Our lesson on Sunday went so fast. It was a big subject to cover, so I thought I'd put down a few of my ideas. The lesson was about temporal salvation, specifically being good stewards over our finances/money.
The lesson started out by talking about how the church was so happy they could help people struggling after World World II with the reserves of food and supplies they had put away. The US government helped them transport the supplies and they were quickly able to send help. The benefit to having temporal salvation is that you can be self reliant and do the Lord's work of helping and serving those round you.
We talked at length about way to teach our children the value of work. Hard work has always been an important lesson in the gospel. Many parents try to teach it to their children. I told a story how my parents came up with all kinds of odd jobs for us. One that I'll never forget is my mom having me pick lint out of the back of her blowdryer with tweezers. I'll always remember my parent's effort to help us learn the value of work. It shows me how important the principle was to them. Most major work days ended in a trip to the malt shop, which we loved.
Part of the lesson talked about having a reserve of food and money. I focused on the reserve of money since we covered food reserves at our monthly meeting. Also, it's hard to build a food reserve without having extra money to spare. Having savings means that you first have to live within your means. The principles of financial security are fairly simple. We must live within our means. We must put away money for savings. We must pay down or debts and stay out of debt. As i mentioned in the lesson, just having the knowledge of the principles is not enough. There also has to be internal spiritual and emotional commitment and understanding.
This has become very evident to me through my life. My dad is an accountant. He spent so much time teaching us to budget money, learn to use financial software, and account for our money. Even though I had that upbringing, it hasn't all been smooth sailing. Sometimes it's very tempting to live beyond your means. Sometimes you are not making enough money to support even a modest lifestyle. Sometimes things happen that bring on sudden debt for a family. It takes constant effort and commitment to stay on top of your finances and create a reserve and stay out of debt. It also takes planning and sacrifice.
Shortly after Willie settled into his first job out of school here in Grand Junction, and we bought a house and started to live life, we realized Willie was not making enough money for us to get ahead. Now realize that the idea you have in your head of what Willie was offered out of school is no where like the lawyer in that movie you just saw. Lawyers have to pay their dues. At first we thought it would be more than enough but we greatly underestimated the costs associated with owning a house and having a child. We had just left student housing at CU which was a sort of garden of eden. It didn't long and a few sudden emergencies (medical and with our car) to put money on our credit card and we could not save up enough money to pay it down and with each new emergency it grew. I had whittled down our budget as low as I thought we could go and we still couldn't get ahead. After much prayer and worry, my dad (the financial guru) confirmed we could not cut our budget anymore and stay in our house so we needed more income. He told me that he had been doing bookkeeping work for my brother's growing NYC business and he would train me in the basics and turn it over to me so I could start doing it for pay. As I started to work very part-time from home, we were able to pay down our debt and start saving to protect us from more debt.
As the years have passed, my work responsibilities have grown and I have had more opportunity presented me, including work in professional photography. The opportunities have enriched my life and have been flexible enough to be a good mom. I have found, though, that the more money that has come in, the more I've had to try and protect myself from wanting even more money and from wants that never end. Now I have not given in to every want, but the wanting is a distraction from what is most important. I have also had to try hard to not work more to support an increase in our lifestyle since me working too much can take time from my family, not leave time for me to care for our home, not enough time to be creative, not enough time to serve and not enough time to manage our family finances. The fact that the church teaches us how to protect ourselves from this is so valuable to me.
There are several parts of the lesson that talk about how to protect yourself from loving money, wanting more and being sucked in by a life of consumerism (the feeling that more will make you happy).
1. Put God and true happiness first.
Matt 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
2. Realize your money isn't yours. Everything comes from God, even our very breath. To think we are entitled to our money or that we are the ones to thank for our bounty, is not an helpful attitude.
Let us … look around us in our neighborhood—not leave it to the Bishop and the Relief Society, but let each of us be ministers of loving kindness to those who will need us so much. And whatever we do let us not make those who require assistance feel like paupers. Let us give what we give as though it belonged to them. God has loaned it to us. Sometimes we who have accumulated means [act] as though we think it belongs to us. Everything that we have, our food, our clothing, our shelter, our homes and our opportunities are all given to us as stewards in the Church and kingdom of our Heavenly Father, and if we will … impart of our substance even though it may be but the widow’s mite, we will obtain from him who lives on high the blessings we need in our day here upon the earth, and when the time comes for us to go hence we will find awaiting us the blessing of a loving Father who has appreciated the efforts we have put forth.16
2. Give it away. Be generous by giving money to the church in tithes and offerings. Also give money to the poor and needy. Most of our tithing money goes to running the church and fast offerings go to helping members in our ward. Don't forget local organizations that care for the poor in our area. We want to support and join in with them in their efforts.
James 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
“Wo unto you rich men, that will not give your substance to the poor, for your riches will canker your souls; and this shall be your lamentation in the day of visitation, and of judgment, and of indignation: The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and my soul is not saved!” (D&C 56:16.)
“Wo unto you poor men, whose hearts are not broken, whose spirits are not contrite, and whose bellies are not satisfied, and whose hands are not stayed from laying hold upon other men’s goods, whose eyes are full of greediness, and who will not labor with your own hands!” (D&C 56:17.) …
