from Lawngren
Quotes from the Bible or “The Total Money Makeover” by David Ramsey
Maybe, probably, it’s because this book was written by a Christian, but there are so many parallels to the Bible that it seems to me proof that God has built laws of economics into the universe. So much so that I couldn’t help putting together a few examples. I’m just starting Ramsey’s book, and don’t know if I’m going to be able to completely follow his advice, but I began long ago to follow some of the principles he teaches. Like not buying things on credit. (Too bad I didn’t start that before I bought my trailer.)
University professors and so-called economics experts have “theories” of economics. God gave us LAWS of economics.
“You are about to read about a process, a proven plan, to win. You will find the plan to be very simple yet very inspiring. The principles are not mine. I stole them from God and your grandmother.”
Biblical reference: “Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.” (Matthew 7:24-25)
“… the thing that qualifies me most to teach about money is that I have done stupid things with zeroes on the end. I have been there, done that. I have a PhD in D-U-M-B. So I know what it’s like to be scared and scarred … I know what it is like to have my hopes and dreams crushed by my own stupid decisions. That qualifies me uniquely to teach and to love hurting people … The other huge qualifier is that I used the principles I teach to personally build wealth. My wife and I have truly lived this book. The things we teach are not theory – they work! … But the teaching credentials I am most sure of and which further qualifies me are the hundreds of thousands of stories of people across America being set free by this book. This stuff simply works.”
That acknowledgement ^^ is where Dave Ramsey is different from God. God didn’t make any mistakes, and that is proof that He is uniquely qualified to teach us – in every area of life. Ramsey learned from his mistakes, and that, not the mistakes, is what qualifies Ramsey to teach others. On the other hand, God has never made a mistake. While Ramsey is a great financial advisor, God is the perfect advisor – about everything, because He created everything and knows it all, down to the sub-atomic level.
“I stated earlier that personal finance is 80% behavior. To properly view behavior and to understand how to change behavior intelligently, we must consider several things. Behavior intelligently viewed takes into account the emotional, the relational, the family history, the socioeconomic impacts, and the spiritual. To ignore any of these while discussing behavioral change about money is incomplete and very naive.”
Biblical reference: “The [reverent] fear of the Lord is the beginning (the prerequisite, the absolute essential, the alphabet) of wisdom; a good understanding and a teachable heart are possessed by all those who do the will of the Lord; His praise endures forever!” (Psalm 111:10, AMP)
God’s laws, in every realm, are always the same, because they are true. Correct. Right. Accurate. Principles and concepts are the framework every philosophy, religion, worldview, and football game are built on. Get the principles right and your structure has a far better chance of standing the test of time. Get the principles wrong and there will be problems from Day One, and there will be a built-in collapse just waiting for the wrong circumstance or event to bring down the structure. This is why it’s foolish in the extreme for people to sneer at something just because it’s old. Or because it comes from the Bible.
“We live in a cause-and-effect world. What you sow, you will reap.” (p. xxii) Ramsey has observed in the economic realm the truth of the Bible verse he half quotes here: “Whatever a man plants, that he will harvest.” Eternal truth applies to economics as well as to the spiritual arena.
“I’ve spent the last twenty-five years trying to get people to live these Total Money Makeover principles. A lot of people have listened, so when the winds blew and the storm came [i.e., the subprime crisis] they were just as ready as I was. They had a strong foundation.”
“Our economy had been working so good for so long that really stupid ideas had been working on the short term. That fooled people into believing that stupid had become smart … In other words, stupid hadn’t been stress tested in quite a while; when it was, it came up looking, well, stupid.”
Biblical reference: “… you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest.” (Matthew 24:27)
“My Dad used to say that 90% of solving a problem is realizing that there is one.”
Biblical reference: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” (1st John 1:8)
“Don’t Wait To Have Denial Knocked Out Of You”
Biblical reference: “Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?’ ” (Ezekiel 33:11) Sin or finances, it can be just that serious.
“Walgreen’s, Cisco, and Harley-Davidson are run debt-free.” It can be done, to the extent that it is in God’s will for your life. He doesn’t make Christians millionaires just because they want to be millionaires. (Ask me how I know.)