Bad case of MONEY-ITIS!

For the grace of  God has appeared,

bringing salvation to all men,

instructing us to deny ungodliness

and worldly desires and to live sensibly,

righteously and godly in the present age,

looking for the blessed hope and

the appearing of the glory

of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

Titus 2:11-13

What's with the trend of believers chasing stuff? Worldly desires....Another version says, "worldly passions".

People who are void of the Holy Spirit are always seeking to fill that void with stuff. (I blogged about that last week, search for "Stuff" in the search bar on this page to see if this is you.)

Let's define 'worldly desires/passions' a little further...

•  worldly: (greek: kosmikos) - meaning: having the character of this present corrupt age
• desire: (greek: epithymia) - meaning: craving, longing, desire for what is forbidden, lust 

Refer back to the verse...Here Paul is instructing 'the church' - the body of believers to "Deny ungodliness". Now it is our goal, those who follow Christ that we be godly, that our light shines before men in such a way that they may see our good works, and glorify our Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:16).

• ungodliness - (greek: asebeia) - meaning:  lusts or desires after evil things.

What is it that you are pursuing that is worldly, forbidden, evil? For some it's downright obvious, black & white stuff like: drugs, pornography, extramarital relationships. But some miss the mark by the mere lack of self-control and discontentment.

It is apparent that our nation's economy is in a crisis because of all the wants! All the overspending on stuff. Remember in 2007 when prices of homes went off the charts...and where are your neighbors who 'refinanced' to buy cars, trucks, boats, RVs, fancy vacations???? They've been foreclosed on and had to move on.

Check this verse out:

For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil,

and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith

and pierced themselves with many griefs.

1 Timothy 6:10

How many brothers & sisters in the Lord DID you have that are now missing because of their pursuits of money. God really used this verse in my life long ago while I was in the real estate industry. See, there is where you will find many people working 12 hours a day...for what? So they can have the fancy suits, fancy cars, fancy homes...all at the price of NOT seeing their families.

A thought occurred to me yesterday:

What's up with people going to church JUST

to network for business/money-making reasons????

I do my best to NOT promote my business at church. (Which is a good thing...read on.)

Remember when Jesus came through the temple, tossing over tables - "driving out those who were buying and selling in the temple"....what did He say:

"Is it not written MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL THE NATIONS'?  But you have made it a ROBBER'S DEN".

How do I receive that? Don't sell your Shakeology at church! If they want it, let them seek you out...but DON'T CORNER PEOPLE AT CHURCH TO BUY SOMETHING FROM YOU. (period)

What other evil comes from money? Jealousy. Resenting those who have more and so you go on pursuing more. How about fraud? Like real estate tycoons jacking up prices of homes and having family buy them to make more money and more money. Think about it...we all know believers who have gotten caught in the trap, don't we?

I don't think people start out with intentions to forfeit their values, their family, and God's Word in the beginning. But a little bit of nice stuff, leads to the want and need for more, then more...and soon, people break the rules to get more...and then what? They end up losing it all!

This is just one of the many reasons why the Lord instructs us not to chase 'worldy desires/passions'. We end up chasing money...and we end up losing more than we bargained for. This is why Titus 2:12 calls us to live sensibly.

What is that? Sensibly is living with a sound mind, soberly, temperately, discreetly. Opposite of discreetly: flashy, show-off right?

It's my heart's desires that the body of Christ grow in maturity and shine in front of their unsaved friends and family through their contentment, generosity, and sensibility.

But godliness actually is a

means of great gain

when accompanied by contentment.

1 Timothy 6:6 



Budgeting Revisited!

I got some amazing feedback from some folks re: my post on PayDay = Budget Day. Well, it's nearing another pay day for us, time to bust out the calculator. But I thought I would check in to see how many of you have either gotten your written budget done or how many got the book of Dave Ramsey's ("Total Money Makeover")?

This stuff will change your life. Maybe before you're comfortable with writing out a budget, you need to face why you don't want to do it. I think that before I was on a 'written budget' I did okay w/ the money. However, I was uncomfortable with the thought of that immediate/microscropic accountability I thought I was going to be under with my husband. But, my assumption of what it would be like didn't happen.

I observed something this week in conversation with a friend, she feels like living on a budget makes her feel 'broke'. And she is not broke by any means. And so maybe for some, the word budget is controlling, takes away power, brings back memories of when you were broke....but a budget really gives you so much.

The end result of a budget will leave you with money to save, put toward retirement, pay off a big debt. That's sounds great, right? A budget will give boundaries for us to be good stewards of our money, that's great right? We will have to make wiser decisions at Target and we may have to decline a few lunches 'out'. But for some, this will ultimately please our spouses by having better spending habits and more money in the bank - WIN-WIN! And if you're single, more money in the bank = more security. That's what I always wanted when I was flying solo!

Is it difficult to give our money boundaries because we want everything we see? Should we get everything we see? We don't do that with our kids. We don't receive everything from the heavens above, so why should we satisfy our hunger for 'instant gratification' just because we have the cash?

Yesterday, I was at the store, and I need a clock. I want a chrome, shiny chrome one. I saw one that was kinda like what I wanted...but told myself, "no, I'll wait 'til pay day and put it in the budget". I realize that when it comes to stuff on the walls, an upgrade in clothes/shoes/purse/accessories, or toys/stuff for my kids - then they can wait until I budget it!

Maybe we can lasso in our impulsiveness by implementing a budget. I'm coming to an obvious conclusion here...managing/following a budget builds character. It creates humility (when you tell yourself or others no), it creates contentment (no, I don't need a 4th pair of black sandals), it creates self-control (who cares if this is on sale - I DON'T NEED IT!)  Read my post on the 'power of telling yourself no'. Try it, you might grow. ;)

A written budget will be good. Now, a budget does not mean that you can't ever buy any new clothes, plan for a bbq, go out of town. A budget is the place that you write in the dollar amount you will spend on that item/catagory. And be realistic. Don't budget $40 to go Pismo (that's just gas)...unless that's all you have and you pack a lunch to eat for free, then that's brilliant & have fun. But plan to spend another $20 on fish & chips if you have it. Really, you don't need a lot of money to have fun on (that's another day's post...hmmm). But put in a responsible amount into a catagory that you frequently spend in. You can live - when you are on a budget.

Try it. You will find that you have more money than you thought. You may even have some extra to give to the local Rescue Mission, charity. Check out PayDay = Budget Day Post. That's the one that really got people thinking. Email me at jennifermorin@beachbodycoach.com if you have trouble finding my list of catagories in original blog I refer to. Have fun budgeting!!!!

My Thoughts on Thursday - "NO" buys you LIBERTY

I've met with a couple of very business-minded, financial planning individuals this week and we engaged in great challenging conversations. I thought for today I would throw out some of the things we discussed. Now, for the sake of my feelings, don't personally attack me, but just hear me out and then think about it for a day or two, and then email me your thoughts.

Now, in no particular order, here are taglines of conversation topics:
1. People are not planning for their retirement.
2. Healthcare WILL be the biggest expense when we retire (there will be no Medicare).
3. People are living longer. (Their meds are keeping them alive).
4. Most seniors are on blood pressure, cholesterol, and diabetic meds. (These ailments are preventable.)
5. Young people do not realize they need to save a.s.a.p. for retirement.
6. Most people do not have money to save.
7. These people do not have a written out budget.
8. Most people spend their money unwisely & impulsively.
9. People want fancy things now and will live in debt to have them.
10. People do not have financial goals.
11. People do not have fitness/spiritual goals.
12. People glorify eating bad at buffets, drinking all night, hangovers.
13. When you talk about healthy eating/budgets/self-discipline, many react defensively.
14. 65% of Americans are obese/overweight - fact!
15. Healthy Eating and Exercise can change that fact.
16. All it takes is goals, self-discipline, and the right program.
17. It's necessary to tell yourself 'NO'.

This is just a brief list....and I'll expand on #17: It's necessary to tell yourself 'NO'....Think about it, our parents told us no, we tell our kids no, God tells us no...because if we/or our kids were allowed to do everything we/they wanted, where would that land us. Really, think about it.

Somewhere, when we grew into adults, we decided that doing whatever we wanted, buying whatever we wanted, and eating whatever we wanted was what being an adult was all about. "Now that I'm an adult, I can do things my way". And where has that got us? That's got our nation in debt, into foreclosures, 65% if us obese/overweight, arrested, divorced, etc. Isn't it time that we shift our own mental paradigm and began to say no to our appetites, spending urges, addictions and start making decision that move us closer to true freedom.

Are we really free when we need 3 meds to keep us alive? Are we really free when we have to work 2 jobs to just keep the lights on? There is freedom in the simple life. There is freedom in telling your impulses "no". Tomorrow, I'm going to give you our personal written budget catagories (minus the $ amounts). Use it as an example of how YOU, yes YOU can structure your finances in a way that's uses them wisely. This way you can afford freedom in your life!