 |
THE PRINCIPLES OF FINANCIAL STEWARDSHIP
|
|
President
Gordon B. Hinckley has observed, “I am satisfied that money is the
root of more trouble in marriage than all other causes combined” (Cornerstones
of a Happy Home [pamphlet, 1984], 8 If
our finances are handled well, this can be a great source of unity and
stability in our marriages. Our
ability to use money wisely, or our lack of that ability, is a legacy
that we pass to our children. The
best financial advice I've ever heard is:
Never take financial advice from a broke person.
My first reaction to this advice was that it was completely
obvious, then I realized how many times in my life I have actually done
that. If
we want the best financial advice, we must seek out someone who is
financially experienced and successful.
So
what is "financially success"?
The world's idea of financial success usually involves quantity
-- how much we have. The
scriptures tell us it's what we do with what we are given that
determines our success. How
do we find the most experienced and successful financial advisor who
also meets the scriptural definitions of success?
There
are many people who meet the scriptural definition and who may help us
from time to time, but why not start at the very top.
Why not go to the Creator, the one who has every element in the
Universe at his command? Can
you be any more wealthy than that? I
like to think of the Savior as our Divine Financial Advisor.
I
am fascinated by the New Testament parable of the talents.
I'm amazed at how clearly this parable teaches us about our
financial stewardships.
This
parable is found in Matthew 25, beginning with verse 14.
Let's read the parable now, beginning with verse 14 in Matthew
25. 14 For the kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a
far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his
goods. I
find five principles in this parable that I would like to share. Principle
#1 14. For the
kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country, who called
his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. The
moment the Master delivered his property to his servants, they became
stewards and would be responsible for the management of the property and
held accountable for the stewardship.
The
first principle that we find in the parable is:
We are stewards, not owners. All
of our temporal possessions and income belong to the Lord.
We are stewards of his property and will be held accountable for
how we manage our assigned stewardship. Our
Divine Financial Advisor, and his Prophets have confirmed this principle
many times. D&C 104:13-15 President
Spencer W. Kimball said: In the Church a stewardship is a sacred spiritual
or temporal trust for which there is accountability.
Because all things belong to the Lord, we are stewards over our
bodies, minds, families, and properties. The
part of this quote that caught my attention was "a sacred, temporal
trust." I had never
thought of my income and possessions as sacred before.
As finance clerks, we handle sacred money all the time in dealing
with tithing, fast offerings, and auxiliary budgets.
It's easy to understand how tithing money is sacred.
We pay it at church; it goes to the bishop; it builds temples and
meeting houses and helps pays for missionary work.
But personal income is used for things like mortgage payments and
food and utilities. How
could money used for those things be sacred? President Joseph F. Smith said: This
principle is a stark contrast to the wisdom of the world.
"It's my money; I earned it; I'll do what I want with
it." Our Divine
Financial Advisor has explained to us that we are his stewards, not
owners, and that these earthly blessings are sacred and we will be held
accountable for how we use them.
This
first principle is really a higher level of thinking about our income
and property. Principle #1
is: We are stewards, not
owners. Principle
#2 If
we look at the parable again, in verse 15 we read: And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to
every man according to his several ability;
The
Master gives each servant a different, individual stewardship, according
to his several ability. Principle
#2 in the parable is: Each according to his ability. One
servant was given five talents, another two, and the other was given
just one talent.
Both
the five-talent and the two-talent stewards performed very well.
We are later told that the Lord was equally pleased with each of
them. Clearly they were both
good men. Their stewardships
were assigned based on their abilities.
In
the parable, the Master does not measure one steward's performance
against that of another. His
concern is how they individually handled their stewardship.
The
five-talent servant, who was given the largest stewardship, could have
compared the size of his stewardship and feel that because he was given
so much he was superior to the other servants.
This would have led to pride because he was given more or to
persecution or ridicule of the other servants because they were given
less. The
five-talent servant could also have let his self-worth become defined by
the size of his stewardship. But
that's not what he did. He
focused on the stewardship and not the amount.
The size of the stewardship was not important; the responsibility
for executing the stewardship was the primary focus. The
two-talent servant is most interesting to me because I relate to him the
most. The two-talent servant
was given less than half the amount the five-talent servant was given,
yet he performed extremely well. We
could have said: Wait a
minute, Master, you gave him more. He
did not let the size of his stewardship define his self-worth, which
would have lead to self-doubt, envy, and lack of gratitude.
It's clear that the two-talent servant did not compare the amount
each servant was given, but instead focused on what he was given, and as
a result he performed extremely well. It's
very interesting that the cycle of prosperity that we read about in the
Book of Mormon is primarily caused by two major factors:
(1) comparing the amount of wealth and material possessions, or
size of stewardships, and (2) self-worth being defined by the amount of
material possessions. In
the Book of Mormon, the Prophet Jacob said because some
of you have obtained more abundantly than that of your brethren ye are
lifted up in the pride of your hearts, and wear stiff necks and high
heads because of the costliness of your apparel, and persecute your
brethren because ye suppose that ye are better than they. How
are we affected by the size of our stewardships and the amounts of our
incomes and material possessions? If
we have little, do we compare ourselves to those who have more and
question our value and self-worth? Do
we covet the possessions of others and become bitter against those who
have more? If we are blessed
with more, do we feel superior and prideful?
Do we let the size of our incomes, the house we live in, and the
car we drive define our self-worth?
This can be very discouraging if we continually compare ourselves
to those with more only to find that we constantly fall short.
The Lord will not judge us based on the amount of our
possessions, so why do we judge ourselves in this way?
Principle
#2 can actually be very liberating when it is understood.
The Lord has made it very clear that we will be judged on how we
use what we have been given. Instead
of comparing ourselves to others, he would have us ask ourselves:
Am I making progress? Am
I a better steward today than I was a year ago?
Am I providing for my family more successfully today than I was
last year? Am I closer to
being out of debt today than I was a year ago?
Principle
#3 It's
also interesting that the two- and five-talent servants did much more
than just earn interest; they doubled what they had.
It
seems clear from the parable that the Lord expects us to wisely increase
the size of our stewardship, no matter how small it is.
So,
the third principle that we learn from this parable is: Increase our
Stewardship.
Sometimes
we focus on working harder to get more money before we have mastered the
management of what we already have.
This is pointless when we have bad spending habits.
It takes us away from family time and can lead us to more bad
spending. At the same time
we are neglecting and wasting what we already have. A
wise steward carefully focuses first on managing what he has.
Proper management includes provident living, economizing and
reducing waste, saving and investing. There
is one area where our Divine Financial Advisor has repeatedly cautioned
us. That is the practice of
borrowing money and paying interest.
There may be times when debt is necessary, but we do not increase
a stewardship by going into debt.
President Gordon B. Hinckley: So
President Gordon B. Hinckley tells us that one of the consequences of
debt is the disipatation of our resources, which prevents us from
increasing our stewardship.
Elder L. Tom Perry:
A well-managed family does not pay interest ---
it earns it. Paying
interest is really the opposite of earning interest.
If we study the scriptures and listen to our prophets, we will
find consistent counsel encouraging us to avoid debt.
President Kimball: President Benson: Many
of the brethren have encouraged us to save for retirement, education,
and emergency needs. We
could save much faster if we were debt-free. A
wise steward learns to manage what he already has and then works
diligently to increase the value of his stewardship through his physical
and mental labors. He
continuously improves himself and his abilities. Principle
#4 If
we step back for a moment and look at the behavior of the wise stewards,
we can see that they clearly understood the first three principles:
1.
They understood that they were stewards, not owners. 2.
They understood that the stewardships that they were given was
based on their ability. They
did not compare the size of the stewardships. 3. They
understood that they needed to tend to their stewardship, improve it,
and make it grow. So
how did wise stewards really apply the first three principles?
That is Principle #4: Wisdom
and Planning. From
the parable we see that the one-talent servant did not have the wisdom
or a plan necessary for success. Wisdom
is really composed of knowledge and character.
Knowledge is the how to do it.
Character is the discipline and maturity required to do it.
Planning is the roadmap.
Franklin D. Richards: Ensign article Rulon T. Burton, 1973 June If
we study the counsel of the brethren, which really comes from our Divine
Financial Advisor, we see several common themes as related to Principle
4: Financial Wisdom and
Planning. They
are: Get out of debt and
stay out, to live within our means, to save for the future, and to pay
as you go. Our financial
plan should be a roadmap for achieving these goals. Let's
look at each of these goals. First,
live within your means, which is really budgeting and thrift.
N. Eldon Tanner The key to spending less than we earn is simple -- it is
called discipline.
Whether early in life or late, we must all eventually learn to
discipline ourselves, our appetites, and our economic desires.
How blessed is he who learns to spend less than he earns and puts
something away for a rainy day. Presiding Bishop J. Richard Clarke If
living within our means is so important, how do we actually do it?
The answer, or course, is through a budget and the character and
discipline to live by it.
N. Eldon Tanner The
next goal in our financial roadmap is to get out of debt and stay out.
Some
debt is may be necessary, but we are counseled to treat it very
seriously. Elder L. Tom Perry Can
you imagine praying to Heavenly Father and telling him, “It’s only
six easy payments of $89.95 and please give me an answer quickly –
it’s for a limited time only.” If
we really did follow Elder Perry’s counsel, many of the things we’re
tempted to buy on credit might not seem important. The
prophets have counseled us to get out as quickly as we can. Joseph F. Smith Wouldn’t
it be great if there was such a thing as a debt fairy.
Then we could put all of our bills and credit card statements
under our pillow at night and the next morning they would all be paid
off. Unfortunately, if
this really happened, in most cases we would soon be back in the same
financial position again. Even
though our debt was taken, our character and behavior would not have
change. If we want to
develop the wisdom needed for good stewardship, we don’t need a debt
fairy. We need to go through
the process on our own.
In
the July 2002 Ensign, Climbing out of Debt, relates the personal
accounts of several families who have been through this process and have
gotten themselves out of debt. It’s
amazing to read the kind of change that happen to them and the new
paradigm they have about their finances.
The are actual examples of real people who applied the counsel of
our Divine Financial Advisor. Here
is what some of them said: ·
I’ve learned that you don’t have to spend a lot of money to enjoy life
to the fullest. ·
Following these gospel principles has made all the difference in my
finances, and especially in my life. ·
It feels wonderful to be out of debt, and we’re determined to stay that
way. ·
I have realized greater happiness in my life since I have had a change of
heart and habit when it comes to money matters. These
people went through the Refiner’s Fire.
In the process of paying off debt they learned wisdom.
Material things started to lose their importance.
They lost their cravings to go and buy stuff.
Like King Benjamin’s people, they could say “we have no more
disposition to do evil, but to do good continually.” Getting
out of debt requires commitment, sacrifice, discipline, and planning.
It requires the focus of the entire family working toward a
common goal. Principle
#4 Ezra Taft Benson This
is a part of the roadmap where we earn interest instead of paying it.
Our savings and investments can be wisely used to increase the
size of our stewardships. The
final goal on our roadmap is pay as we go.
We’ve also been counseled to save so that we can pay cash for
necessary items – cars, clothing, appliances, and furniture.
President Benson Principle
#5 In
verse 29 we read: For unto
every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but
from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.
So
what exactly does that verse mean when it says “He that hath.”
Hath what? One
possible interpretation of this scripture, and the one that makes it
easier for me to understand it, is to add the words “executed his
stewardship.” Then
the verse would read: For unto
every one that hath [executed his stewardship] shall
be given,
and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not [executed his stewardship]
shall be taken away even that which he hath. This
is Principle 5: He that
hath, shall be given. Principle
5 is really the consequence of how we execute our stewardship, both
positive and negative.
Joseph F. Smith Studies
have shown that people who suddenly acquire wealth like a large
inheritance, winning a lottery, or a legal settlement generally don’t
have the wisdom to manage it. Interestingly,
in a few year’s time they are back in their previous financial
situation or even worse. So
the negative consequence of poor financial stewardship is “he that
hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.” Now
let’s look at the positive consequence of Principle 5:
He that hath shall be given.
According the President Joseph F. Smith the positive side of
Principle 5 is actually a promise from our Divine Financial Advisor.
Joseph F. Smith Brigham Young Having
Faith Joseph F. Smith Our Father in Heaven loves us and always has our best
interests in mind. Let’s
learn to be wise financial stewards and allow our Divine Financial
Advisor to work His miracles in our behalf.
|
|