Personal Finance:A Gospel Perspective

Section 1: Introduction:

A Gospel Perspective on Wealth

Objectives

A. Understand why to “Decide to Decide”B. Understand the Spiritual Foundation for

Using Wealth WiselyC. Understand some Gospel Truths about

WealthD. Understand the four critical points of

Financial Self-Reliance

A. Why “Decide to Decide”?

Your Future Starts Now• You have many challenges ahead:

• Surviving this class and graduating

• Budgeting, spending, saving and investing

• Student loans, credit card debt, graduate school

• Marriage and children

• Missions

• Retirement

• How do you keep your (personal and financial) priorities in order?

Why “Decide to Decide”?

Elder James E. Faust stated:

• In this life we have to make many choices. Some are very important choices. Some are not. Many of our choices are between good and evil. The choices we make, however, determine to a large extent our happiness or our unhappiness, because we have to live with the consequences of our choices. Making perfect choices all of the time is not possible. It just doesn’t happen. But it is possible to make good choices we can live with and grow from. (“Choices,” Ensign, May 2004, p. 51)

How do you make good choices you can live with and grow from?

Why “Decide to Decide”?

Benjamin Franklin commented:• Those who believe there is one God who made all

things and who governs the world by this providence will make many choices different from those who do not. Those who believe that mankind are all of a family and that the most acceptable service of God is doing good to man will make many choices different from those who do not. Those who believe in a future state in which all that is wrong here will be made right will make many choices different from those who do not. Those who subscribe to the morals of Jesus will make many choices different from those who do not. (The Art of Virtue, 1986, pp. 88–90).

Why “Decide to Decide”?

President Spencer W. Kimball said:

• “We hope we can help our young men and young women to realize, even sooner than they do now, that they need to make certain decisions only once. … We can push some things away from us once and have done with them! We can make a single decision about certain things that we will incorporate in our lives and then make them ours—without having to brood and re-decide a hundred times what it is we will do and what we will not do. “… My young brothers [and sisters], if you have not done so yet, decide to decide!” (Ensign, May 1976, p. 46; italics added.)

Questions

Do you have any questions on why you need to Decide to Decide?

Much has been written and said about the importance of wealth in our lives.

• Some have made decisions which have resulted in the acquisition of large amounts of wealth

• Others have made the search for wealth so important that they have given up family and friends in search of that goal

• Still others have kept their priorities in order and have found wealth—both the true wealth, that leads to life eternal, and the temporal wealth, that allows them to serve their families and fellowmen

Is wealth important?

B. Understand the Spiritual Foundation for Using Wealth Wisely

The Spiritual Foundation (continued)

What is the spiritual foundation?• The spiritual foundation is the principles that hold

everything else up. The Spiritual Foundation is based on four key pillars that underlie personal finance:

• Ownership

• Stewardship

• Agency

• Choice and Accountability These pillars form the foundation, that if understood,

will help us keep our priorities in order and to use our wealth as Jesus Christ would have us use it.

Pillar 1: Ownership

1. Everything we have is the Lord’s• The Lord is the creator of the earth (Mosiah 2:21),

the supplier of our breath (2 Nephi 9:26), the giver of our knowledge (Moses 7:32) and our abilities (Mosiah 2:21).

• Nothing we have is our own—its all God’s

• In D&C 104:14-15 it states:  

• I, the Lord, stretched out the heavens, and built the earth, my very handiwork; and all things therein are mine. And it is my purpose to provide for my saints, for all things are mine. (italics added)

Ownership (continued)

The things we have, we are, or we will become are really not ours, but are on loan from a loving Father in Heaven

• We have not earned them There should be no feeling of pride for the things we

have, we are, or will become.

• Rather, they are gifts from a loving Father and Son

Pillar 2: Stewardship

2. We are stewards over all that the Lord has blessed us with• The Lord through the Prophet Joseph Smith in

stated that we will each be held accountable for what we do with the blessings we receive:

• “It is expedient that I, the Lord, should make every man accountable, as a steward over earthly blessings, which I have made and prepared for my creatures.” (D&C 104:13  )

Stewardship (continued)

Being blessed with the material things in life should be seen not just as a blessing, but as a responsibility.

• We will all have to give an account of our stewardship in the future to a loving Father and Son.

As wise stewards, it is our responsibility to learn everything we can about our stewardship

• That way we can manage our stewardship to the best of our abilities

• The purpose of this class is to help you manage that stewardship better

Pillar 3: Agency

3. We were given our agency by a loving God in the day we were created• The Lord said to Enoch:

• Behold these thy brethren; they are the workmanship of mine own hand, and I gave unto them their knowledge, in the day I created them; and in the Garden of Eden gave I unto man his agency. (Moses 7:32)

• Man’s agency is the right to select between options, whether good or bad, or good and better

Agency (continued)

The prophet Lehi, in speaking to his son Jacob explained:

• For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so. . ., righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. (2 Nephi 2:11)

The gift of agency was such an important subject that a war was fought in heaven because Satan sought “to destroy the agency of man” (Moses 4:3).

• We should do everything in our power to thank a loving Father and Son for this wonderful right to choose—and then use that choice wisely!

Pillar 4: Choice and Accountability

4. We have been blessed with the gift of “choice”• God won’t force us, and Satan cannot force us

• We have been counseled by the Lord:• Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a

good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness. For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward. (D&C 58: 27-28)

• We have been given the choice, but it is up to us to choose wisely to “bring to pass much righteousness.”

Choice and Accountability (continued)

The first three pillars are God’s gift to us. The fourth pillar is our gift to God

• We can choose things for many reasons: fear, duty, obligation and love

• The motivation behind that choice is important

• Charity, or the pure love of Christ, is the highest form of motivation

The bestowal of the blessing of choice should be seen as additional evidence of God’s love for us.

• Instead of using this blessing unwisely, we should use all our strength to thank Him by making wise choices and through greater obedience to His commandments

On this subject, Elder Neal A. Maxwell stated:

In conclusion, the submission of one’s will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God’s altar. The many other things we “give,” brothers and sisters, are actually the things He has already given or loaned to us. However, when you and I finally submit ourselves, by letting our individual wills be swallowed up in God’s will, then we are really giving something to Him! It is the only possession which is truly ours to give! (italics added, “Swallowed Up in the Will of the Father,” Ensign, Nov. 1995, 22.)

What is really ours?

C. Understand Gospel Truths About Wealth

What are gospel truths?• Gospel truths are statements of truth that are built

on the pillars discussed earlier. They include:

• Ownership

• 1. Wealth is not a sign of righteousness

• 2. Because God shares freely with us, we should share freely with others

• Stewardship

• 3. We have not earned the things we enjoy

• 4. Wealth is not a necessary qualification for service in the Lord's Kingdom

Gospel Truths about Wealth (continued)

• Agency

• 5. Wealth can be either a blessing or curse

• 6. The love of money (not money) is the root of evil

• Choice and Motivation

• 7. Wealth will not bring happiness nor solve all your problems

Ownership Truths

1. Wealth is not a Sign of Righteousness• While financial blessings may be a result of

righteousness, more often than not the blessings are spiritual

• William Jennings Bryan wrote in The Prince of Peace: “The human measure of a human life is its income; the divine measure of a life is its outgo, its overflow its contribution to the welfare of all."

• The best sign of righteousness is not wealth, but how well we follow the example of our Savior

• Do we have His image in our countenances?

Ownership Truths (continued)

2. Since God gives us blessings freely, we should share them freely• The prophet Jacob taught:

• Think of your brethren like unto yourselves, and be familiar with all and free with your substance, that they may be rich like unto you. (Jacob 2:17)

• God does not ask us to be rich so that we can help him.

• God gives us riches so we can show the world and ourselves what we will do with them

• Since God gives us our blessings freely• We should be willing to share them freely with

God’s other children

Stewardship Truths

3. We have not earned the things we possess• In D&C 130:20-21 it tells us: “There is a law,

irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated— And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.”

• Blessings are not earned; rather, they are given by a loving Heavenly Father.

• Instead of feeling pride for our blessings, we should feel humble.

• Then we should work hard to thank our Heavenly Father for all his wonderful blessings.

Stewardship Truths (continued)

4. Wealth is not a necessary qualification for service in the Lord's kingdom• Of this President Gordon B. Hinckley said:

• “If that is the perception, I am sorry, because it is a false perception. Out of the experience of nearly a quarter of a century in organizing and reorganizing scores of stakes, I can say that the financial worth of a man was the least of all considerations in selecting a stake president. Wealth and financial success are not criteria for Church service.” (“Tithing: An Opportunity to Prove Our Faithfulness,” Ensign, May 1982, 40.)

Agency Truths

5. Wealth can be a Blessing or Curse• President N. Eldon Tanner said:

• The Lord gave the greatest success formula that I know of : "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (“Constancy Amid Change,” Ensign, Nov. 1979, 80.)

• President Brigham Young stated:• "The worst fear ... I have about this people is that

they will get rich in this country, forget God and His people, wax fat, and kick themselves out of the Church. ... My greatest fear for them is that they cannot stand wealth." (“This Is The Place,” Tambuli, July 1977, 25.)

Agency Truths (continued)

If wealth is bad, should we ever seek riches?

• The Nephite Prophet Jacob counseled:• "But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the

kingdom of God. And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good-to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted.“ (Jacob 2:18-19)

• Our first goal should be the Kingdom• Only then should we seek riches. An we

will seek them for the right reasons, to do good, to serve God, to help others

Agency Truths (continued)

6. Love of money is the root of all evilElder Theodore M. Burton commented:

• Paul did not say that money itself was evil, but that “the love of money is the root of all evil.”(1 Tim. 6:10.) Love of money, status, possessions, or position more than righteousness begets a kind of false pride that must be avoided. That is why the Lord also told us that “if ye seek the riches which it is the will of the Father to give unto you, ye shall be the richest of all people, for ye shall have the riches of eternity,. . .but beware of pride, lest ye become as the Nephites of old.” (D&C 38:39) (“A Disease Called Pride,” Ensign, Mar. 1971, 26.)

Choice and Motivation Truths

7. Money will not Bring Happiness or Solve your Problems• Henrik Ibsen said: "Money may be the husk of

many things, but not the kernel. It brings you food, but not appetite; medicine, but not health; acquaintances, but not friends; servants, but not faithfulness; days of joy, but not peace or happiness.“ (James E. Faust, “Our Search for Happiness,” Ensign, Oct. 2000, 2.)

• Anne Sudweeks added: If you can’t be happy without money, you will never be happy with it.

• Remember money doesn’t change you. It only reveals you to yourself.

Choice and Accountability Truths (continued)

I believe there are two types of problems in life:

• Those we bring on ourselves from disobedience to the commandments

• Those that come as part of everyday living While money can solve some problems, there are many it

cannot solve.

• In fact, it brings along a host of its own problems: pride, greed, selfishness, etc.

Don’t seek for riches for its own sake. Seek them for:

• The good you can do and the lives you can bless Decide now that if you are blessed with riches that you

will use them for the right reason, for the reasons Jacob specifies!

D. Understand the Four Critical Points of Financial Self-reliance

There are four points that are critical to understand that will help you in life. They are:• 1. Know what you want out of life

• 2. Develop and live on a budget

• 3. Pay the Lord first, yourself second, and learn to invest your money wisely

• 4. Learn to Give

1. Know what you want out of life! Set Personal Goals

The important of goals is well stated in a poem by Jesse B. Rittenhouse. She writes:

I bargained with Life for a Penny, and Life would pay no more,

However I begged at evening, When I counted my scanty store.

For Life is a just employer, He will give you what you ask,

But once you have set the wages, Why, you must bear the task.

I worked for a menial's hire, Only to learn, dismayed,

That any wage I had asked of Life, Life would have willingly paid.

- 31 -

Thoughts on Setting Goals (continued)

What do you want to accomplish?• What is important to you?

What does Heavenly Father want you to do or be?

• I have learned in my life that if I do what Heavenly Father wants me to do first, He will help me accomplish what I want to do—and I will do it better than if I had spent all my time working on what I wanted.

- 32 -

Thoughts on Goals (continued)

President Ezra Taft Benson commented:

• Every accountable child of God needs to set goals, short- and long-range goals. A man who is pressing forward to accomplish worthy goals can soon put despondency under his feet, and once a goal is accomplished, others can be set up. Some will be continuing goals. . . Now there is a lifetime goal—to walk in his steps, to perfect ourselves in every virtue as he has done, to seek his face, and to work to make our calling and election sure. (Ezra Taft Benson, “Do Not Despair,” Ensign, Nov. 1974, 65.)

2. Develop and Live on a Budget

President Spencer W. Kimball

“Every family should have a budget. Why, we would not think of going one day without a budget in this Church or our businesses. We have to know approximately what we may receive, and we certainly must know what we are going to spend. And one of the successes of the Church would have to be that the Brethren watch these things very carefully, and we do not spend that which we do not have.” (inside cover of “One for the Money: guide to Family Finance, Intellectual Reserve, 2002.)

- 34 -

How to Budget

Why Budget?

• We will feel more in control of our lives

• The prophet has commanded us How to budget?

• Estimate your income—where is it from?

• Distinguish between fixed and variable expenses

• Separate your needs from your wants

• Find ways to decrease your spending and increase your savings

- 35 -

3. Pay the Lord First, Yourself Second, and then Invest Your Money Wisely

Pay the Lord first, and yourself second• Then invest your money wisely

Save and invest wisely. Learn the Priority of Money

• 1. Free money (401k or other employer match)

• 2. Tax-advantaged money

• Elimination of future taxes (Roth IRA, Education IRA, 529 Plans)

• Tax-deferred money (IRA, 401k, 403b, SEP-IRA)

• 3. Tax-efficiently invested money Begin to save and invest now!!!!

- 36 -

4. Learn to Give

There is a different type of accounting in heaven• And he [Christ] looked up, and saw the rich men

casting their gifts into the treasury. And he also saw a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all: For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had. (Luke 21:1-4)

- 37 -

Learn to Give (continued)

Elder Lynn G. Robbins stated:• The truer measure of sacrifice isn't so much what

one gives to sacrifice as what one sacrifices to give. . . In these defining moments, the crisis doesn't create one's character—it reveals it. (Lynn G. Robbins, “Tithing—a Commandment Even for the Destitute, General Conference, April 2, 2005.)

Conclusion

There is a Gospel Perspective on Wealth that is important for us to understand. It is based on a foundation for understanding wealth. It is:• Ownership: Everything we have or are is a gift

from God. Remember it is His• Stewardship: We are stewards over the things the

Lord has blessed us with. We must learn to be better stewards—this class will help

• Agency: The ability to choose is a god-given gift. Use it wisely

• Choice and Accountability: We are the final decision makers on what we will do with the opportunities God has given us. We must learn to choose wisely—this class can help

- 39 -

Conclusion (continued)

It is critical to have a correct perspective on wealth. Remember these truths:

• Ownership

• 1. Wealth is not a sign of righteousness

• 2. Because God shares freely with us, we should share freely with others

• Stewardship

• 3. We have not earned the things we enjoy

• 4. Wealth is not a necessary qualification for service in the Lord's Kingdom

Gospel Truths about Wealth (continued)

Agency

• 5. Wealth can be either a blessing or curse

• 6. The love of money (not money) is the root of evil Choice and Motivation

• 7. Wealth will not bring happiness nor solve all your problems

Conclusion (continued)

Remember the critical points of financial self-reliance

• 1. Understand what you want out of life

• Life will give exactly what you ask. Ask more!

• 2. Develop and live on a budget

• Get out of debt and live within your means.

• 3. Pay the Lord first, yourself second, and invest your money wisely

• Begin saving and investing now

• 4. Learn to give

• If you can’t learn to give when you are poor, you will never give when you are rich

Review of Objectives

A. Do you understand why you need to Decide to Decide?

B. Do you understand the Spiritual Foundation for Using Wealth Wisely?

C. Do you understand some of the Gospel Truths about Wealth?

D. Do you understand the four critical points of Financial Self Reliance?