Larry Burkett - Starting Out Right: A Proven Financial Strategy for Young Couples

CONTENTS

Foreword

Do not worry, Jesus said several times in Matthew 6:1934. The context shows He was talking about money.

Our Lord was not advocating a careless attitude toward our finances. Rather, He was calling us to a level of faith and behavior that is free from money worries.

Married couples in particular would do well to heed His counsel. Statistics show that money trouble is the number one cause of stress and failure in marriages. Christians are not exempt, and one reason appears to be that many Christian couples are oblivious to what the Bible teaches about managing family finances.

Larry Burkett offers an invaluable remedy for this dilemma. Starting Out Right is filled with wise and biblical instruction for those who want to know what Gods Word says about managing money. Burketts commonsense approach is neither pedagogical nor theoretical, but lively and practical. In simple, straightforward terms, he unfolds an array of scriptural precepts that will help any Christian couple manage their money more effectively and without anxiety.

Years of experience in teaching and counseling Christian families about finances has uniquely prepared Larry Burkett to write this book. He has witnessed the pitfalls. He has seen countless couples struggle with the same issues. He knows the hazards, and he understands the biblical answers. Best of all, he does a masterful job of making them understandable for others.

And these are principles we had better understand. All of us who are believers face judgment one day regarding what kind of stewards we have been. What too many Christians dont realize is that stewardship involves far more than the money we put in the collection plate. It encompasses every element of how we manage the resources God has blessed us with. Perhaps the most telling testing ground of stewardship is the realm of home finances.

It is significant that one of the basic requirements for a man to be in a position of spiritual leadership is that he must be one who manages his own household well (1 Tim. 3:4). Our Lord even taught that the quality of our stewardship in this life will determine our reward in the next (see Matt. 25:1430). The simple fact is that we cannot be truly effective for God if we fail to manage our finances well.

The Enemy knows this, and perhaps that is why he seems to work so hard to snare young families and render them ineffective through unwise spending, lack of discipline, debt, worry, and other problems related to money.

If youre experiencing any of those difficulties, whether youre just starting out or approaching the crisis point, this book is for you. It will revolutionize the way you view your finances. If you practice the principles it teaches, youll discover how to glorify God through managing your money wisely, and youll take an important step toward living without anxiety.

John F. MacArthur Jr.

Grace Community Church

Sun Valley, California

Introduction

Finances are an important part of marriage. Unfortunately, mismanagement of money accounts for the majority of divorces in America today. That should make this problem a critical issue for most husbands and wives. But for some reason, thats not the case.

The average marriage that ends in divorce starts out just about like anybody elses. These couples have high expectations; they really love each other. Sadly, their inability to make good financial decisions leads them down the road to disaster.

Wouldnt it be great if, in America today, divorce was limited only to non-Christians? But unfortunately, it is not. That says something: most Christian couples are just as ignorant about finances as non-Christian couples. Divorce, bankruptcy, and debt within the Christian community indicate that our priorities are mixed up and that we are omitting some vital training for our children.

The average young husband and wife try to accumulate in about three years what should take them thirty years to accumulate. Consequently, what they do accumulate is an enormous amount of debt. As a result of the debt, they have financial pressures; and as a result of the financial pressures, they stop communicating. They cease to be companions and, instead, they become combatants. When they talk, its about financial problems. They dont bother to read their Bibles anymore; its hard to study the Bible when your mind is consumed with problems. They dont pray anymore; its hard to pray when your mind is consumed with problems. Allow me to illustrate.

A young couple Ill call Bob and Sue met in college and married when Bob graduated. Sue came from a Christian home, and Bob was saved through a campus ministry when he was a college freshman. After college, Bob went to work in a stock brokerage firm and began to do quite well. His first year he made nearly $30,000 in commissions. Consequently, Bob and Sue felt they could commit to buying a home, which they did. Sues parents loaned them the down payment. With closing costs, attorney fees, and so on, they owed another $1,500, which they put on their credit card.

Next came the usual household expenses for drapes, furniture, lawn mower, and appliances. Even so, they might have been able to squeeze by if everything had gone just rightwhich it didnt.

Their five-year-old car broke down, as it did regularly, so Bob bought a new car by selling his old car, borrowing some money from his parents, and taking out a $6,000 car loan at 18 percent interest. Although neither Bob nor Sue realized it at the time, they had stepped into one of Satans modern traps, just as surely as Eve had in the garden. Satan asked Eve, Indeed, has God said, You shall not eat from any tree of the garden? (Gen. 3:1). Today he asks, Surely you can trust God for the good things you need, cant you? And using about the same wisdom as Adam and Eve, Bob and Sue borrowed to buy things they couldnt afford to own. Satan then had them hooked, and all he needed to do was wait until the line played out.

Bob and Sues line played out when Sue unexpectedly got pregnant about six months after moving into their new home. Frequent bouts of morning sickness caused her to take a leave of absence from her job. Then the downhill financial slide started. Without Sues income, the house and car payments alone took 70 percent of their pay. After food, gas, utilities, and the other monthly essentials, no money was left for clothes, entertainment, lunches, and, least of all, medical expenses.

Every trip to the doctor meant prescription bills and nonreimbursed expenses, and every trip resulted in an argument over money or, more accurately, the lack of it. What should have been a joyful event was soon to be a disaster.

About three months into the pregnancy, the economy soured for stock investing and Bob lost his job. He was out of work for nearly two months, during which time virtually all bills went unpaid. Bob eventually found another job, making about $18,000 a year, with a budget that required more than $40,000 just to break even.

When the baby was born, Bob and Sue were separated and she was living with her parents. The young couple lost their home and their new car and still owed nearly $16,000all in less than three years of marriage.

Maybe youre thinking, Well, that wont happen to me , or Its already too late for us . Neither is true. Gods Word has both the prevention and the cure. If you havent made the errors yet, you have a head start. But even if you have, Gods Word offers the absolute cure.