Perspective on Provision (Stewardship)

Hey, this is Tim Pratt Jr. I want to welcome you to the podcast Student of Life. I pray that you hear something that will add value, shape, develop, and cultivate your faith in order to be the person that God desires you to be, as well as the application to see it through. Enjoy. What's up everybody? So this is episode 9 of season 3, and we're going to call this one Perspective on Provision. And we're still in our stewardship series We're going to build on the last two. So the last one was mindset within the stewardship series, and the first one, the one before that, which is the first one to kick off this, is what is stewardship. So what comes to mind when you hear that? And this is like, say, building blocks, so it's going to be some redundancy here and there, but I really want to take this in a slight different direction because perspective is going to be everything on on how we see money and just stewardship in general. Because like I said in the last ones, money touches everything. It literally— I mean, it's, you know, you can do the Haves and the Have Nots, you can go look up that philosophy. It— I mean, from poor to like putting our kids through school, to helping advance the kingdom of God with being a blessing to people, buying food resources that we need, and so on and so on. The thing that I want to unpack today, and it really gets— it leads me to get into our foundational text, and I do want to give this the proper context, so I'm going to some room here to really tie all this in by the power of God. Our foundational text comes from 1 Timothy 6:10, and I'm going to read from the King James Version, and it goes as: For the love of money is the root of all evil. For the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they have erred from their faith and pierced themselves through many sorrows. So let's give this context before we dive into it. So Paul, you know, basically paraphrasing it, Paul was basically leaving a letter to Timothy and telling him basically this: if you start to love money— okay, let me back up. So contentment is what you're gonna have to have in this to truly keep your eyes on God, to truly make sure that you're doing his will. You're going to have to have contentment. If you decide to love money, many people are— will have basically started using the gospel for the things that come with it. So we start to basically indoctrinate things, and we get away from— from what I got out of my revelation, we— if we're not careful, we can get away from doing the complete will of God because we start serving money. So in other words, what does that look like in modern today? We won't preach the whole gospel because it might push some people away that's big tithers or big givers within the local church. Now, I'm not saying you should bash them, but you should stand on the truth and stand on the gospel. And some messages aren't going forward that they know should be going forward because they don't want to offend people, because if those people leave, their checkbook goes with them, for lack of better terms, you know, direct deposit, whatever. There's so— their seeds go with them. So all in all, you know, in, in just a very, very short perspective, this is what Paul was warning Timothy of, saying basically you're going to need contentment. Do not fall in love with money and the things that come with this because you don't want to basically use the gospel for selfish gain, for money. That verse is often misquoted. Many people share things in the context of if money is the root of evil, why does the local churches and so many ministries and things need it? Why do people act like they need so much if it's the root? But that's the thing, money is not the root of all evil. It's the love of money. Love, the love of money is the root of all evil. So when you love money, I just believe in my spirit you can't have contentment. You can't. And you can actually go back and listen to the episode early in this season, The Lack of Contentment, and come back to this one if you want, just to get the proper perspective. Because like I say, this season I wanted everything to build on each other. So that's what Paul was warning Timothy of, because wealth is neutral. It doesn't have a moral system. Money doesn't have a moral system. There is nothing wrong with money. Itself, like just straight up, but it takes on the characteristics of the individual. So for example, if you take me and you take my wife in this example, and someone gives her $100,000, but she does everything according to the word of God— she gives tithe, gives to people, put some back, you know, store, um, just do whatever— she's just doing everything according to the word of God, Spirit-led, principle-centered. But then that same person gives me $100,000, I go out and just start buying just, just stuff, just stuff that I don't even need. Don't give, don't tithe, don't sow from it or anything. And I started investing even, but all that investment is because out of fear, because I just want— it's a selfish gain. So I started to invest, but it's not an investment from the standpoint to help become financially free, to help advance in the kingdom of God and helping others, is really just to make me more powerful. That's when we have an issue. So the same check was cut, the $100,000, is, isn't evil, but the characteristics. So the money took on my characteristics because it amplified who I really am. Same with her, it amplified who she really is. So she did it by the word of God. I did it by the word and will of Tim Pratt Jr. It was just totally what I wanted to do. So if someone comes in and say, well, money is evil, well, how is it when one person over here is doing it the right way but the other one is not? So we have to keep that in this proper context. It's the love of money that's the root of all evil. Wealth, money, all like, it's— it doesn't have a moral system. It is morally neutral. You, you have to keep that in mind. So when we look at it, at just at its root, the love of money is what motivates people to steal, gamble, embezzle, lie, even murder, and so on and so on. Because when people really love money and they put that as their God Like I said, they lack contentment. They lack the character of God. That's just the truth. It's like they don't— because I've been there, just straight up. Now, I haven't murdered or nothing, but we're not going to get into picking and choosing stuff, right? At the end of the day, I had a love for money, so I lied in terms of trying to justify things. I would stop giving because I needed to— that's like, oh man, the 401k, I really take care and secure my future. Okay, I'm trying to secure my future in my own merit, but I should have been just investing, following certain rules, but at the same time doing it because it's wise and trusting God just for everything. Say, okay, Lord, I'm being a good steward. You're going to bring the increase. I believe that you're going to take care of me. So yes, I'm going to steward my money like you told me, get into certain investments with compound interest and do my due diligence. But at the same time, I'm not going to not give— be a cheerful giver, tithe, and so on and so on, and put that money also in that investment. Because I'm like, well, if I give this to help advance the kingdom of God, I'm actually losing out on some compound interest, you see what I'm saying? So I'm gonna also take that and put it into these investment vehicles because I just don't know. So that's where it comes down. Everything, when you really think about it, it comes down to the intent of the heart. So that's why we have to be careful when we judge certain people. Like, well, it might look like they're doing the same thing as somebody else, but they're really not, because everything comes down to the intent of the heart. But like I say, if I was taking that money and just stewarding over it and investing and paying off debt and things like that and saying, okay, Lord, I don't know if this is going to be enough or not, but I'm going— I'm just going to be a proper steward. I'm praying and I'm— I believe that you're going to bring the increase. But I'm going to keep giving, tithing, and doing whatever you call me to do with this. I just believe that the intent of the heart is pure, like, because that person is being Spirit-led, but they also live in principle-centered. And so they are just going about it being a wise steward over the— over what God has blessed them with. So he's going to bring the increase. So all in all, like I say, it just goes back to that you can't say money is evil in itself. It all comes down to the characteristics of that individual because that's what it takes on. I know I keep saying that, but we really have to get that. So when it comes down to like, you know, if you're being a wise steward and you have your stuff, like you have stuff and things, you've bought some nice things, but you know you giving You don't have to belittle yourself or talk down and be like, oh yeah, just this little— all this type of stuff. You don't have to do that. If you have a nice house but you know you have been, you know, doing what God told you to do with your money, you don't owe no one no explanation. If you bought you a nice car or a nice bag and, you know, you see someone that's homeless and someone say, well, oh, that bag cost $600 and you could have done this, but you know you have given hundreds if not thousands of dollars, you don't owe no one no explanation. Because this, this is a collective movement. If that's the case, man, I would— I wouldn't have nothing. I would probably be poor too, be saying, well, I need to be with them. How am I advance the kingdom of God? So it's certain things that I'm gonna do, you know, just straight up, like I'm gonna do God's will. But at the same time, I believe that there's nothing wrong with getting certain things that I, that I desire, that I have wanted. And so what it all comes down to is making sure that our possessions don't own us. See how— so it all comes down to the intent of the heart. Do you— as we said in the last episode, do you steward over the money or are you a slave to the money? Because think about the rich young ruler when he was boasting about keeping everything and all that, you know, he came to Jesus and he just— he's boasting. Jesus was the only one that could keep the law. And basically Jesus showed him, he was like, okay, one thing that you lack is basically how he views money. He made money his God. And when God said no other God before me, the love of money, that's what it basically he was doing. So he couldn't go toe-to-toe with Jesus. He, he couldn't do it. So basically it's like paraphrasing it. Oh, my bad, my bad, man, I forgot about that one. Because, you know, Jesus told him in the scriptures about his possessions and things like this and stuff. And so it was a heart issue. So it, it wasn't— it's just, it was— it's to show us like, okay, what truly has you? And that's what we have to keep in mind with our perspective. We have to make sure we have the right perspective on provision. Like, we can't— you can't beat people up because they're going after and getting certain things. But like I say, the main thing is just make sure that it doesn't have you. It's because if God is truly first, money will not have you. But when money becomes first, you, you like, you're not, you're not going to make the right spirit-led decisions because you're no longer your— where you keeping your eyes, you're not seeking the kingdom of God, you seeking money. Basically what I'm trying to say. And this is where, like I said in the last episode, we can kind of go back where God talks about man can't serve God and money. You can't do it. You have to pick one. And so, but a lot of times I feel like what happens is we, we feel like— and that's why we get so stressed out and straddled, because we are worshiping money when we should be worshiping God. But then we're worshiping God, we can't have just this covenant relationship with our money. Because when God say release it, oh, we got to release it. But it is times I do believe he calls us to steward. But the intent of the heart— because the Bible also teaches that saving money is a wise practice, as we just said, for many different reasons. This all comes down to perspective. So some of y'all provisions They in the alcohol that we drunk. We said this, us, we there, there. Some of the provisions are the clothes in your closet. Some provisions are in that trip you deserve that you really didn't. So this is, this is what stewardship is. God is our source and provider for everything that we need, and God will meet those, you know, according to his riches and his glory. Of Jesus Christ. You can go see, I think it's in Philippians. So, but what we said earlier is that money literally touches everything, and this is one of the key ways that God provides for us. And that's why we have to steward over money well. We have to. And you know, in my last studies, when I think I was— it was Matthew 25— you can really just read the whole book of Matthew 25. I can't remember where the focus scripture is, but I know it's in— I believe it's in Matthew 25 where it talks about how we should steward over it well, just being a steward in general well. So ask yourself the question: what are you motivated by? Why is stewardship important to you? Are you saving money and, you know, investing in things like that— going back to the example I gave for my wife and I— are you doing this because it's proper stewardship and it's one of your primary callings? Or are you doing it, you're saving money and doing things because it's out of fear, because you truly don't trust God? I just want you to ponder on it. That's the only reason I'm kind of pausing for a minute. Like, we have to ask ourselves that. Are you doing it because it's proper stewardship, or are you doing it out of fear because you don't trust God? Because whatever it is, whatever it is, it's going to come down to the intent of your heart, your heart posture. So perspective, perspective on provision, it's going to be vital to move forward in this life. It doesn't— the word of God does not call us to just sit up and wait. Now we supposed to work and all this type of stuff, but it's the proper context and preaching the whole gospel, teaching and preaching the whole gospel. Be wise over your money, just make sure that it doesn't have you. Hey, so I want to thank you for taking the time to listen to this content today. If it has impacted you in any kind of way, I want to encourage you to share it on your social media feed with family and friends. And if you desire to connect with me on a more deeper level, go to www.josephjonesministries.com. Www.timprattjr.org, you'll get more information on how to do that. With that being said, continue to have a blessed day, and Lord's will, I'll see you next time.