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  • That's why when people ask me, "Craig, if I don't have margin, should I wait until I

  • have margin to start tithing?" I say, "No, baby no!" You start tithing now, because it

  • breaks the very thing that led you to a margin-less life. It builds faith and you will see God's

  • hand and His work and His provision, as you put Him first, returning 10% back to God in

  • the form of the tithe. You will see His blessings.

  • 2. When you put Him first in your finances, you will become supernaturally content. When

  • you seek Him, when you pray, when you ask for His divine direction and His wisdom for

  • what you do with the resources He entrusts to your care, you will become supernaturally

  • content.

  • Proverbs 15:16; what is the first word in that verse? Would you say it aloud? One, two,

  • three..."Better!" Say it again....what is it? "Better!" Is it worse? No, it is better

  • to have how much? "It's better to have a little with the fear of the Lord than great wealth

  • with turmoil."

  • There are very few people in our society today that believe that is true. That is the Word

  • of God and it is absolutely true. Better a little with God, better a little with margin.

  • Better a little with peace than big houses, nice cars, great wealth with turmoil. Better

  • something paid for than something nicer with the stress of debt. Better a little with the

  • fear of the Lord than what everyone else wants, with what everyone else has. Great turmoil!

  • Better! Better! Better! Better! Better! Believe it! Live it! Better! Better! Godliness with

  • contentment is great gain! Great gain! Big win! Great gain! The world says more will

  • make you happy. You can never get there! God says happiness is contentment with what you

  • already have! Better! Better! Most of you say, "Oh, I don't think so!" You've never

  • tried it! Better! Better! When you believe that, you are not normal! You become weird!

  • You start doing things where people look at you going, "What's he smoking? Why are you

  • selling that big, nice house for and down-sizing?" You have no idea what it's like to have margin.

  • It's better!

  • Why are you driving that older car, when you could have a new one with the nice leather

  • and better? Why are you cutting up your credit cards and paying cash? When you realize it's

  • better, you become different! You start doing really weird things, you start paying cash

  • and budgeting, you tattoo Dave Ramsey's face on your shoulder! You are going around and

  • going, "We've got margin, yes we do! We got margin, how about you?" I mean, you feel it!

  • Your like, "Wow! This is better! It really is better! It really is better!" It's better

  • to have money to give. It's better. It's better that when something breaks down, you don't

  • break down, because you have got the ability to pay for it! It's better! It's better to

  • see someone in need and be able to help out! It's better to be praying about what to do

  • with the extra, than never have any extra! It's better to live in your paid for place,

  • with peace in your marriage, than live in the big place and be about to divorce because

  • you can't get your spending in line. It's better! It's better! It is better.

  • When you seek God first, when you get closer to God, guess what happens? You don't need

  • those things, because God is enough. You are not driven with trying to fill your life with

  • something out there, because God is enough. It's a spiritual problem. It's a spiritual

  • problem. Better, better. When you seek Him first, when you tithe, when you put Him first,

  • you will experience His presence, His provision and His blessings. You will become supernaturally

  • content.

  • 3. You will end up with more of what matters. You will, you may not have what everyone else

  • wants physically, but you will have what no one else has spiritually. You will end up

  • with more of what matters.

  • Proverbs 8:18-19; God was talking about wisdom, which is really Himself, He says, "With me

  • are riches and honor. With me are lasting wealth and success. My fruit is better than

  • fine gold. My gifts are better than the finest silver."

  • He says that the things I give are better than the things of this world, when you seek

  • Him first, instead of filling your life with the things that don't really matter, you will

  • fill your life with the things that truly do matter, and it will be better! When you

  • have time margin and financial margin, you will spend time with people that you love,

  • you will invest in the things that are the most important. You will be rich relationally.

  • You will be rich spiritually. You will be rich in the things that matter most when you

  • put God first. Here's what's going to happen; instead of just consuming more for me, you

  • are going to start contributing, and you are going to find out how powerful that is, because

  • it's truly more blessed to give than to receive. I can tell you this, I do not have a single

  • emotional consuming story, I don't. I can't tell you, I walked in a store and the boots

  • I wanted, they were 30% off! Praise God! I thought they were going to be full price!

  • They were 30% off! I don't have a single story like that! Not one! But, when you talk about

  • giving stories, I will get choked up every time. If I ever sat down in the early years,

  • when Amy and I committed 30% of our income, and we were making less than $30,000.00 a

  • year, for three years 30% of our income, we returned to God to the church, to help the

  • church get off the ground. I will get teared up every time I will tell you that! If I told

  • you about the first time we gave a car away to a single mom; the joy of that! If I told

  • you about the kids that we sponsor through Compassion International in different countries,

  • and the very first one named Stacy in Haiti, who was unfound, and was discovered alive

  • this week, the girl that we have been sponsoring. Better! Better!

  • I can tell you this, Amy and I have not always worn new clothes, because for years we purchased

  • used. Dead true story. We have not always gone out to restaurants whenever we wanted

  • to. We have not always lived in a nice home, but we have always put God first with the

  • tithe, and we have always had margin. Yet, when I preach passionately, it is because

  • I ache for those who ache in the bad trade, giving up the blessings of margin, for the

  • things of this world that do not last. When you put Him first, you will experience His

  • blessings. You will be supernaturally content, and I promise you, you will have more of what

  • truly matters. The choice is yours. It is not an income issue. It is a lifestyle issue.

  • The choice is yours, you first, or God first? Putting God first is better.

  • Hey thanks for viewing part of this message. If you'd like to see this message in its entirety,

  • or any of our messages. You can goto www.lifechurch.tv and I'll see you there.

That's why when people ask me, "Craig, if I don't have margin, should I wait until I

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