7 MONEY HABITS THAT KEEP GOOD PEOPLE STUCK (A BIBLICAL LOOK)

Wayne Sutton: Let me ask you something. I want you to be honest with yourself. Why do some people who love God, work hard, pray, give, still feel stuck financially? I don't think it's because God doesn't care, And I don't think it's always because they don't have enough faith. In my experience, a lot of times it comes down to just a few quiet habits. Small, ordinary, everyday habits that nobody preaches about or really teaches about, but quietly drain people year after year. I'm Wayne Sutton, and this is Prosper with Wayne. Today I'm gonna walk you through seven money habits that keep people stuck. And for each one, I'm gonna go into what the Bible says and one simple step you can take this week. So, quick word before we start. 3rd John verse 2 says, Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health and prosper even as your soul prospers. God wants things to go well with you. that's the heart behind this whole show. So I'm not here to shame you, I'm here to help you. And one more thing. As a pastor, as a coach, as a business-minded teacher, I'm not a financial advisor. So everything I share here today is education, encouragement, not personal financial advice. For your specific situation, talk to a qualified professional. Okay? Let's go. Habit number one is spending without a plan. Proverbs 21, verse 5 says, the plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance. But everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. Notice the contrast. Plans and diligence on one side, haste on the other. Now, most people don't have a spending problem as much as they have a no plan problem. Money comes in, money goes out. And at the end of the month, they honestly can't tell where it went. That's not a moral failure, it's just a lack of a plan. Jesus talked about this in Luke 14, verse 28. He said, Which of you desiring to build a tire does not first sit down and count the cost? Whether he has enough to complete it. Count the cost. Sit down. Look at the numbers. So here's your step for this week. Write down what comes in and what goes out. Every single dollar. Now, you can call it a budget, or you can call it, as my buddy likes to call it, a spending plan. Okay. This is what we have. Here's what we can spend. And you don't have to be perfect. You just have to see it because awareness is where freedom starts. habit number two is living on credit. All right. Proverbs 22, verse 7 says, The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender. Romans 13, 8. Owe no one anything except to love one another. Now let me be careful here. The Bible doesn't say every debt is a sin, but it does say debt is a weight and it can make a service to something other than God's purpose for our lives. Let me give you some real numbers because this isn't just theory. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, in the second quarter of 2026, Americans carried $18.7 trillion in household debt. Credit card balances alone. 1.26 trillion. That's $21 billion higher than the quarter before, and $54 billion higher than just a year ago. Now these are not just numbers, these are families. These are people that love their kids and trying to keep the lights on. And a lot of them are paying high interest to do it. But here's the encouraging part. Debt is not a life sentence. People pay it off every day. A common approach is to list out your debts. Make the minimum payment on all of them and then put every extra dollar toward the smallest one until it's gone. Then roll that payment into the next. Some people prefer to attack the highest interest rate first. method works if you stick with it. So, your step for this week, list every debt. The balance and the interest rate. Just list them. You can't fight what you haven't named. Habit number three is living without a margin. this is one that probably gets most people. Proverbs 21:20 says, Precious treasure and oil are in a wise man's dwelling, but a foolish man devours it. See, the wise person stores something up. Proverbs 6, 6 through 8. Go to the ant, O slugger, consider her ways and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food and harvest. See, the ant doesn't wait for the winter to start preparing. And in Genesis forty one, Joseph advised Pharaoh to store grain during the seven good years, so Egypt could survive during the seven lean ones. Preparation isn't a lack of faith, it's wisdom. And this is where a lot of people are. A bank rate survey reported in January of this year found that fewer than half of Americans have enough money to cover an unexpected thousand dollar expense. Fewer than half. And about a third said they'd just go into debt to cover it. Think about what it means. One flat tire, one medical bill, one refrigerator or dishwasher that stops, and a person who's suddenly doing okay is now in a hole. That's what no margin does. So this week. Determine what your goalpost is. Very good friend of mine, David Jones from Freer Finances, talks about never moving the goal post. If you need $8,000 a month, you need $12,000 a month, you need $5,000 a month, what's that number? Okay. Then that's what we need to earn. Anything above that is, you know, abundance, right? So take that abundance, pay off debt, but start an emergency fund. Even $25 or $50 a week will add up. The goal isn't to build wealth here, it's to be unshakable. When life, which is always shaky, happens. Habit number four, spending to impress. wow. This one alone is something we can all fall prey to if we're not careful. But Proverbs 13.7 says, One pretends to be rich, yet has nothing. Another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth. Some of the poorest people I've ever known look like they had it all together. Nice cars, nice clothes, and behind it, nothing but high interest payments. Ecclesiastes 4:4 says that toil and all skill in work come from a man's envy of his neighbor. Read that again. Toil and all skill in work come from a man's envy of his neighbor. We keep up with people who are keeping up with other people who are keeping up with other people. It never ends. But in Luke twelve, verse fifteen, we see the words of Jesus Himself Take care and be on guard against all covetousness. For one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possession. So here's a question for you. If no one would ever see it, would you still buy it? If no one would ever see what you're thinking about buying, would you still buy it? That question alone will save you a lot of money. So what's your step for this week? Before any non essential purchase, wait twenty four hours. If you still want it tomorrow and it fits your plan, fine. But most of the time, the urge fades. Which takes us to habit number five, waiting for a miracle instead of building. All right. I believe in miracles. I do. God has done things in my life that no man can explain. But I've also seen people sit and wait for a breakthrough while refusing to learn a skill, start a business, ask for a raise, or change anything. Proverbs 14, 23. It says, In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty. Deuteronomy eight eighteen. You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the power to get wealth. Notice that. He gives you the power, the ability, The ideas, the skills, the relationships, the help, the energy, a miracle and a plan are not enemies. Often the plan is how the miracle shows up. And this is something I have personally taken a hold of. I said, Lord, this is what I feel like the desire for a business that we're just launching. This is where I want to go with it. I feel here's the mission. But Lord, I'm not sure exactly how. But I know who. And who was God. And then as I started surrendering to God, He's brought several other "whos" people into my business, coaches, advisors, consultants to help make it a reality. In fact, we just launched this week, So keep us in prayer if you would. So what's your step this week? Choose one skill that would increase your income. Let me say that again. Choose one skill that would increase your income and spend 30 minutes a day on it. Learn it, practice it, offer it to someone, pray, and then move your feet. Maybe for you it's picking up a book that teach you how to have better communication skills. I believe that's one of the highest things that you can do. Maybe you need to learn. What's happening today in the marketing realm? So pick up a marketing book. Invest in some artificial intelligence, classes, courses, learn AI. Maybe learn how to run ads on Google or Meta. What is it that you could do this week that would increase your income? Habit number six is refusing counsel and refusing to learn. Proverbs 15 22. Without counsel, plans fail, but with many advisors they succeed. Kind of what I just talked about, right? And then Hosea verse 6 of chapter 4 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Pride is expensive. If you're taking notes, write that down. Pride is expensive. How many people have lost money because they were too proud to ask someone who knew more? How many made the same mistake three times because they never asked, never read, never learned? Proverbs 12, 15 says the way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice. So you don't need to figure everything out all alone. Find someone who's further along than you, someone with good fruit in their life. Ask questions, read, listen to podcasts like this one. And when it comes to your specific situation, find a qualified professional. So your step this week is really simple. Identify one person who handles money wisely and ask them for 20 minutes of their time. Bring three questions. Listen, most people are honored to even be asked. Hoarding, holding on so tightly that nothing flows. Proverbs 11, 24, and 25. One gives freely yet grows all the richer. Another withholds what he should give and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered. Now, being careful here, this verse has been abused. It's not a promise that if you give, you'll get a specific return. It is a posture of an open hand and trusting heart. Jesus told us a story in Luke twelve about a rich man who built bigger barns to store everything for himself. And God said, Fool, this night your soul was required of you. The problem wasn't that he had wealth, the problem was that he had had it all for himself. And remember, the Bible says whoever sows sparingly will reap sparingly. Each one must give away. As he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. Cheerful, not pressured, not guilty, not manipulated. So what I want you to do this week is decide ahead of time in your heart and with your family what and where you'll give. If you're not giving back, you're not sowing those seeds, you're not going to receive a harvest. So make it a plan, not an impulse, and give without strings attached. All right. So let's bring it all together. If you do nothing else, here's your story. Number one, write down what comes in and goes out. Two, list your debts. Three, start a small emergency fund. Four, wait twenty-four hours before non-essential purchases. Five, pick one skill to grow in. Six, ask someone for 20 minutes. And seven, decide what you'll give. You don't have to fix it all in a day. You just have to start. If this video has been helpful, hit the subscribe button. If yours like Wayne, I would love to know more about maybe some personal coaching. I need some help in this area, then feel free to reach out to me. You can reach out to me and I'll share with you how we can help. Now, I want to say again, thank you for listening. And let me say a prayer over you. Father, thank you for every person listening to this podcast. Give them wisdom, discipline, peace. Break the cycle of fear and confusion over their life when it comes to money. Help them be good stewards of what you've already given them and open doors for more. Give them courage to take one practical step this week. And let it go well. Let them prosper, Lord, in their soul, even as it goes well in their finances. I pray this, Lord, in your name, Jesus. Amen. If this helped you, share it with someone who needs it. Subscribe because we're going to keep talking about prospering and creating health, wealth, and happiness. And leave me a comment. In fact, I would love to know wherever you're listening to this, whatever platform, leave a comment. Let me know which of the seven habits hit you the hardest. I read every comment. This is Pastor Wayne. God bless you, and I'll see you on the next video of Prosper with Wayne.