The Money and the Stuff

The Weight in Your Wallet

There’s a specific kind of tired that comes from money.

It is not the same as the tired from work. It is not the tired of a long day. It is the tired that shows up at 3 a.m. staring at the ceiling doing math you already know the answer to. The tired that sits on your chest when the rent is due. The tired of hiding the credit card bill from your spouse. The tired of your kid asking for something and you having to say no again. The tired of pretending the check engine light isn’t on. The tired of not answering unknown numbers because it might be a collector.

Money troubles do not just cost you money. They cost you sleep. They cost you dignity. They cost you your marriage sometimes. They cost you Sunday morning church because you don’t want to show up in the same clothes and be seen. They cost you your patience with your kids. They cost you your peace.

And when we finally do get some money, most of us do the same thing. We spend it on stuff. Not because we planned to. But because when you have been squeezed that long, and something finally opens up, the pull to buy something — anything — that feels good for ten minutes is almost unstoppable. Amazon. DoorDash. A new pair of shoes. A subscription. A better phone. Something.

And a week later the money is gone, the stuff is in a pile in the corner of the bedroom, and the tired is back.

This paper is for that.

The Bible has a lot to say about money and stuff. More than you might think. But almost none of it is what you have been told from a pulpit, especially not one that was trying to get you to write a check. This is going to be the real thing. Straight talk.

Get your coffee. Sit down. Let’s clear this up.

What the Bible Actually Says About Being Broke

Here is the first thing you need to know, and if you get nothing else from this paper, get this.

Being poor is not a sign that God is mad at you.

There is a whole strain of American church that will tell you God wants every believer rich, and that if you are broke it is because you don’t have enough faith, or because you haven’t sent in your seed money. That is a lie. It is not in the Bible. It has been used for decades to squeeze money out of poor people by promising that God will give it back to them tenfold. He will not, because that is not the deal, and He never said it was.

Look at who Jesus actually spent His time with. He did not hang out with rich people. He was poor. His mother was poor. He was born in a feed trough because there was no room in the inn.

“Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.”

— Luke 9:58 (NLT)

That is Jesus talking about Jesus. Homeless, in a sense. The Son of God with no fixed address. If you are broke this week, you are in company with the One who saved the world.

“Blessed are you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours.”

— Luke 6:20 (NLT)

Read that one twice. Jesus said the Kingdom of God belongs to the poor. Not because being poor is holy in itself. But because when you don’t have money to lean on, you often learn to lean on God in a way rich people rarely have to. Being broke can be its own kind of spiritual advantage. It is not what any of us would sign up for. But God is not against you because your bank account is against you.

You are not being punished. You are being carried.

What the Bible Actually Says About the Stuff

Now the other side. Because being broke is one problem. The pull of stuff is another problem, and it hits people at every income level.

You do not have to be rich to be owned by stuff. You just have to believe the lie that the next purchase will fix something inside you. Everybody at that table has believed that lie at some point. So has everybody who ever lived.

“For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.”

— 1 Timothy 6:10 (NLT)

Notice what Paul does not say. He does not say money is evil. He says the love of money is what pierces people. It is the wanting. It is the always needing more. It is the belief that if you just had a little bit more, the ache would go away.

The ache does not go away. Not with more.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.”

— Matthew 6:19-21 (NLT)

Jesus is not saying it is wrong to have things. He is saying it is a bad investment to build your life around things. Because everything on earth is temporary. Everything rusts. Everything breaks. Everything eventually ends up in a box in somebody’s basement. The stuff you are chasing today will be at Goodwill in ten years. Sometimes less.

The pull of stuff is exactly the temptation pattern from last week. Remember? He promises what he cannot deliver. The new phone will make you feel important. The new car will make you feel powerful. The new outfit will make you feel loved. The new house will make you feel safe. None of it will. Not because the things are bad. Because the things cannot carry what you are asking them to carry.

Only God can carry that weight. Stuff will break under it every time.

The Two Things Jesus Actually Said About Money

For all the noise about money in church, Jesus really only said two things about it, over and over. Both are hard, but neither is complicated.

One. You cannot love money and God at the same time.

“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

— Matthew 6:24 (NLT)

Jesus does not say you should not. He says you cannot. It is not a preference. It is a physical impossibility. You will end up loving one and hating the other. There is no middle ground.

That is not a call to hate money. Money is a tool. It buys groceries. It pays rent. It sends kids to school. It is not the enemy. But the moment you start trusting money the way you should trust God — for security, for identity, for peace — you have swapped masters. And your soul will feel it.

Two. God takes care of His kids.

“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life — whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?”

— Matthew 6:25-26 (NLT)

Read that slowly. Jesus is not saying stop being responsible. He is not saying stop working. He is saying stop worrying. Stop letting the fear of not having enough eat you alive. Because you have a Father in heaven who feeds birds He barely knows, and you are worth more to Him than a whole flock of them.

This does not always mean you will get everything you want. It does not always mean the bills will magically get paid. It means He knows what you need, and He has never once forgotten one of His kids. Ever. In the history of the world.

“And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.”

— Philippians 4:19 (NLT)

Notice one word in that verse. Needs. Not wants. Not everything you want on Amazon. Needs. And God has been meeting needs for a long time.

Contentment Is a Learned Skill

Here is one of the most quietly powerful things in the whole New Testament. Paul, who spent years in prison, who was often broke, who at the end of his life owned almost nothing, wrote this:

“I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.”

— Philippians 4:11-12 (NLT)

Read that carefully. Two words matter more than any others in that passage. I have learned.

Paul did not say contentment came easy. He said he learned it. It was a skill he developed over time, through practice, through going without, through going with, through years of walking with God through every level of provision. Contentment is not something you are born with. It is not something rich people have and poor people don’t. It is not something that comes when you finally get enough. It is a skill you build by walking with God in the middle of what you have.

That is good news, because it means you can start building it today. Right where you are. Broke or not. In debt or not. Because the goal is not to have enough. The goal is to be at peace with what God has given you today, while trusting Him for what you need tomorrow.

“True godliness with contentment is itself great wealth.”

— 1 Timothy 6:6 (NLT)

If you have Jesus and you have peace, you are already richer than most people with a million dollars in the bank. That is not a slogan. It is a fact. And the man or woman who learns it is untouchable in a way money cannot buy.

What to Do When You Are Actually Broke

All the theology in the world does not pay rent. So here is the practical part. Because the Bible is not silent on this either.

One. Do what you can do. The Bible does not say God will drop money in your lap. It says He will provide. And in the Bible, provision almost always comes through work, through wisdom, and through people. If you can work, work. If you can pick up an extra shift, do it. If you can sell something, sell it. If you can cut something, cut it. God helps people who are already moving. He rarely helps people who are sitting still waiting for a miracle.

“Lazy people are soon poor; hard workers get rich.”

— Proverbs 10:4 (NLT)

The Bible is not shy about this. Work is not a curse. Work is one of the primary ways God provides. If you can put your hand to something, do it. Nothing is beneath you.

Two. Get honest with somebody. The shame of financial trouble makes people hide. Hiding makes it worse. The debt gets deeper. The bills pile up. The lies grow. If you are in a hole, the first step out is telling one honest person. Your spouse. A friend. Somebody at the donut shop. This connects back to what we said a few weeks ago about one other person. Money is one of the things you were never supposed to carry alone.

Three. Do not pray for what you have not planned for. God is not going to bless a spending plan that doesn’t exist. If you have never sat down and looked at what comes in versus what goes out, do that this week. It does not have to be complicated. A napkin will do. Then start asking God to help you live inside those lines.

Four. Beware of the shortcuts. If it sounds like easy money, it isn’t. The lottery is not your ticket out. Neither is that get-rich-quick pitch a guy at work is running. Neither is the payday loan that will eat you alive. The Bible has a specific word for shortcut money.

“Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows over time.”

— Proverbs 13:11 (NLT)

Every time. Every generation. Every scheme. The Bible has watched this movie for 3,000 years, and it always ends the same way.

Generosity Is How You Break the Grip

Here is something that will sound backwards but is true. The way you break the power of money over your life is to give some of it away.

Not because God needs your money. He does not. He owns everything already. But because the act of giving breaks the grip that money has on you. It is a spiritual move, not a financial one.

“You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.”

— 2 Corinthians 9:7 (NLT)

Notice what Paul does not say. He does not say give ten percent. He does not name a number. He says decide in your heart how much to give. And do it cheerfully, not because somebody guilt-tripped you.

If you are broke, start with five dollars. Or one dollar. Or a can of soup for a food pantry. Give something. Because the size of the gift does not matter to God. The direction of the heart does.

Jesus made this really clear one day when He was watching people give at the temple.

“For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has.”

— Luke 21:4 (NLT)

The woman Jesus praised gave two small coins. Almost nothing. And Jesus said she gave more than the rich people who gave large sums. Because it was more of what she had.

God is not looking at your bank account. He is looking at your heart. Give what you can. It will change you before it changes anything else.

You Are Rich in Ways That Matter Forever

Here is the last thing. Because this whole paper could accidentally sound like it is about money if we are not careful. It is not. It is about you.

You are not defined by what is in your wallet. You are not defined by your credit score. You are not defined by the car you drive or the house you live in or the school your kids go to. You are defined by whose you are.

And you are His.

“Yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.”

— 2 Corinthians 8:9 (NLT)

That verse is not about money at all. It is about Jesus. He left the wealth of heaven, came down to a poor family in a small town, lived thirty-three years with almost nothing, and died with only the clothes on His back. And He did it so you could become rich in the ways that actually matter forever. Forgiven. Adopted. Loved. Free. Held.

If that is you today, then you have already inherited the only wealth that never runs out. Everything else is just details. Hard details, some weeks. Painful details, some weeks. But details.

The Father knows what you need. He has never once forgotten a single one of His kids. And He is not starting with you.

Walk out of here today and stop letting money be your master. It was never supposed to be. You already have a Father, and He is a lot bigger than your bank account.

TAKE IT WITH YOU

One thought.  Being broke is not a sign that God is mad at you. And being rich is not a sign that God is with you. What defines you is whose you are. And you are His.

One question.  What is the one thing you have been telling yourself money would fix? Now honestly — has it ever, in the history of your life, actually fixed it? What might God be offering instead?

One step.  This week, do two things. One, sit down and look at what comes in and what goes out. Even on a napkin. Two, give something away. Five dollars. A meal. A bag of clothes. Something. Break the grip.

NEXT WEDNESDAY

When You’re the One Who’s Sick.  Diagnosis. Chronic pain. Depression. Anxiety. Something that will not go away no matter how hard you pray. What the Bible actually says about suffering that stays — and about a God who does not always heal, but always shows up. Bring a friend. Bring your coffee. We’ll be here.

If anything in this paper hits you, ask for Peter or Bill.

We’re here every Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

(Except the first Wednesday of the month — we’re praying at the Mayor’s office.)

Or if you’re interested, you can find more writings at RefineryFlint.org

Presented by refineryflint.org and Christ Heart Ministry

All Scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT).