Creating Margin...

"I just spent a lot of money, but guess how much I saved you?" - sounds like something my wife might say...but for the first time in my life...I find myself saying a phrase similar to that. "I just got a new car and I'm saving us a ton of money!" It's true!

We finished a great teaching series a few weeks ago called "How To Be Rich"...not how to get rich...but how to BE rich in a way that pleases and honors God. The series was full of tons of practical thoughts and applications...that we all need to hear...including myself. It was one of those teaching series where I personally walked away going "man, I gotta change somethings myself."

One of the thoughts / applications from the teaching was that we consume EVERYTHING God has given us...we spend everything we make. We have no margin...and when we have no margin we can't tithe or give generously...when people don't tithe or give generously, the church suffers...when the church suffers, the church can't do all that it's been called to do. Having financial barriers and constraints in your personal finances is no different from what the church experiences. Lifepoint Church, like many churches, has plans and visions to reach people (locally and globally)...which takes finances.

Anyways...back to creating margin. In our household we had very little margin...after tithe and our normal bills. I wanted more margin to be able to relieve the financial pressures at home and to be able to give more generously. So I got a new car. I sold my 2003 Acura (which I loved) and we're getting rid of our van next month...downsizing from 2 vehicles to 1...and lowering our insurance. So back to one of my opening statements - "I just got a new car and I'm saving us a ton of money!" Overall...I'm saving us roughly $350 a month. That's creating margin!

Hope to see you Sunday.