Episode 3

Am I Doing Money Right? (North OC)

In the third message from the series "Am I Doing This Right?," Maurice Lee shares his personal journey and struggles with financial responsibility and stewardship. He recounts relatable anecdotes, including his careless handling of a gifted car and his challenges with writing checks that bounced. Through these stories, Maurice illustrates important biblical principles about managing money and possessions, emphasizing trustworthiness, integrity, and aligning one's financial behaviors with their faith. The sermon is rooted in scripture, particularly Luke 16, and offers practical takeaways on being accountable, trustworthy, and living in a way that honors God. Maurice encourages listeners to reflect on their financial habits and make changes not out of guilt, but as a step towards spiritual growth and transformation.

00:00 Welcome and Personal Introduction

00:44 A Humorous Family Anecdote

02:30 Moving to Orange County

03:01 Gratitude and Community

03:58 Introduction to the Topic: Finances

04:31 A Humbling Financial Lesson

09:50 Understanding Trustworthiness with Finances

13:17 The Consequences of Financial Mismanagement

15:53 Personal Reflection on Financial Faithfulness

16:49 Practical Financial Self-Assessment

17:28 The Impact of Financial Responsibility on Spiritual Life

18:46 A Story of Carelessness and Gratitude

22:33 Treating Gifts with Respect and Gratitude

24:30 Invitation to Align Financial Life with Faith

29:42 Final Thoughts on Financial Faithfulness and Transformation

Transcript
Speaker:

Well good morning everybody.

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Good morning.

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So great to be here.

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Uh, if you don't know me, my name

is Maurice Lee and uh, I've got my

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beautiful wife, Monica down there.

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I've got Caden, who's my firstborn

son, and my youngest is actually

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at the Coastline Service where we

actually normally are for Sundays.

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Uh, I want to do a little introduction

because I'm not sure if I know

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everybody here, if everyone knows

me, but we, uh, my wife and I

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actually moved to Orange County.

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Back in, uh, 2018.

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And, uh, that was, uh, actually

my, uh, parents had, uh, become

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Christians out in the Korean ministry.

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So they got baptized back around 20,

I believe, I believe it was:

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Uh, really incredible miracle.

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And, uh, from there, uh, you

know, every time we come back for

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vacations and stuff, my, my mom and

dad were, they're getting older.

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So I would be, uh, coming down

and seeing my dad sort of.

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On the last, literally last legs,

like he would be on the walker and

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he'd be sort of scooting along.

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And my little four foot 11 mom, uh,

so he's, my dad was about my height,

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about five foot seven, five foot eight.

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She'd be, you know, she'd be

sort of like watching over him.

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And, and we, you know, there was

one vacation where I, I was really

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getting nervous because he was

really unsteady on that walker.

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And, uh, from there, uh, I asked

my mom, and this was a serious

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question, is, mom, uh, what would

happen if dad happened to fall?

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You know, so that was

actually a very real question.

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'cause I was like, he's gonna fall.

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Like, he could, he could literally

just like, totally just fall down any

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second, my mind to which, you know, she,

she, uh, she, she didn't miss a beat.

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She was like, yeah, you know,

I'll just leave him on the floor

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for like 30 minutes, 45 minutes.

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And then, uh, you know, and then.

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I mean, seriously, she,

she opened up the drawer.

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She said, oh, I've got this belt over

here, so I'm gonna wrap this belt around

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his waist, and then I'm gonna actually

pull him up after about 30, 45 minutes.

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And so you can imagine,

like, I'm, I'm horrified.

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She is totally serious.

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And I'm like, so what would

happen if this five eight.

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Guy fell on you.

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Right.

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And I actually, that was in my mind.

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I didn't ask her that, but I can

only imagine two people sitting

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there laying on the floor.

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Okay.

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And here we were, we were actually

living up in the Bay Area.

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I've been up there for many years.

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I actually, uh, we, I became a

Christian in the 19 hundreds.

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So I became a Christian in 1989

as a freshman, so 18 years old.

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So, woo-hoo.

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Uh, grateful for that.

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But anyway, so we, uh, we prayed

a lot, as you can imagine.

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And, uh, anyway, long story short,

my wife prayed, God, you just gotta

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tell us what do we need to do?

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And he did.

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So anyway, so long story, but, uh,

we'll, we'll share it at some point.

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And we moved down in 2018 and

I'm so grateful to be here.

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So grateful to be here in Orange County.

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So grateful to be able to see folks

like, uh, Twan and Koki out here.

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Uh, Kenny and Julie of

course got Marcel and Karina.

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It's awesome.

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Uh, really want to share my heart here.

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So hopefully, uh, we'll be

able to have some great time.

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Uh, and I want to thank a special shout

out to Lucia who made some incredibly

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delicious burritos and that burrito.

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So if you can give her a hand,

not sure if she does that every

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week, but my mom owned three RIAs.

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Okay.

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So just again, long story,

not gonna go into it.

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And I can definitely appreciate

some delicious Mexican food.

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Okay.

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So, so that was awesome.

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Thank you.

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And, uh, very, very grateful for the fact

that, you know, you're really welcome

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us folks in with some delicious food.

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So thank you Lucian.

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Um, I, uh, uh, you know, when I think

about finances, so my topic and let me

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see if I can get the presentation up.

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Okay, there we go.

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My topic is, am I doing

this finances thing right?

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Okay.

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So, so Marcel actually

updated it a little bit.

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Am I doing this money thing right?

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I think I like that better

actually, Marcel, so, okay, am

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I doing this money thing right?

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So I get the special topic

of finances and money.

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Alright.

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And uh, you know, when I think about

finances, what am I most humbling?

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And keeping it real flat,

embarrassing stories comes to mind.

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Okay, so please as family

at the dinner table.

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Okay.

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Please keep it to yourselves, right?

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I've been a Christian for

maybe like five or six years.

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Okay.

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Disciple of Jesus after a church service.

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One day, one of my good friends,

Albert, and, uh, maybe he'll

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watch the live stream someday.

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And he's, uh, he'll be world famous now.

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Albert, I won't mention his last name.

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He was a financial in administrator

for our area, and he came up to me.

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Okay.

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So I'm like, Hey, Albert.

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Hey, what's going on?

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He handed me my contribution check,

check stapled to a sheet of paper.

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Okay?

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So you know something bad may be

happening if your contribution check

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is stapled to a piece of paper.

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Okay?

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He looked at me, I looked

at him, and then he said.

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In probably the most official

tone that he could muster up.

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Maurice, you can't give

checks to the church anymore.

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Okay.

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Wow.

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He went on to explain that the

church, the church, the Kingdom

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of God had been charged fees for

all the checks that I had written.

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That ending up ended up bouncing.

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And from that point forward, meaning

that talk and with that staple check,

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he said, I could only give cash.

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Okay.

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Lemme let.

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Let that just settle in.

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Disciple of Jesus who

can now only give cash.

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Wow.

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It's a rough moment.

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Now for those of you who didn't grow up

using checks, I've got a, I've got a pic

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picture representation up there for you.

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Okay.

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Because again, I was born

in the 19 hundreds, okay?

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Everything is digital these days.

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I know it's not a, not an app.

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There's no iPhone behind there.

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It's a piece of paper.

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Okay?

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And there's a pen, so I just wanna make

sure I included the pen because that's

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something else people don't use anymore.

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And you write down how

much you're gonna give.

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And the pay to the order of

line is basically where you

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know you want to give it to.

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So that was where I would write, you

know, at that time, you know, San

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Francisco Church of Christ, you know,

and I write out in, in letters, you

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know, and my contribution in the numbers.

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And when a check bounces, just to

be clear, it means that piece of

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paper cannot be turned into any cash.

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Okay.

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So again, just just to

help, help to clarify.

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So the person, or in this case, the

church who tries to deposit the bad check.

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So I'm writing this

check, I'm signing that.

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My name Maurice Lee, you know,

beautiful cursive right hand corner.

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So the person who tries

to deposit that check.

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So I'm giving this check and I'm

going, oh, you know, thank you

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God for all that you've done.

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You know, as we're probably

praying for the contribution,

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I'm like, ah, here it is.

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Okay.

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That's coming back to me stapled.

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And the church has, has paid

a fee because there's no cash.

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Like maybe, maybe that was like

20 bucks or 30 bucks or whatever.

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There's no, no backing.

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So basically it came back and

basically as they tried to present

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to my bank, the bank said, Nope.

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I mean, we know Maurice,

but there's no money here.

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So you get, you get it back.

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Church.

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And by the way, we're gonna charge you a

fee because you tried to pass this off.

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Who is this?

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Who is this guy, Maurice?

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Anyway, so I just wanna

make sure it's really clear.

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There you go.

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Thank you.

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That was me.

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You might be thinking, wait, aren't

you the one giving the sermon titled,

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am I doing this finances thing right.

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Hold on.

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Or am I doing this money thing right?

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Shouldn't you, Maurice,

have it all figured out.

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And the answer is kind of, I'm standing

here today because I had to learn a lot.

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God is the most patient and loving parent.

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Amen.

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And his training has involved some

hard discipline, in other words,

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allowing me to feel the pain

consequences of living the wrong way.

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I'm so glad that I can stand

here today as somebody.

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Who's been changed by God?

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It's the bottom line over years,

decades, so grateful and as someone who

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wants to share what God has taught me.

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So please, if you can get your, uh, your,

uh, notes out or if you can get your,

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your, your, your mental notes, whatever

you you choose to use, if you can really

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think through the things, hopefully it'll

spare you some of these painful lessons.

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There's no better way to glorify God than

to show just how far he's brought me.

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Yep.

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Okay, let's move on.

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Luke 1610.

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It says, whoever can be trusted with

very little can also be trusted with

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much, and whoever is dishonest with very

little will also be dishonest with much.

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Okay.

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Point number one, if I'm

untrustworthy with little.

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I'll be untrustworthy with much, right?

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Yeah.

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I'm kind of taking the, the, the

negative path here, but of course the

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positive one is highlighted there.

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Whoever can be trusted with very little

can also be trusted with very much.

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I grew up just spending money.

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Hey, if I had some cash, I'd do it.

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And remember I grew up in 19

hundreds, so I used cash all the time.

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It was in my pocket, in my wallet.

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Before I went to the at m, we

had ATMs back then, that was it.

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I didn't really think about

saving or budgeting or any

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kind of long-term planning.

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I just spent what I had and I remember

getting a speeding ticket once.

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Okay.

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I mean, I may have gotten other

speeding tickets, but I remember

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this one once, right while

driving from the Bay Area to la.

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When I presented that ticket

to my mom, bless her heart.

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She gave me $200.

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Okay.

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Probably about like $500 now to go

back and pay the speeding ticket.

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Okay.

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She's just like, oh, okay.

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Here, here's 200 bucks.

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Wow.

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That was it.

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Exactly.

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That was it.

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There's no lecture, no

punishment, no accountability.

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There it is.

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Speeding.

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Ticket.

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Just money to make the problem disappear.

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Poof, right?

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I, all I had to do is drive up to

where I got the speeding ticket.

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Here we go.

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Here's the cash.

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See ya.

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Were my actions trustworthy?

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Not really

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dishonest.

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Well, maybe not on the

surface, but here's the thing.

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I broke the law.

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I.

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Never really owned up to it.

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I just moved on like it wasn't a big deal.

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Here's the cash.

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And on this point, there's a

very practical takeaway here.

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Think about this.

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How trustworthy have you been with little

things, unquote little things because

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sometimes we think the little things are

not so little, and sometimes we think

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the big things are very little, right?

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It doesn't have to be a lot of money.

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God is looking at your character and

if the Holy Spirit or your conscience

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right now are highlighting areas

where you've been sloppy, careless,

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or even dishonest, my encouragement

to you is please pray about it.

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Then bring someone in, not for

shame, but for accountability.

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Because accountability is how we grow.

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And by the way, if you've gotten to

a place where you don't even hear the

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Holy Spirit anymore about this stuff,

that might be the sign you need to slow

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down and start listening to him again.

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Okay, next point.

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Luke 1611, it says, so if you have

not been trustworthy in handling

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worldly wealth, who will trust you?

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With true riches again.

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So if you have not been trustworthy

in handling worldly wealth, who

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will trust you with true riches?

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Point number two.

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If I want true riches, I must be

trustworthy with worldly wealth.

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It's a direct connection.

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It's direct.

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Now let's go back to

that bounce check story.

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Okay.

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That's what it looks like, by the way.

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Returned insufficient funds.

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Okay.

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So basically you can imagine that thing

stapled to a piece of paper, right?

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And I'm still standing

there looking at Albert.

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And at that time it's just so happened

that I was leading a singles ministry

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studying the Bible with people.

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And trying to help others

grow in their faith.

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Praying for you, brother.

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Praying.

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Praying for you, sister.

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I'm gonna help you to know God.

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Sounds good.

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Right?

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But behind the scenes, that's a junk

that was dealing with insufficient funds.

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It's called NSF, by the way.

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Again, another, another Ackerman.

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Hopefully you'll never have to hear.

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I was totally untrustworthy

when it came to my finances.

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I want to experience all the good stuff

of ministry, fruit growth, transformation,

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all those awesome words, right?

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True riches.

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But my financial life told

a totally different story.

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I was saying one thing and living another.

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It's called hypocrisy, right?

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Yes.

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There's that saying, what

you do speaks so loudly.

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I can't hear what you're saying.

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Right.

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That was me.

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I couldn't see how my personal

financial chaos was affecting the

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very people I was trying to help.

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Yeah.

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And then I watched as my

ministry began to fall apart.

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Interesting.

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Right.

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People became really discouraged.

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Some walked away, some turned to

unhealthy habits just to cope.

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Interesting, and I was completely

blind to how my personal example

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or lack of one was part, or should

I say the root of the problem.

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My life wasn't bearing good fruit.

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I was trying to lead spiritually,

but my financial unfaithfulness

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was like rotting fruit.

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It didn't match the message.

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And when our life doesn't line

up with our words, people notice,

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they may not say it out loud.

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I mean, I don't think I was waving

this, this, this check around that day.

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I think I probably put it in my

pocket or stuck it in my bag.

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They may not say it out loud,

but they feel the disconnect

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and it impacts their faith too.

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Here's a practical takeaway.

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Where are your finances right now?

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Where's, how's the money thing going?

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Do you have any unpaid taxes,

old debts, unsettled promises?

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It's easy to call that

just life and move on.

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But what if these things are signals that

something deeper needs to be addressed?

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Right.

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Okay.

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Yeah.

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It's about guilt.

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Please don't take it the wrong way.

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It's about obtaining that life

that's blessed with true riches.

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Amen.

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That's the promise.

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If we keep ignoring these warning

signals, they will build up and over

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time they are shaping who we are.

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Not just financially, but spiritually.

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Sometimes we don't change because we feel

stuck, ashamed, or think it's too late.

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But here's the good news, right?

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God's not looking to shame us, not the

point he's inviting us, to be honest,

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to bring it into the light, to let 'em

walk with us through it to help us.

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Because every time we push off

responsibility, we're not just hurting

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ourselves, we're breaking trust with

the one who has given us so much.

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So talk to somebody.

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Get advice, not because you're a failure,

but because you are ready to grow.

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To grow.

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Let this be the moment where you say God.

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I don't wanna live this way anymore.

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I want my life to reflect

your heartened character.

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Please help me.

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Okay, next point.

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Luke 1612, it says, and if you

have not been trustworthy with

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someone else's property, who will

give you property of your own?

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Yeah.

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Point number three, how you treat

someone else's property shows whether

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you can be trusted with your own.

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Okay, so this next, uh, slide here,

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I'm going to, I'm gonna

share about a beautiful car.

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So this is another

cringe-worthy story here,

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and as I'm looking at

this, I'm going, wow.

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What a, what a, an awesome, awesome car.

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My parents, as you might have guessed

by now, spoiled me like crazy, okay?

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They meant well.

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I'm so grateful for them.

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They had lived through war

hardship in Korea and their native

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land didn't want their kids to

experience the same struggle.

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So they're like, if you want some money,

if you want some things, we got it.

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We're giving it to you.

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Just ask.

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Sometimes I didn't even have to ask.

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They're like, here, here it is.

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So when I graduated college, they bought

me a brand new black Honda Accord.

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Okay?

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Woo hoo.

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What you see is this one's not black.

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I couldn't find a nice looking

black one, but you can see

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the alloy wheels, you know?

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Wow.

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Right.

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Nice.

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Woo hoo.

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For those who are car

buffs, vtech engine, vtech.

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Yeah, Vicky, you look it up.

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For those that don't know what that means,

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whole thing.

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Look at that thing.

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Wow.

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It's got a little, you know, little

faded out there in the middle.

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I think it was like from a magazine.

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We don't have those anymore either.

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You know what I did with

that poor, poor car?

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Not just physically.

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Though, yes, there was a

big dent that was rusting.

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The back.

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The trunk, right?

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So you can imagine a big dent.

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I wrecked.

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It wasn't an accident.

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I was the accident.

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The poor car happened

to get the wrong owner.

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That was me, Maurice Lee.

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I drove around on a spare, you

know, one little, I don't know.

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Again, some, some of you made

the little spare donut tire.

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Actually, it says on the tire you must

not drive more than 50 miles on this tire.

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I had that thing on the back of

my car driving on it probably for

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like hundreds of miles, hundreds.

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Okay.

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I mean, people were probably wondering

at that point, what is this guy doing?

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What's going, in fact,

somebody helped me out.

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And bought me a tire to put on that thing.

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Okay, so just another, another long story.

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I left fast food drinks in the

little cup holder in the middle.

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So long the plastic cups melted

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and there was actual liquid sitting

in the holder for who knows how long.

413

:

Okay?

414

:

Okay.

415

:

I want you to picture this guys.

416

:

I'm just driving around and

you're getting in my car.

417

:

Here, I'll give you a ride.

418

:

And you look in the middle and

you're like, there's liquid in there.

419

:

It's like an inch of, I don't

know what that stuff was.

420

:

Maybe like a Dr.

421

:

Pepper at one point.

422

:

You know what?

423

:

That card became a reflection of my

character, how I treated that gift.

424

:

Revealed how careless, ungrateful,

and self-centered I was at the time.

425

:

Still can be.

426

:

But the point is, is that that was like

a living representation of it and you,

427

:

and please don't catch a ride in my car.

428

:

'cause it probably smelled as

well that I didn't even realize.

429

:

I wasn't thinking like a steward.

430

:

I was acting like it was mine to waste.

431

:

That's the real issue.

432

:

It wasn't about the car.

433

:

It was about what was going

on inside of my heart.

434

:

This was a gift.

435

:

Look at this thing.

436

:

The gift.

437

:

What a blessing, right?

438

:

I didn't treat it like one.

439

:

Instead, I treat it like it didn't matter.

440

:

Practical takeaway.

441

:

What's God entrusted to you?

442

:

Rented apartment, job, car.

443

:

Your church, your relationships.

444

:

These may not be technically be

yours, but how you treat them says

445

:

something about your heart, right?

446

:

This isn't about being perfect

or trying to impress God, okay?

447

:

Please don't take it the wrong way.

448

:

It's about living it a way

that reflects God's heart.

449

:

When we take what he's given us and

treat with care, respect, and gratitude,

450

:

even in the small things we're saying

to him, God, I want to honor you.

451

:

I want to grow.

452

:

I want my life to match

what I say I believe.

453

:

Yeah.

454

:

And if you realize you haven't been

doing that, don't run to shame again.

455

:

Don't run to shame.

456

:

Yep.

457

:

Run to grace.

458

:

That's called unmerited favor, right?

459

:

God isn't condemning you.

460

:

He's calling you.

461

:

He's calling us.

462

:

This is about invitation,

not condemnation.

463

:

Let it be a moment where you say, God, I

don't want to live with a divided heart.

464

:

I wanna be someone you can trust.

465

:

Help me to grow into that.

466

:

Amen.

467

:

Okay, finally, it says, Luke 16, 13 to 15.

468

:

It says, no one can serve two masters.

469

:

Either you'll hate the one and love

the other, or you'll be devoted

470

:

to the one and despise the other.

471

:

You cannot serve both God and money.

472

:

The Pharisees who loved money hurt

all this and were sneering at Jesus.

473

:

He said to them, you're the ones who

justify yourselves in the eyes of

474

:

others, but God knows your hearts.

475

:

What people value highly is detestable.

476

:

In God's sight.

477

:

Final point, can't serve

both God and money.

478

:

Period.

479

:

That's it.

480

:

Enough said, right?

481

:

It's very simple.

482

:

Let's just be honest here.

483

:

I've had to come to terms with

the fact that in my sinful nature,

484

:

okay, I love money actually.

485

:

I love it.

486

:

Not just for what it buys, but

for the illusion of control,

487

:

security, and identity it offers.

488

:

I used to tell myself that

checking my bank account five

489

:

times a day was responsible.

490

:

I'm just gonna check it again.

491

:

Okay.

492

:

Maybe I can check it again.

493

:

I'll check it again.

494

:

But truthfully, it was

probably more greed,

495

:

more about fear.

496

:

I wanted to feel safe.

497

:

I wanted to feel in control.

498

:

But Jesus said, God knows your heart.

499

:

So you can either take this as a

really encouraging statement or

500

:

it's gonna be sort of disturbing.

501

:

Like, oh, bad God.

502

:

Oh God knows my heart.

503

:

Whoa.

504

:

Oh, you can go.

505

:

Oh, that's awesome.

506

:

Thank you, God.

507

:

You know, he sees past excuses

and rationalizations and because.

508

:

He loves us.

509

:

He lets us come face to face

with those deeper truths.

510

:

Not to condemn us, but to free us.

511

:

His goal isn't punishment,

it's transformation.

512

:

He wants our hearts.

513

:

That's why we're all here.

514

:

Not to just sit there and have

you feel guilty and shamed and

515

:

just end up run to run right now.

516

:

Please pray for me.

517

:

Actually, I'm done saying like right

now, but please pray for me because

518

:

my job situation is uncertain.

519

:

I'm on a contract, may end soon.

520

:

My wife and I recently talked

about what will give for our own

521

:

special admissions contribution.

522

:

If you looked at it through a purely

practical lens, you'd probably say we

523

:

should pull back, say, protect ourselves.

524

:

In other words.

525

:

I'm sort of going month to month in terms

of whether my job is gonna end or not.

526

:

I'm not sure.

527

:

But we're not living for the practical,

we're living for God, and we've come to

528

:

realize this isn't just about a number

or a contribution, it's about our hearts.

529

:

This is a moment where we get

to say, God, we trust you.

530

:

We want to live in a way that honors you.

531

:

Not just with our words,

but with our choices.

532

:

So if you're feeling that same tension,

right, that same conflict between

533

:

what makes sense and what fails,

call what faith calls you to do.

534

:

Don't push it down, please don't

push it down, lean into it.

535

:

We're having to, we not sure whether

I'm gonna have a job necessarily in

536

:

another couple months, but guess what?

537

:

Special missions contribution.

538

:

And by the way, our weekly

contribution week to week.

539

:

They're all happening, right?

540

:

The discomfort that we're

feeling might be the Holy Spirit

541

:

showing you where freedom begins.

542

:

Not to guilt you, but to

awaken you because money

543

:

will never satisfy your soul.

544

:

But God will, and I know my wife

and I, we just had to sort of pray

545

:

through this and work it out, but

we're given and I think the point.

546

:

Really that God is really calling us to

is to trust in him more than ever before.

547

:

Never been in this position, but

thank God that we're able to really

548

:

make decisions and have God help us

to be able to do the right thing.

549

:

Final scripture here in

one Timothy six, nine to 10

550

:

says, those who wanna get rich fall

into temptation and a trap, and to

551

:

many foolish and harmful desires that

plunge people into ruin and destruction.

552

:

For the love of money is a

root of all kinds of evil.

553

:

Some people eager for money have

wonder from the faith and pierced

554

:

themselves with many griefs.

555

:

So in conclusion, am I doing

this finance this thing, right?

556

:

Am I doing this money thing right?

557

:

Maybe the better question is, does

my financial life reflect the heart

558

:

of someone who walks with God?

559

:

Because this isn't just about

tithing or budgeting or generosity,

560

:

it's about whether our character.

561

:

Lines up with a calling God

has placed on our lives.

562

:

On my life.

563

:

Jesus said that a good

tree produces good fruit.

564

:

Our financial choices, big or

small, are some of that fruit.

565

:

They show whether we can be trusted.

566

:

They reveal whether we're building

on faith or fear, whether we worship

567

:

God Almighty or the Almighty dollar

in one of the wealthiest and most

568

:

religious counties in the country.

569

:

That's Orange County.

570

:

The issue is.

571

:

Isn't just about doing the right things.

572

:

I know that's a topic talking about

doing by doing it right, but I want

573

:

to extend that further to it's about

being the kind of people who want

574

:

our God in every part of our lives.

575

:

So yes, I.

576

:

Let's check our bank accounts and budgets

in order to be responsible, but more

577

:

importantly, let's check our hearts.

578

:

Are we living like stewards or owners?

579

:

Are we using money as a tool

or serving it as a master?

580

:

Are we willing to let God reshape

the way we think about giving,

581

:

earning, saving, and spending?

582

:

This is your invitation, not

to shame, but to freedom.

583

:

Not to pressure, but to peace.

584

:

God doesn't just want your money.

585

:

He wants your heart because

when he has your heart,

586

:

everything else falls into place.

587

:

Yeah, that's when your finances

start to reflect real faith, and

588

:

that's when the deep work begins.

589

:

When your heart is shaped, your

character is formed and hope begins

590

:

to rise because faithfulness in

finances isn't just about money or

591

:

things, it's about transformation.

592

:

It shapes who we are, and in that refining

process, we don't just find peace.

593

:

We find the kind of hope that sustains us.

594

:

Yeah,

595

:

and the scripture says, not only so, but

we also glory in our sufferings because we

596

:

know that suffering produces perseverance.

597

:

Perseverance, character and character.

598

:

Hope and hope does not put us

shame because God's love has

599

:

been poured into our hearts.

600

:

Through the Holy Spirit

who has been given to us.

601

:

That's the journey.

602

:

It's not shame, not guilt,

but perseverance, suffering,

603

:

perseverance, character hope.

604

:

I'm not standing here because

I've mastered all these perfectly.

605

:

I'm standing here because

I've been changed by God.

606

:

God has worked through my heart, through

the failures, struggles, and fears.

607

:

And when I finally started running

this area of my life to God, that's

608

:

when the real transformation began.

609

:

When our hearts are aligned with

God in this way, even in something

610

:

as everyday and vulnerable as

finances, we become living proof

611

:

that he really does change people.

612

:

That's not just a testimony

about money, that's a testimony

613

:

about God's unmerited favor.

614

:

It's called grace.

615

:

Thank you.

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