Speaker 1: Hey, everybody.
Speaker 2: Welcome to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. Well, we're talking about
Speaker 2: your money.
Speaker 1: That's right.
Speaker 2: We're continuing a powerful series called Financial Fitness. Rick is
Speaker 2: opening God's Word and showing us how to manage what
Speaker 2: we've been given with wisdom, faith, and purpose. And I
Speaker 2: know if you apply these biblical principles, you'll start to
Speaker 2: experience true financial freedom and lasting peace. Okay, and now,
Speaker 2: here's part two of a message called The Law of Contentment.
Speaker 3: How many of you are still thrilled with the things
Speaker 3: you got at Christmas last year? You can't name what
Speaker 3: you got at Christmas last year. If I said tell
Speaker 3: me right now the five things you got at Christmas,
Speaker 3: name them right now, you couldn't name them. That's how
Speaker 3: temporary possessions are. They are short-term pleasure.
Speaker 1: It's a little fix.
Speaker 3: So what's gonna happen is you're gonna become what you
Speaker 3: thought you were so thrilled with, you're soon dissatisfied with,
Speaker 3: and you gotta get the newer model. It's not gonna
Speaker 3: bring you permanent happiness. It's not gonna bring you permanent satisfaction.
Speaker 3: Ecclesiastes 5.10 says this. If you love money, and remember
Speaker 3: last week we talked about money is a tool. You
Speaker 3: use money and you love people. Use money, love people.
Speaker 1: Money is to be used.
Speaker 3: If you start loving money, you're gonna use people to
Speaker 3: get more money. Money is not to be loved. It
Speaker 3: says if you love money, you will never be satisfied.
Speaker 3: If you long to be rich, you will never get
Speaker 3: all you want. Somebody asked Howard Hughes, how much does
Speaker 3: it take to make.
Speaker 1: A man happy?
Speaker 3: He said, just a little more. He said, it's useless.
Speaker 3: He says, you will never be satisfied. 2000 years before
Speaker 3: that great theologian Mick Jagger, Solomon was saying, I can't
Speaker 3: get no satisfaction. And he's the wealthiest man in the
Speaker 3: world when he is writing this. He's not some poor guy.
Speaker 3: He's got more than you or I will ever even imagine.
Speaker 3: He says you'll never be satisfied. Living Bible says it's
Speaker 3: foolish to think that wealth brings happiness. So let me
Speaker 3: ask you a question. Let's get gut level honest here.
Speaker 3: How many of you would say I would like to
Speaker 3: live a life of less fatigue, of less expenses, of
Speaker 3: less anxiety, of less conflict and as less dissatisfaction. How
Speaker 3: many say, I'd kinda like to live that life? Yeah,
Speaker 3: I think that would be all of us. You must
Speaker 3: learn the secret of the law of contentment. Now Ecclesiastes
Speaker 3: 6-9 says, it's better to be satisfied with what you
Speaker 3: have than to always be wanting something else. That is
Speaker 3: the law of contentment. It's found all through the scriptures.
Speaker 3: It's in the book of Hebrews chapter 13. Paul talks
Speaker 3: about it in Philippians chapter four. Look at the bottom
Speaker 3: of your outline. Paul says, I have learned the secret
Speaker 3: of being content, whether living in plenty or in want.
Speaker 1: Now I want you to circle the word secret. It
Speaker 1: is a secret.
Speaker 3: Most people don't know how to be content. And notice
Speaker 3: it is something you have to learn. It is a
Speaker 3: secret you must learn. I'm gonna teach it to you
Speaker 3: this morning. Now, we are not by nature contented people.
Speaker 3: By nature, I am discontented. I'm always wanting to change things.
Speaker 3: You're always wanting to change things. I'm not satisfied. You're
Speaker 3: not satisfied. It is not natural to be contented. You
Speaker 3: must learn the secret of being content.
Speaker 1: Now how do you do that? Because it's not automatic.
Speaker 3: Well, the Bible tells us that there are four steps,
Speaker 3: four keys, four principles to the law of contentment.
Speaker 1: Here they are.
Speaker 3: Number one, first, stop comparing myself to others. That's the
Speaker 3: first step in becoming a contented person. You've got to
Speaker 3: stop it, stop it, stop it. Stop comparing yourself to others. Now,
Speaker 3: God made you unique. You're not one in a million.
Speaker 3: You're one in billions. Nobody is ever like you. God
Speaker 3: doesn't make clones. He never makes copies. Even identical twins
Speaker 3: are different. So it's really foolish to think that you
Speaker 3: have to be like anybody.
Speaker 1: You can't copy anybody else. You're unique. They're unique. And
Speaker 1: 2 Corinthians 10, 12 says this.
Speaker 3: We do not dare. He says, how dare you do this?
Speaker 3: It's a rejection of God. How dare you do this?
Speaker 3: We don't dare classify or compare ourselves.
Speaker 1: It is not wise. He said it's foolish, it's immature.
Speaker 3: Now the problem is, we naturally do it. And we
Speaker 3: do it all the time. It is America's favorite indoor sport, comparing.
Speaker 3: We love to compare. You walk into somebody's house and
Speaker 3: the first thing you do is you start making comparisons.
Speaker 1: Ooh, I like their floor. Ooh, that's got a nice, ooh,
Speaker 1: look at that drape replacement.
Speaker 3: Look at that TV. Whoa, wow, what a television. And
Speaker 3: you're making comparisons all the time. You walk up to
Speaker 3: somebody and say, wow, I like the way she did
Speaker 3: her hair. Mine looks sucky today.
Speaker 1: You know?
Speaker 3: And you know, wow, I wish I had his wife.
Speaker 3: I wish I had her husband. I mean, Why are
Speaker 3: my kids like that?
Speaker 1: You know?
Speaker 3: And I wish I had that job. And look at
Speaker 3: that car. I wish I had that job. You are
Speaker 3: constantly comparing. And you do it all the time. And
Speaker 3: that's what keeps you frustrated. You've got to stop it.
Speaker 3: If you're going to learn contentment, you've got to stop
Speaker 3: comparing everything around you. I heard about this couple in
Speaker 3: our church who, they were in deep financial problems and
Speaker 3: they went to a small group and the people's house
Speaker 3: was a pretty nice house and When they left, she
Speaker 3: said to her husband as they're driving, did you see that?
Speaker 1: He said, what are you talking about?
Speaker 3: She said, their furniture goes back to Louis XIV. He said, yeah,
Speaker 3: and ours goes back to Ikea on the 15th. Because
Speaker 3: we don't have the money for what we got, so
Speaker 3: don't even think about getting their furniture.
Speaker 1: Don't even think about it. And we're doing this all
Speaker 1: the time. I want you to write this down.
Speaker 3: I must learn to admire without having to acquire. That's
Speaker 3: the principle of contentment. I must learn to admire without
Speaker 3: having to acquire. You need to learn to rejoice in
Speaker 3: other people's prosperity without you getting jealous and envious and
Speaker 3: feeling like you have to have it too and then
Speaker 3: being bitter or mad because they've got something you don't have.
Speaker 1: You must learn to admire. Wow, that's a nice.
Speaker 1: Painting you've got, wow, that's.
Speaker 3: A nice backyard you've got, without having to acquire. Now
Speaker 3: this is one of the great principles that Americans don't understand.
Speaker 3: I don't have to own it to enjoy it. I mean,
Speaker 3: a lot of times you think, you know what, I
Speaker 3: like to do jet skiing. So you go out and
Speaker 3: you buy a pair of jet skis and it sits
Speaker 3: in your garage 90% of the time. Why not just
Speaker 3: go rent it the three times that you're gonna use
Speaker 3: it that year and not have to keep it in
Speaker 3: your garage? Just go rent it, okay? I mean, you say, well,
Speaker 3: I like to go camp out in the mountains. Well,
Speaker 3: why do you have to go buy a mountain cabin
Speaker 3: when you can just rent it the one time a
Speaker 3: year you're gonna go to the mountains, okay? I don't
Speaker 3: have to own it in order to enjoy it. I
Speaker 3: learned this a long time ago. I don't have to
Speaker 3: own it, I just use your stuff. Which by the way,
Speaker 3: if you got a good mountain cabin, let me know,
Speaker 3: I'll be glad to use it for you. Get the
Speaker 3: cobwebs out for you, I'll be glad to do that.
Speaker 3: And so you don't have to own something. And you
Speaker 3: may have a friend in the church who has something you.
Speaker 1: Need, well just borrow it.
Speaker 3: Don't feel like you gotta go out and buy everything yourself,
Speaker 3: you don't. Because once you own it, you gotta repair it,
Speaker 3: you gotta maintain it, you gotta store it, and all
Speaker 3: these other things. I can learn to admire without having
Speaker 3: to acquire. Now here's what you do. The next time
Speaker 3: you walk into somebody's house and they got something nice
Speaker 3: that you don't have, instead of starting to get discontent
Speaker 3: and envious, you just pray a little prayer that says this.
Speaker 3: Thank you, God, that I don't have their payments. Because
Speaker 3: they're paying for that. They're paying for that. And maybe,
Speaker 3: just maybe, you don't want to put your money there.
Speaker 3: Maybe you want to put it in the bank and
Speaker 3: save it and make your money work for you instead
Speaker 3: of putting it on your wall where it's not making
Speaker 3: any money. The money you put on the wall isn't
Speaker 3: helping you. The money you put in the bank and
Speaker 3: saving is making you money. While you're sleeping, it's making
Speaker 3: you money.
Speaker 1: So, This is so important.
Speaker 3: And when I'm talking to you about stop comparing yourself,
Speaker 3: this is not just a good idea to make you happy.
Speaker 3: Comparing yourself to other people is a sin. In fact,
Speaker 3: it is such a serious sin that God.
Speaker 1: Put it in the big 10. Yeah, the 10 commandments.
Speaker 3: It's in there right along with don't murder, which you'd
Speaker 3: never do, don't commit adultery, don't rip somebody off and steal.
Speaker 3: You know what the 10th commandment is? Don't compare yourself
Speaker 3: to anybody else. It's there on your outline. It's right there.
Speaker 3: Exodus 20, 17. You shall not covet anything that belongs
Speaker 3: to your neighbor. Don't look at it and go, man,
Speaker 3: I wish I had that. And you start comparing and coveting. Now,
Speaker 3: what is coveting? It's a word we don't use a
Speaker 3: whole lot today. so let me define it for you.
Speaker 3: Coveting means the uncontrolled desire to acquire.
Speaker 1: That's what it means, to covet.
Speaker 3: The uncontrolled desire to acquire covet.
Speaker 1: And when everything.
Speaker 3: I see and I've gotta get it because somebody else
Speaker 3: has got it, that's called coveting. And it's such a sin,
Speaker 3: it's right up there with don't murder. It's that important
Speaker 3: to God. He says, I don't want you coveting. Now
Speaker 3: the word covet in Hebrew, in the Old Testament, literally
Speaker 3: means to pant after.
Speaker 1: I gotta have it. It's to pant after.
Speaker 3: The word in Greek means to grab or to grasp
Speaker 3: so tightly that your hands are tight you can't even
Speaker 3: let it go.
Speaker 1: Now if God ever gives.
Speaker 3: You something and he tells you to give it away
Speaker 3: and you can't give it away, you don't own it,
Speaker 3: it owns you. And you are possessed by your possessions.
Speaker 3: You don't own them, they own you. Now he says
Speaker 3: don't covet, yeah you should not covet. Now let me
Speaker 3: make this really clear. God is not saying you should
Speaker 3: never have any desire for anything. No, no, no, that's
Speaker 3: not what he said. In fact, that's not Christianity, that's Buddhism. Buddhism,
Speaker 3: do you know what Buddhism is? Buddhism says, the basis
Speaker 3: of Buddhism is that all suffering is the result of desire.
Speaker 1: That all pain is the result of desire.
Speaker 3: And the whole goal of Buddhism is to get rid
Speaker 3: of human desire. And the goal is if you can
Speaker 3: get rid of all your desires, then you'll never have
Speaker 3: any more pain. And if you can get rid of
Speaker 3: all your desires, then you'll never have any more suffering.
Speaker 3: This is the philosophy of the Buddha. And if you
Speaker 3: can reach that state where you have absolutely no desires
Speaker 3: at all, then you'll have no pain and no suffering.
Speaker 3: And that state of no desire is called Nirvana. Now
Speaker 3: Nirvana does not mean pleasure. It does not mean heaven.
Speaker 3: Nirvana means nothingness.
Speaker 1: That's what it means.
Speaker 3: It means a state of nothingness, a state where I
Speaker 3: have zero desires so.
Speaker 1: Nothing can hurt me.
Speaker 3: And when I can get to that state of zero desires,
Speaker 3: I have entered into nothingness and I will not suffer.
Speaker 1: Well, that's nonsense, folks.
Speaker 3: It is the exact opposite of what everything in human
Speaker 3: behavior teaches us. Everything ever accomplished in life is created
Speaker 3: by human desire. Every great city is built because somebody
Speaker 3: desired to build a great city. Every great nation is
Speaker 3: built because somebody desired to build a great nation. Every
Speaker 3: great business is built because somebody desired to build a
Speaker 3: great business. Everybody gets married because they desire to get married.
Speaker 3: Everybody has kids because they desire to have kids. Everybody
Speaker 3: makes money because they desire to make money. Desires are
Speaker 3: not wrong. In fact, your desires come from God. We're
Speaker 3: not talking about desire being evil. It's the uncontrolled desire.
Speaker 3: When a desire is uncontrolled, it becomes a lust. And
Speaker 3: when a desire is uncontrolled, it becomes a coveting And
Speaker 3: when you desire something that is not righteously yours, like
Speaker 3: I want your wife, that's evil. But desire is not
Speaker 3: a negative thing. And nothing can be accomplished unless you
Speaker 3: desire to do it. You can't become more like Christ
Speaker 3: without desiring to become more like Christ. You can't desire
Speaker 3: to be a good person without desiring to be a
Speaker 3: good person. So he's not saying desire is bad. He
Speaker 3: is saying coveting is bad, which is I've got to
Speaker 3: have more, more, more, more, and more of what you've.
Speaker 1: Got instead of what I've got. So never compare.
Speaker 3: This is the first key to learning the secret of
Speaker 3: a contented life. Why should I never compare? Because comparing
Speaker 3: always leads to coveting.
Speaker 1: Number two.
Speaker 3: The second secret, key to the secret of contentment, is
Speaker 3: enjoy what I have. Too often, we're so busy going
Speaker 3: after what else we want that we don't stop and
Speaker 3: enjoy what we've already got. How many people do you
Speaker 3: know who go out and go overextend to buy a
Speaker 3: beautiful house and then they are never at home because
Speaker 3: they're busy.
Speaker 1: Paying for it? They don't enjoy what they've.
Speaker 3: Got because they're busy making money to get more. And
Speaker 3: beautiful backyards sit empty and swimming pools sat unswimmed in.
Speaker 3: People don't enjoy what they've already got because they're always
Speaker 3: going after more. You've got to enjoy what you have.
Speaker 3: Did you know that God wants you to enjoy life?
Speaker 3: Not to just endure it, but to enjoy it. Life
Speaker 3: was meant to be enjoyed, not merely endured. A lot
Speaker 3: of people think God is some cosmic killjoy that God
Speaker 3: wants you to frown through life and never be happy
Speaker 3: and never laugh and never have any fun and never enjoy.
Speaker 1: Absolutely not. God created it all for your enjoyment. Okay?
Speaker 3: God created taste buds and then gave us Cinnabon. God
Speaker 3: created eardrums and then gave us music. There is no
Speaker 3: single purpose for.
Speaker 1: Music except enjoyment.
Speaker 3: If you believe in evolution, you can have no explanation
Speaker 3: for music because music is not essential to survival. The
Speaker 3: only reason it's created is purely for enjoyment. It has
Speaker 3: no survival capabilities to it. It is simply God's way
Speaker 3: of expressing emotion and every emotion can be created through
Speaker 3: music and God gave it to us because God is
Speaker 3: an emotional God. And God gave us skin that can
Speaker 3: feel touch and can experience pleasure. And God gave us
Speaker 3: eyes and he created a world with color. He could
Speaker 3: have made it.
Speaker 1: All black and white. It is all for our enjoyment.
Speaker 3: Sunrises and sunsets and beauty is.
Speaker 1: For our enjoyment. God did this for our benefit.
Speaker 3: Now the fact is God enjoys watching you enjoy what
Speaker 3: he's given you.
Speaker 1: Now any parent understands this.
Speaker 3: I enjoy giving gifts to my kids, and then I
Speaker 3: enjoy watching my kids enjoy what I gave them.
Speaker 1: That's kind of obvious.
Speaker 3: God enjoys giving stuff to you, because he's a generous God,
Speaker 3: and then watching you enjoy.
Speaker 1: What he's given you.
Speaker 3: So God says, in fact, the Bible says in Timothy,
Speaker 3: everything on earth was given for our enjoyment. That's the
Speaker 3: kind of God we have, that we serve.
Speaker 1: It's for our enjoyment. But here's the problem. We're so
Speaker 1: busy getting more, we don't enjoy what we've got.
Speaker 3: The second principle, the secret of contentment is to learn
Speaker 3: to enjoy what God has given you. Here's what it says,
Speaker 3: Ecclesiastes 5.19. If God gives a man wealth, if God
Speaker 3: gives a man wealth and property, he should be grateful
Speaker 3: and enjoy what he has.
Speaker 1: It is a gift from God. That is a command.
Speaker 3: You are commanded to enjoy what God gives you. You
Speaker 3: need to pay more attention to what you do have.
Speaker 3: You need to open your eyes.
Speaker 1: You need to.
Speaker 3: Appreciate what God has already given you. You need to
Speaker 3: be grateful for it. You need to enjoy what you've got.
Speaker 1: And it doesn't have to be a lot. Just enjoy
Speaker 1: what you've got.
Speaker 2: We really appreciate you joining us today on Pastor Rick's
Speaker 2: Daily Hope. And Rick felt like he wanted to end
Speaker 2: today's show by sharing a word of encouragement.
Speaker 3: Jesus said, heaven and earth will pass away, but my
Speaker 3: words will never pass away. Did you hear that? The
Speaker 3: Bible is going to outlast the earth and the universe.
Speaker 1: Why?
Speaker 3: Because God's word is eternal. Because truth never changes. If
Speaker 3: it was true 5,000 years ago, it was true 1,000
Speaker 3: years ago, it's true today, and it's gonna be true
Speaker 3: a million years from today. This is why it's more
Speaker 3: important to know God's word than anything else. Opinions change,
Speaker 3: but truth never changes. It's why we focus on studying
Speaker 3: it here on our Daily Hope broadcast. Thanks for listening,
Speaker 3: and let me hear from you. My email address is rick,
Speaker 3: at PastorRick.com. Now that's two R's in the middle, Rick
Speaker 3: at PastorRick.com. I'd love to hear from you. And thanks again.
Speaker 3: Be sure to join me next time as we look
Speaker 3: into God's.
Speaker 1: Word for our daily hope.
Speaker 2: This program is sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and
Speaker 2: your generous financial support.