 8: "For godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. And if we have food and covering with these, we shall be content." Isn't that interesting? Paul says, if you know where your next meal is coming from, if you have a place to sleep tonight that's covered, you can be content. Anything else is gravy added on top of that. A key to spending is understanding the truth that wanting more is a key to becoming poor.

Third, and this is closely related, if we're going to teach lessons to our children about God's view of money, we need to teach them about debt. And here is the saying I want you to write down: If you don't want to fret, be careful of debt. Say that with me: If you don't want to fret, be careful of debt. It's an important thing we've got to teach our children about, and that is the dangers of debt. The problem with debt is that it allows us to artificially live above our income, at least for a while, until everything comes crashing down around us.

And you know what the greatest facilitator of debt is in our country? What it is that makes it so easy to get enslaved with debt? The credit card. The credit card. There are two problems with credit cards you need to warn your children about. First of all, the obvious: the high interest rates that you pay with a credit card. Even though interest rates overall are relatively low, historically low, I read this week that the average credit card rate is still 15%. 15%. Now, let me illustrate what that does. Let's just say you go out and you buy some appliances and charge them on your credit card: $2,000. And let's say that you make the minimum payment on that credit card every month. Do you know how long it will take you to pay off that $2,000 debt? 22 years. 22 years. And by the time you finally have paid off that credit card, you would have paid $4,789. That's $2,000 for the actual cost of the appliances and $2,789 of interest. That's why credit cards want to get you enslaved. That's why they send out 3 billion credit card applications every year. And many of those are going to go to your children who are in college or young adults. I mean, getting people hooked on credit cards is like getting them hooked on crack cocaine. It's a habit that is not easily broken.

So one problem with credit cards is the high interest rate. But there's a second hidden problem that people don't think about very often, and that's the dirty secret credit card lenders know: people spend more with a credit card than when they're using cash. Did you know studies have shown that people spend anywhere from 15 to 30% more when they're using a piece of plastic rather than using cash to pay for a purchase? Now, let's just say you're one of those people who say, "Oh, I don't have any problem with credit cards. I use credit cards, but I pay off the balance every month." Well, let's just assume that's true. And let's assume that you put $1,000 on your credit card every month for groceries or gasoline or so forth because you want to earn those airline miles, or you have a Discover card and you want that 2% rebate. Okay, let's say you spend $1,000 a month. That's $12,000 a year. In two years, that would have been $24,000 you would have put on your credit card. You paid off the balance, so you didn't pay any interest. And guess what? You've got a $500 airline ticket, or you got $500 in cash, and you think, "I'm pretty smart to do such a thing."

Now think about it. If that study is true, and let's take the low end, you just spent 15% more than you would have spent had you been using cash. That means you overspent by $3,600 in two years, $3,600 in order to get a $500 airplane ticket or $500 in cash. Does anybody think that's a good investment? That's why you have to be very, very careful of debt. A good reminder is the way to keep from fretting is to stay out of debt. If you don't want to fret, be careful of debt.

Another area, and this is so important to teach our children about, is the area of saving money. Putting aside money early in life. Now here's the saying I want you to write down: For a Starbucks a day, you can be wealthy someday. Say that with me: For a Starbucks a day, you can be wealthy someday. If you read through the book of Proverbs, there is one key Solomon repeats over and over again for having financial security, and that is to spend a little less than you earn over a long period of time. If you'll do that—spend less than what you make over a period of time and put that margin away for the future—you'll be financially secure. Proverbs 21:20 says, "There is precious treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise, but a foolish man swallows it up." Listen to me. The fool is somebody who spends everything he earns or spends more than he earns. It is a foolish, foolish thing to do. The key to wisdom is to spend less than you earn over a long period of time.

And it doesn't have to be that much. The price of a Starbucks. Let's say you're spending $4.50 or so on a Starbucks five times a week, four weeks in a month—that's about $100. What would happen if a 22-year-old said, "You know what? I'm going to take that hundred dollars and instead of giving it to Starbucks, I'm going to put it in a mutual fund with an average investment return of 10% a year." If a 22-year-old started setting aside $100 a month and never increased that at all, by the time he was age 67, he would have over a million dollars. And if he put that money into a Roth IRA, it would be tax-free. That's $100 a month, a million dollars. If he did $400 a month, it would be $4 million tax-free. Most people could get by on $4 million. That'd be a nice sum of money. It doesn't have to be a large amount of money, but a small amount of money over a long period of time can make a difference.

Now, I know what some of you are thinking. You're thinking, "I can't even remember 22. I wish somebody had told me this earlier. I'll never see 22 again. I'm 42 or I'm 52. What am I supposed to do?" Well, the fact is you can utilize the same principle; you just have to put aside more money. But there's great value in a little bit of money put away for a long period of time. Let me illustrate that for you. To me, this is fascinating, and you can use this with your kids. By the way, let's say there are two people, Sally and Bill, who start work on the same day at the Acme computer company. On their first day of work, the benefits coordinator explains to them that they've got a 401k retirement plan that they can invest a part of their salary in.

So Sally, being smarter than Bill—most women are smarter financially than men are—let's just say that Sally said, "Man, that sounds like a good deal. I'm going to put $1,250 a year of my salary into this 401k plan." Bill, on the other hand, says, "That sounds good, but I've got family responsibilities. I've got kids. Maybe sometime in the future I'll do that, but right now I won't." So Sally starts on day one, and she puts $1,250 a year into that. At the end of eight years, she decides, "You know what? I think I'm going to be a full-time homemaker." And she resigns her job. But she leaves that money that she's invested up to that point—$10,000, $1,250 a year times eight. She leaves that $10,000 in her account, doesn't do another thing to it, and it earns 8% a year for the next 22 years.

Now, the day that Sally retires, her friend Bill says, "You know what? Someday I'm probably going to retire like Sally. Maybe today I ought to start investing in that place." And Bill starts investing the same $1,250 a year. But instead of just for eight years, he does it for the next 22 years. He's invested more than $27,000, as opposed to Sally's just $10,000 that she stopped investing after she retired. At the end of 30 years, who do you think will end up with more money? Sally, who only invested $10,000 in the first eight years, or Bill, who invested more than $20,000 over 22 years? Interestingly, Sally will end up with more money even though she invested just for eight years. Because of the magic of compound interest, she'll end up with $74,000, while Bill will have $71,000. That's why it is so important we teach our children to set aside money early in life.

It reminds me of David Chilton's famous quote: "The best time to plant an oak tree is 20 years ago. The second best time to plant an oak tree is today." And we can tell our children the same way. With saving money, the best time to start setting aside for the future, as God's Word commands us to, is today.

Now, we've talked about what the Bible says about earning, what it says about spending, about debt, about saving. One final area: What does the Bible say about giving? What does it say about giving? It has a lot to say about giving. But here's a simple phrase I want you to remember. Ready for it? Don't be a clod. Start giving to God. Nah, I know that's not smart. Spurgeon-esque. Okay, not great oratory, but say it with me: Don't be a clod. Start giving to God.

Now, again, Solomon was a little more eloquent. He said it this way in Proverbs 3:9-10: "Honor the Lord from your wealth and from the first of all of your produce, so that your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will overflow with new wine." You know, we're asking you over these next few weeks to consider what you're going to give to God through His church. There's all sorts of ways I could try to appeal to you to give and to give generously. I could cite the command of Malachi 3:10, in which God said, "Bring all of the tithes into the storehouse. Will a man rob God? But you are robbing me in withholding tithes and offerings." I mean, that's a pretty strong word from God. When you fail to give, God says it's like you hold a pistol in his face and say, "God, stick 'em up. I'm going to steal from you." That's what it's like when we don't give. God says, "Bring all of the gifts into the storehouse." In the Old Testament, the storehouse was the temple. In the New Testament, God's storehouse is the local church. The local church is the beginning place for our most generous giving. It's the only organization God created to carry out his great commission.

In fact, God goes on to say that if you do not give, he says he will send the devourer who will consume your wealth. I've heard people give testimony after testimony—Christians who went through a time they weren't giving and they saw the devourer send emergency medical bills they weren't expecting, unforeseen house or car repairs, other tragedies. It's just like their money that they didn't give to God got eaten up. You've heard those testimonies time and time again. That's a strong motivation for not robbing God.

Or I could appeal to you on the basis of needs. We love what's happening in our church. We don't want to starve our ministries, and we want to continue to see God working. We've got a great need for our new children's building. I could appeal to you on the basis of need, but today I want to appeal to you on the basis of wisdom—a wisdom about money we need to pass on to our children. And the wisdom is this: There's coming a day when our money will be absolutely worthless to us. The Bible says riches do not profit a man on the day of judgment. The day you die, the day I die, our money becomes absolutely worthless. You know that word death, Thanatos, literally means separation. The day of our death is not only the separation of our spirit from our body, which we leave behind. On the day of our death, we are separated from our money. Everything we've ever earned is going to be left behind. I've heard Denzel Washington say this week he's never seen a hearse pulling a U-Haul before. It just doesn't happen. How much are you going to leave?

Speaker 2

Everything.

Speaker 3

Riches, profit. Not a man in the day of death. And that is why it is so important that whatever we do for God's kingdom, we do now. Willard Cantelon, in his book *The Day the Dollar Dies*, illustrates that principle tremendously. He tells the true story of a little German mother who wanted to assist in the building of a Bible seminary on the outskirts of the destroyed city of Frankfurt, which had been bombed down in World War II. She held her money with pride, he says, and tenderness, as though it were a very part of her life. She had earned her money through hard work and had constantly guarded it during the war's destructive years.

And now, at the end of the war, she was investing it in a worthy cause and beamed with pride as she offered her contribution. The writer says, how could I tell her that she had held her money too long? Why did it fall my light to shock this sensitive woman with the news that her money was virtually worthless? Why had she not read the morning paper or heard the announcement that the new government in Germany had canceled this currency? That day, that Sunday in June of 1948, a staggering number of Germans committed suicide. Millions lost their money, their savings, because the German mark had been canceled by their government.

If only she had exchanged her money for something that would survive the coming economic collapse. If this dear lady had brought her money sooner, those German marks could have helped pay for the renovation of the Bible School or the tuition of the students. Too bad that she had to hear those disappointing words. "Madam, I'm awfully sorry, but I cannot accept your money. It's worthless."

There's going to be a day, ladies and gentlemen, when we all hear those words. On the day of our death, everything we've accumulated is deemed worthless. Riches, profit. Not a person in the Day of Judgment. And that's why the best time to do whatever we're going to do for God's Kingdom is not later, but it's now.

Speaker 2

I hope today's message has helped you recalibrate your personal feelings about money and the resources God has entrusted to you. This is a fitting time for me to say thank you to those who have given generously to the Now is the Time Matching Challenge. We're just a few days from reaching the finish line, and your participation is critical as we attempt to leverage this $1.7 million opportunity.

Here's what that means to you: no matter the size of your contribution, every dollar we receive before midnight New Year's Eve will be matched dollar for dollar, automatically doubling the size and impact of your gift. What I didn't tell you at the beginning of today's Pathway to Victory program is that I'm prepared to send you a thank you gift as a tangible expression of my appreciation for your donation. The Pathway to Victory devotional for 2026 includes 260 inspirational devotionals to fill out every weekday in 2026. While there's still time, please get in touch with us today to request your copy of the daily devotional. Supplies are limited, so don't delay.

In closing, allow me to appeal to your love for our country. In the last few years, the world has been shifting beneath our feet, but you and I know exactly what to do. You and I are stewards of the hope in Jesus Christ. It's our God-given role to share the Gospel far and wide. So together, let's seize the moment. Now's the time. The window won't stay open forever, but right now you can help us reach people who desperately need to hear the hope we have in Christ by giving a generous gift toward the Matching Challenge. I look forward to hearing from you today. Here's David with all the details.

Speaker 1

Today, when you give a generous year-end gift to support this ministry, we'll send you a copy of the brand new 202026 Pathway to Victory Daily Devotional. To request your copy, call 866-999-2965 or visit our website at ptv.org. When your gift is $100 or more, we'll also include the teaching series Celebrate the Savior on DVD, video, and MP3 format audio discs.

Right now, because of our Now Is the Time Matching Challenge, any gift you give will be doubled in impact. But this opportunity ends December 31st at midnight, and time is running out. So call us toll-free at 866-999-2965 or go to ptv.org. A lot of our listeners prefer to write; here's that mailing address: P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222. That's P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222.

I'm David J. Mullins. Some people worry whether they'll go to heaven when they die, but gratefully, the Bible says we can know for certain. Hear a message called Eternally Secure Tuesday on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas.

You made it to the end of today's podcast from Pathway to Victory, and we're so glad you're here. Pathway to Victory relies on the generosity of loyal listeners like you to make this possible. Right now, your special year-end gift will be matched and therefore doubled in impact, thanks to the Now Is the Time Matching Challenge.

Take advantage of this opportunity to double your impact before the deadline on December 31st. To give toward the matching challenge, go to ptv.org/donate or follow the link in our show notes. We hope you've been blessed by today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.