Beyond Blessed: God’s Perfect Plan to Overcome All Financial Stress by Robert Morris ($12.99 for the Kindle edition on Amazon) is a companion and follow-up to Morris’ earlier book The Blessed Life. Morris’ original best-seller focused on “Unlocking the rewards of generous living.” By contrast, Beyond Blessed is about stewardship. Morris explains, “A life of true blessing walks on two legs. One . . . is generosity. . . However, the vital first leg is managing your financial resources wisely and prudently so you’ll actually be able to be generous . . . Trying to be more generous without also becoming a prudent manager . . . will be exhausting, frustrating, and fruitless . . . stewardship is simply about being a wise, prudent, and skillful steward of all the resources God has placed in your hands.
Not A Poverty Gospel OR A Prosperity Gospel
Morris teaches that, “believers should be the most generous people on earth . . . (who) give to God and others for the sheer joy of giving and because God is a giver . . . we should naturally take after our Father.” Morris explains, “Instead of a ‘give to get’ message, I preach a ‘get to give’ message.”
The Simple Secret
Morris dedicates the first chapter of the book to a description of “how it would feel to live without financial pressure.” Purchasing decisions would be measured by the question “’Lord, should I buy this?’ Rather than, ‘How can I afford this?’” He maintains that such a truly “blessed life” is “available to everyone, regardless of income . . . It requires only one thing: consistently living within your means.”
Don’t Expect More If you Mismanage What God Has Given You
Morris offers an interesting discussion of the Parable of the Talents found in Matthew 25:14-30. He uses the metaphor of a “bank” to describe the believer, explaining that God “puts things (and people) on deposit with us, with the twofold expectation that those things (and people) will be kept safe and will grow.” Morris goes on to point out that “the Lord does not view maintaining as faithfulness. Maintaining is not rewarded. Only increase—taking new ground—is praised as ‘good and faithful.’” Below is Morris’ stewardship philosophy “boiled down to its purest essence:”
- I put God first in everything because He loves me and redeemed me.
- I gratefully receive everything God puts in my hand.
- I steward faithfully what He has entrusted to me.
- I hold His blessings with an open hand, prepared to give or distribute them as He directs, never forgetting that they are His, and that I am His.
First Things First
Throughout the book Morris emphasizes the need to put God first in everything. He believes this is the heart of true worship. “What you worship is whatever provides your sense of identity . . . what gives you a sense of security . . . what you’re most prone to give your time and attention to. Whatever you seek out first – that’s what you worship.” Therefore, he insists that the way to put God first in your finances is to begin with tithing.
I like to call it the principle of putting God first. The tithe exists as both a reminder and test. It’s a reminder that God actually owns it all. And it’s a test of whether or not God is truly in the first-place position in your life. It’s also a test because it takes faith and trust in the goodness and faithfulness of God to return His 10 percent to Him first before you start addressing your other physical needs. There is no faith involved if you wait until all your other bills are paid to return God’s tithe to Him.
Let’s Get Practical
In the ten remaining chapters of the book, there is a great deal of practical advice. Morris urges us to be “genuinely thankful” for what we have. In his words, we should be “Humbly Grateful, Not Grumbly Hateful.” In addition, he urges believers to avoid impulse purchases and foolish spending. He calls this, “spending money you don’t have to buy things you don’t need to impress people you don’t like.” He soberly warns, “spending money you don’t have is . . . stealing . . . from your future . . . robbing yourself of choices . . . freedom . . . (and) peace.” Morris writes, “Learning to live well below your means may very well be the most powerful, life-transforming, peace-bringing habit you can acquire.”
The Core Message Of The Book
Morris discusses the importance of setting goals, creating a plan to get out of debt, creating and using a budget, and the wisdom and importance of saving. In summary, Morris concludes, “Spend wisely. Save judiciously. Give generously. That’s a life of freedom. It’s a life of impact. It’s a wonderful, peaceful, purpose-filled life.”