4 Lies Culture Tells About Money | Rachel Cruze

oh thank you thank you all well it is such an honor to be here with you and all of you watching at home and yes you heard from my dad last weekend so i'm following him and i know a lot of people have in their head the question gosh what was it like growing up as dave ramsey's kid and people assume that we had mutual funds birthday parties and like budget camps every summer and we were obsessed with money because it was dave ramsey you know but thankfully that was not the case uh mom and dad were very intentional with teaching us how money works and not just how it works but specifically what god says about money and because of that my whole life has changed i was actually born the year they filed for bankruptcy i was born in april and they filed in september so my entire life i had almost this front row seat of them figuring out god's ways of handling money and because of that again my whole legacy is different because of that and the gratitude within that is it overflows me and that's why part of my passion is to be able to to write and and speak and do podcasts all the things to get this message out because here's the deal if you do what culture says when it comes to money you're going to get culture-like results but if you do what the redeemer says to do with money you will get redeemed results so today so today i want to walk through four lies that our culture tells us about money versus what god says and john jesus says i'm the light of the world whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life and when i think about money in our world today it is a dark topic for a lot of people sadly it is it is a place of bondage for people it's a place of shame it's a place of guilt it's a place of looking back and embarrassment of mistakes maybe they've made but again when we filter everything we're talking about through the lens of scripture it changes and there is a light and that's what money is you guys it is a tool for us to use for good for god's kingdom so the first lie that culture tells us about money it says you'll be happy when you buy blank you will be happy if you could just get a newer car if you drove a newer car you you'd be happy everything would be good if your house was just a little bit bigger you'll be happy if you could just buy that jacket this winter you'll be happy if you can just buy blank you will be happy and it's this lie that has completely taken over our culture because we live in a culture that worships stuff and we really do believe that that the newness of stuff it drives our happiness and if that is your foundation you're gonna be a rat and a wheel for the rest of your life and what's interesting is you see in scripture that that god talks about money more than heaven and hell combined and majority of scripture around money whether it's parables or it's in the old testament it's a lot of warnings there's a lot of flashing caution signs around right you think about the rich the rich young ruler you think about um the man in luke jesus talks about who builds bigger barns and he calls him a fool in fact it's one of the only places in scripture that jesus calls someone a fool it's the guy that built booger barnes uh when you're studying james you'll you'll know toward the ends of james that paul is calling out the elitists within jerusalem because they've forgotten the poor and they're just hoarding their wealth so there's a lot a lot of caution lights around the subject of stuff of luxury and of money now i'll say this i am not against stuff by any means so i always say it's okay to have nice stuff just don't let your nice stuff have you and it can have you when you go into debt for it number one because at that point your stuff owns you you are in bondage to it and and last week again dad used this example but it's true and when proverbs says that the ritual's over the poor and the borrower is slave to the lender so when you go into debt and you buy things you can't afford there is a level of financial bondage you are in and when you're in this kind of bondage you guys you don't have choices you don't have options i have talked to countless people who long to go do something with their life and they can't because of their dang student loan payment or their car payment they don't have the margin to make different choices with their life because they their stuff is owning them and your stuff can own you when your identity your contentment your joy your peace all of that you believe is in stuff your stuff can own you at an emotional and a heart level in matthew jesus says no one can serve two masters you will either hate one and love the other or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other you cannot serve both god and money so what do we do with this what do we do with this because again we we live in this culture in this world that says yeah your stuff it is it's your everything it's your everything and when that becomes that foundation what what creeps in slowly that you may not even catch at times but you look up and you'll see the root of comparison lays a seed in your heart because if you think if i could just have this what they have if i could just go on that vacation everything will be fine pastor craig actually has one of my favorite quotes about comparison he says a comparison will either make you feel inferior or superior and neither honors god how good is that so again when you're looking at everyone else and seeing what the joneses are doing and news flash you guys the joneses they're broke they don't have money 78 of americans are living paycheck to paycheck 40 of americans can't cover a 400 emergency in cash so you're comparing your life to people that can't afford the life that they're living and then you topple social media on top of it right and it's like steroids it's just oh it's insane everything is magnified and we carry the joneses around with us in our back pockets on our phones and you compare not just your lifestyle but every other part of your life i mean it's bizarre i remember scrolling through instagram this specific story i scroll through it too much probably even now but i remember a few years ago scrolling through and seeing one of my friends and she was out with her four kids at the time i had two kids i now have three i had two so when you look at anyone that has a kid more than you you think how do they do it right how are they doing this she had four and there they are having a picnic at the park and there was this picnic blanket and this wicker picnic baskets and all four kids are in matching outfits and i'm from nashville the south so everything's monogrammed and they're eating these homemade non-gmo gluten-free grain-free snacks and all four kids are in the picture looking at the picture and the sunlight is just beautiful i mean the beaming of it and and all four kids are just laughing and she says you know beautiful day at the park with some homemade goodies and at the time i look over and my nine month old is taking off her diaper and my three-year-old's eating cheetos and i was like oh my gosh i'm a terrible mom you know you gotta feel this way how does she do it how does she do it so effortlessly and it feels like such a struggle how or maybe you're scrolling through facebook and you see your friends have just redone their kitchen it's the beautiful countertops and the the gold pools on the cabinets and their shiplap you know they're in the kitchen it looks like a farmhouse but you live in the suburbs but it looks like a farmhouse it's like joanna gaines just walked in and waved her little wand and oh there it is and you think man i i i would love a new light airy kitchen or christmas time comes around that's always my favorite everyone's posting where they're going or what they got and you know i went through this one girl and she's in front of a mercedes and the caption says always wanted a mercedes and there she is and you think man you don't see the kids running around the restaurant screaming right you see the four beautiful kids in the picnic you don't see them running around freaking out that's not on the instagram story you don't see possibly the second mortgage that was taken out on that home to redo that kitchen and now the husband's lost his job and they are stressed out and they are freaked out and you definitely don't see a 1990 honda civic with 300 000 miles put it on facebook oh look what my hubby just bought me blessed no you don't you don't see that but that that is real life you guys and i know you know this i know we've had social media long enough but it's a reminder remember because all of us can fall in that trap and so when you compare your life to all of that and your lifestyle i'm telling you there's a level of emptiness because it's make-believe it's a fairy tale but people will spend money and spend money they don't have to keep up that lifestyle that they think everyone else is living and they're missing out on so how do we how do we break again not just the comparison cycle but what the world says if you can just have blank you will be happy and the first step in this is gratitude christine kane says which i love that gratitude is not just what he has given us it is what he has entrusted to us and i love that because that is the truth right when it talks about stewardship and scripture stu a steward is a manager that is what it means we are managing it for him so whether it's your job whether it's your investments whether it's your income whether it's your kids whether it's your education i don't care what it is your life you are managing for him he has entrusted these things to you and when that goes from your head to your heart and your soul it changes the way that you view your stuff and your money in luxury you suddenly do this you live a life within an open hand because you don't own it it's not yours so if he tells you give it away you give it away if he tells you enjoy it enjoy it like it's his he's the one that directs and tells you that's why it's so important you guys to be walking with the holy spirit to discern and to know what he is calling you to do because again we so easily we can do this so easily to live your life here so when you can have gratitude for what he's entrusted to you the next thing you can move into is humility and rick warren says humility is not thinking less of yourself it's thinking of yourself less so it's not humiliation it's not putting yourself down but you start to realize okay it's not all about me and we live in a world in a culture where it is isn't it it's all about you and your happiness it's like the axis of the world runs right through the top of your head and it's all about me me me me i mean even our phones have a camera on this side to take pictures of me like it's it is so wild we are such a me-centered culture but what humility does is it makes you look up and look out and see others because when you live with humility it's not all about you it's actually about serving and giving others and when you look to see how we are created in genesis it's clear that we were created in the image of god and god is the biggest giver of us all by giving us his son so we can have relationship with the perfect perfect and holy god so if we were created in his image and he is a giver we were created to be giving and to be serving that is who we are that is the dna of us as believers so when you can go from gratitude for what he's entrusted to you to now be able to look up and see what you can do for others that next and final step i really do believe is contentment and contentment is not apathy contentment is not laziness you can still have goals you can work hard you can strive but you can be content contentment is a peace that the holy spirit brings to your soul and your heart and your spirit where you say i am here for a reason and first timothy it says godliness with contentment is great gain and we live in a culture that has not gained a lot because they are still running and chasing but when you have godliness with contentment oh it is a great gain and what a beautiful thing it is so when culture says if you can just have this you'll be happy we can say no actually i'm going to be i'm going to have godliness with contentment and that's gonna bring me peace and joy the next lie that culture says is that you don't need anyone else in america you all we applaud self-sufficiency don't we if you go and do it on your own people are there ready to applaud you but when you look at scripture you know not only are you known by god you're not doing it by yourself he knows you he knows every single part of you you are known by your creator and what a gift that is but scripture also says to be known by people be have community other believers that you are walking life with and i'll say this if you are married in here how many are married in here okay yes and all of you watching if you are married your spouse is that number one person not to do this alone with we have this idea in our heads specifically i'll speak for this country america the most but there we were told yeah you can still have your independence when you're married there's still this level you can keep over here and with your money yeah yeah you can still have yours it's your money it's his money it's her money it's this it's the separate way and people are not combining they're not unifying they're running on two separate tracks and it is really hard to win financially when you're married and you and your spouse are on two separate tracks it's very difficult the problem is again we live in a world and it says yeah well i i work hard so i deserve it i make more money than my spouse so i get to do what i want i work she stays at home with the kids i get to decide and it in the very thing that separates us is the one topic i think in life that can unify you in a great powerful way so if you're married out there work together and a few tactical ways to do that number one join your checking accounts i say some pretty countercultural stuff in the world when it comes to money like don't live without credit cards if you go to school actually pay cash there's a way to do it you know i say these things that people are like oh no rachel i don't know but when i say this when i go on instagram and i said yeah if you're married you need to have one checking account you would think i took my car and ran over the family dog like i mean they think i'm a monster i mean they it's the number one thing that i get hated on the most they can not how could you rachel how could you i'm a woman i don't need to depend on a man listen when you get married and the pastor says you are one you are one in every area of your life including your money and i think it's a work of the enemy where he puts this wedge and the very thing that is hard and causes conflict because it does it's one of the leading causes of divorce in america today so i get it i'm not saying it's all going to be like flowers and roses it's going to be hard but the very thing that causes that conflict that makes people say it's just easier if we separate is the very thing that you need to press into because in marriage when you start avoiding one thing over here that habit goes through your entire marriage and you're going to look up in a few years and think i don't how are we not even talking about this so the thing that brings the conflict is the thing you need to dig into it's uncomfortable it's not fun but do it and combining those accounts is the first step also budget together i know dad talked about budgeting a little last week but do it together sit down and then you get to embrace the differences and that opposites attractive marriage don't they one of you is watching this right now and you're thinking oh she brought a budget i'm a love for the holy spirit is moving i'm gonna get excel out and make make my husband or wife sit right here and we are gonna do a bunch i can't wait i'm so excited we call those people the nerd in the relationship and then you always have a free spirits who says oh you know i'm good budget actually kind of feels like oh i'm suffocating a little it feels like i can't have any fun and that's me actually in our relationship which is funny i'm the free spirits my husband's the nerd but you have that you have spenders versus savers you have you have people that want to spend on experiences you have the other spouse that wants to spend on actual things i mean you start to see it but the beauty the beauty of working together through that budget because what you get to do next is you get to have empathy and you actually get to say okay i'm going to stop you know doing my little agenda and actually listen and hear them out because you may start to hear fears you may start to hear dreams you may start to hear things out of your spouse because money is a tool it's like this magnifying glass that shows you what's going on and having that conversation with your spouse is key and having that budget conversation and the empathy and praying together and and i don't say that lightly i mean honestly it again it is a it's a point of of of tension for a lot of couples so bring it before the lord and say how how can we get on the same page even if it's a third party you bring in a counselor it doesn't matter like talk to people and get on the same page you guys because when couples specifically who are running after jesus and their tools and their resources and everything is pointed towards the kingdom of god amazing beautiful things can happen so don't let this separate you guys don't let this tear your marriage apart and if you're single and you're watching this you have to be known as well be known obviously in life but with money so have someone in your life who is good with money and talk to them about it and say hey i i i'm struggling here like i i am on amazon too much definitely because i'm bored or i'm stressed you know whatever it is but to be able to talk about it because my friends that are single when i hear them i'm like man there's a lot of responsibility when you are single and specifically a single parent because you're the one that's in charge of thinking is there enough milk in the refrigerator right or when's my oil need to be changed i mean to have two brains thinking about your money specifically that is a gift that is a gift so bring people be known in this subject in life you all be known in it so when scripture says yeah you don't need anyone else bring community in bring it in the third lie that culture says is that you are your mistake that you are your mistake where ii corinthians says therefore if anyone is in christ the new creation has come the old has gone and the new has come and with money if you're over five years old and here or watching you've made a mistake with money money mistakes are part of the gig it's going to happen and the hard thing is is that some people's money mistakes they have more zeros at the end than others and that money is one of the only things in our life that we have a score card for i could tell you yeah i mean winston and i like our marriage is we are in such a good spot but there's not a score for that you know i could tell you yeah spiritually i'm just i'm not i'm feeling kind of dry this season but there's not a score for that like you don't have scores for these things in life but money you have a number like that net worth what you own minus what you owe is a number and that number in our world today your net worth sadly has become your self-worth and that has to flip your self-worth is not your net worth and that mistakes that have been made those mistakes you have made do not define or identify who you are and so going back and knowing that you are a child of god a new creation has come he sees you through the blood of jesus you are not your mistake you're not your money mistake and and mistakes again they're going to happen you all they're going to happen after i had my third and last baby november or october of 19 right before the pandemic we realized that we needed new car seats and in a new car and all that because the three car seats as i put it in didn't click and it was too small this whole thing and so i did something i never thought in my entire life i would do but i bought a minivan yes thank you thank you two things will radically change your life walking with jesus and owning a minivan i'm telling you i could work for honda like it is the most amazing car i've ever been in i'm like this thing it's it's i can't even tell you the seats i won't even get into it it's amazing so winston and i we do the whole plan right so we saved up we had the cash went down to the honda dealership we bought the new van we were very excited about it it was on a monday night tuesday morning i'm leaving to take my oldest to preschool we get in the van and i'm like you know you get in and just oh my adrenaline is kind of pumping something oh it's all new i mean it's just so it is fun right it's okay to have stuff remember we're not i'm not letting this fan have me i'm really trying but it's fun and i start pulling out of the garage and i hear a crunch and my daughter was like mom mama what's that what was that and i thought i don't know i don't want to know i don't want to know what that was surely out of two decades of pulling out of a garage in my life surely nothing like what i just heard just happens so i get out of the van and apparently um those little fins that are on top of cars or vans looks like a like a dolphin fin if you see them i've never really noticed them yeah they're not there for decoration no they have computer chips inside of them yep things like your satellites and your gps and your radio technology apparently is in that little fin and did i slice that fin right off yes i did there were computer chips all over our garage and i thought oh no and i look up and there's a hole in the top of the van with wires like sticking out and i thought oh so i text my husband because winston if you knew us we actually won the newlywed game last year because of this question what's your biggest pet peeve about your spouse they asked me to ask for winston and i said he drives slow and winston wrote i drive slow when we won the game like like we know this about each other he drives slow so i thought this would have never happened to winston he he of course would have let the garage door go up all the way before he pulled out of the garage so i text him and i said uh babe something happened he said is everyone okay are you good are the kids good i said oh yeah everyone's great the van not so much he said what and i said i kind of broke the van uh-huh i broke the van so of course he comes home and he was like hey it's okay it's okay but i felt sick guys i mean i was like what i cannot believe i just did this when you just feel like i just wish i could rewrite rewind time it was so frustrating you got to take it to the not even just the dealership to redo it you had to take it to like the auto parts place and they had to completely do the new roof everything everything and it just makes you sick i mean the guy that got in that was helping me he gets in the driver's seat turns it on and he said oh there's only 36 miles on this i was like i know i knew oh it was terrible and insurance and our insurance it was all of it right but it was a mistake it was a mistake things are going to happen so when money mistakes happen do not let them identify you don't let them don't don't enable yourself either or others in your life by just saying it's okay it's okay it's okay it's okay don't be legalistic where the rules trump the relationship because that's an exhausting place to be but find that grace in the middle knowing that okay there is grace i am not my mistake and then the fourth and final lie that our culture tells us is they say it's they say it's this mindset yolo you only live once which is true like we do right we only live once but when that's your mindset that instant gratification i want to just do what feels good in the moment completely takes over your life where in proverbs it says a good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children when you are a good man when you're wise you are thinking about the generations beyond you because the generations beyond you are going to know how you handled this your kids are watching you if you have grandkids they are watching you so what are you passing down to them this isn't a money specific it can be and i and i pray you're in a position where you're able to do that i think that's a blessing but it's also how you handle your relationship with money will outlast you does it own you or do you own it do you serve god or do you serve money these questions are asked and so knowing that your legacy it's a big part of this as well where our culture doesn't think that long term they think instantly growing up my parents used this analogy of a rope so the idea of the rope was that we were tied to one end of the rope as kids and they had the other end so depending upon how well we made decisions in life how trustworthy we were they would let this rope out and we could make more and more of our own decisions but if we made a bad decision they would pull the rope back in so i remember being you know probably 14 years old dropped off at the movies with some friends in middle school and we decided not to see the movie we decided to go across the street to mcdonald's and get ice cream and when dad came to pick me up i wasn't there it was kind of this whole ordeal and i remember sitting in the living room because we had a family meeting that night a.k.a rachel's in trouble again and i remember her dad said rachel if you want to be treated like an adult you gotta act like an adult and an adult has responsibility and they go to the pay phone because we didn't have cell phones back then you go to the pay phone and you call and you know what i probably would have let you walk across the street to mcdonald's i think that's fine but you weren't responsible enough to communicate that so now i'm gonna have to pull the rope back in now fast forward a year i was at a party and some adult beverages were all around and i remember thinking if i am caught at this party my life is over forever and so i called my mom and said hey you just come pick me up and i got into the front seat and she said rachel really wise decision she said i so appreciate you calling me you get lots of rope rachel lots of rope great job and so when my older sister denise was graduating high school and going off to college if you've had your first one leave home you know it's it's a big deal and so the night before she left we had this big family dinner my mom made this huge homemade meal we ate off the fancy plates that you only eat off of thanksgiving and christmas we had cloth napkins it was this wonderful big meal we and we were telling stories about denise and we were laughing and crying it's like she was dying or something but she wasn't just moving two and a half hours away but towards the end of that dinner dad pulled out this gift bag and he pulled this out of it a rope and he said denise tomorrow you move away you go to college and your day-to-day decisions now they are up to you and our rope doesn't reach from nashville to knoxville tennessee and so it's up to you and so he tied these different ribbons around the ropes symbolizing different areas of her life and white was for her purity orange was because she was going to the university of tennessee go falls purple was her academics red was her spiritual walk and yellow was if she ever needed to come home and he said denise tomorrow you become an adult he said here's the rope and we all just cried denise is never coming home again she has the rope like the whole thing is there now i'm the middle child of the ramsay family so the neglected and abused child and the night before i went to college we had pizza on paper plates it was great very fancy and i remember going to bed that night and dad as i was walking up the stairs he yelled through the house rachel rachel oh you need a rope don't you went to the garage [Music] [Applause] i'll let you decide which child is their favorites but i think we know no but i i see this rope as my legacy that my parents have passed me of parents who have made the mistakes so much so they filed bankruptcy but chosen to live a life not by what culture says about money but truly the fulfillment of what scripture says not what culture says what scripture says about money and because of that i mean i i do i see this as my legacy it's a legacy of life not that they were perfect not that i am perfect with the subject but one that through the lens of our decisions praying that godliness with contentment is great gain a legacy of life and i'm so thankful they passed me this legacy versus this legacy in deuteronomy it says i have called heaven and earth as witness today against you that i have set before you life or death blessing or cursing so choose life that you and your descendants may live thank you guys i'll close us in prayer god thanks so much for this time um the honor and the gift and privilege it is to be here at life church and god i pray that everyone watching everyone here today that this topic that can rule over us and we can believe the lies the culture says i pray that you give us a way that we can be in your word know your scripture and know the truth about how to handle this topic of life that can be so hard it can be so damaging so all-consuming god but you have given us light and we are a new creation because of you and we're so thankful so thankful for that gift in jesus name amen as we continue in an attitude of prayer with every head bowed and every eye closed there are those of you here today that you came here and honestly you've been searching for things to fill that void in your life you've tried to fill something in your heart with material things with relationships with substances and nothing fills that void and you're here today for this very next moment a moment where you recognize that there is nothing in this world that can fill that void the only one that can fill that void is jesus and you see here's the problem is if you and i sat down to just talk and just have a conversation and i asked you hey where do you stand with god you might even say you know what i don't know man i don't really know where i stand with god in fact i don't know that god could ever love someone like me i've made so many mistakes i've sinned against god and i would just tell you you're right none of us none of us are perfect we all sin you've sinned i've sinned and that sin creates a debt that we can't pay but you need to understand something god loves you so much that he did something for us and his son jesus he sent his son jesus who lived a sinless and perfect life and he died on a cross for the forgiveness of our sins paying our debt but he didn't stay dead after three days he rose again so that anyone and this includes you anyone who calls on the name of jesus would be saved would be forgiven would receive a brand new life and freedom through christ and so here's the deal in this next moment it's time for you to surrender your life to jesus you are ready to receive the gift of grace and forgiveness of your sins so i'm gonna count to three and when i get to three if that's you you say i need jesus i need his grace i need his forgiveness when you say yes to jesus he forgives you and he makes you know new so when i count to three and i get to three if that's you i want you to shoot your hand up at all our life church locations online just say it in the chat i'm giving my life to jesus one god loves you he's here for you ready to forgive you two don't wait for tomorrow tomorrow's not promised to anyone today is your day of salvation three come on shoot your hand up in the air right now there's hands going up at all of our campuses god bless you put it in the chat right now say i'm giving my life to christ church family would you pray with me pray together with those around you everyone praying out loud if you're watching online just repeat this prayer with us say heavenly father i give you my life i surrender my heart forgive me of my sins and make me new fill me with your spirit so i can follow you and serve you all the days of my life no more guilt no more shame my life belongs to you thank you for forgiveness thank you for your grace and thank you for new life it's in jesus name i pray can you celebrate with those around you today welcome to the family of god

Channel: Life.Church

Views: 170,539

Rating: 4.8810196 out of 5

Keywords: Craig Groeschel, Sermon, Life.Church, Lifechurch, life church, life church sermons, craig rochelle, groeschel craig, church sermons 2021, lies about money, myths about money, money lies, lies, comparison, saver, spender, budget, budgeting, rachel cruze, how to budget, personal finance, rachel cruze budget, budgeting your money, budget money, budgeting money, money management, personal finances, money, marriage and money, money and relationships, money in marriage, marriage finances

Id: KmL0zZg0Zyo

Length: 36min 6sec (2166 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 21 2021