Group Notes | January 15
Overflow: Proven Biblical Money Principles
January 15, 2017
Dave Ramsey
Open:
It probably comes as no surprise that money problems are one of the greatest causes of dissension in a home. Can you share some of the reasons this is true?
Today we begin a new series entitled “Overflow.” With all the advertising thrown at us daily, it’s hard not to get caught up in having the latest version of everything available. However, in doing so, debt accumulates, which in turn causes problems for anyone trying to live the “American Dream.” At the same time, the Bible states that the borrower (the one in debt) is a slave to the lender (the bank, the credit card company, etc.) We are going to work our way through this series, hoping the reward will be financial freedom in our lives.
Discuss:
Live on a written Budget
- Read Job 25:2, and 1 Cor. 14:33. What is one of the attributes of God? How is a budget a thing of “order”?
- Read Luke 14:28. Who is speaking here? What point is Christ trying to get across to the people? What eventually happens when spending is not controlled?
Avoid Debt
- Read Prov. 22:7. How does this verse translate to your paycheck and your bills?
- Read Romans 13:8. This is God’s word to you; what does it say? Is this God’s best for you?
- Read Luke 7:41-43. When Christ died on the cross of Calvary, what was happening to the sin debt that you were burdened with? Can you think of a greater example of freedom from debt than this?
Foster High Quality Relationships
- Read Prov. 13:20. Why are your companions so important? Can you think of examples, perhaps of friends who gravitate to those who are like-minded?
- Read Isaiah 41:6. What happens when a rotten apple or a potato are in a bag with many good ones? What lesson does that teach you about having companions who are not serious about their walk with Jesus?
Save and Invest
- Read Eccl. 11:1-2. How is this verse a good plan for investing? Why does it make common sense?
- Someone paraphrase Matt. 25:10-29. What point was Jesus trying to make?
Be Incredibly Generous
- How does this principle illustrate the second of the “Two Greatest” commandments that Jesus gave?
- Read Deut. 15:10. This is Old Testament! What was God trying to get you to see in this verse?
Close:
Five things! Five ways to organize your finances that will eventually result in freedom from bills that seem to come every day. Credit card companies assume a payoff time of thirty years—the length of most mortgages. Meanwhile, you are working many of your hours per week just to pay the interest on those material things you charged—things that will soon be broken or tossed away, or possibly put in a yard sale. Take the first step and write out a budget: one that is sensible, yet gives boundaries for impulsive purchases. But as your finances need to be dealt with, be certain that you have also taken care of the greatest debt you’ll ever be chained by: that of your sin which can separate you from God! If someone came along and wrote you a check to cover all you owe, you would probably fall to your knees and cry. How much greater to know that He who had no sin became sin for you, so that you could [become free from your debt of sin, and] become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21). Start with being free from that debt, and then move to your finances.
Memory Verse: Hebrews 12:1: “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”