Your New Money Mindset: Create a Healthy Relationship with Money

156 Pages·2015·1.68 MB·English

by  Brad Hewitt

Your New Money Mindset lays out a countercultural, proven, and practical
approach to managing your relationship with money. Encouraging rather than
preachy, Hewitt and Moline make a compelling, biblically grounded case that
being wise and generous with your money and time will lead to greater joy, less
worry, and a world more the way God intended, and the authors provide
actionable steps to get there.
JONATHAN T. M. RECKFORD, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF HABITAT FOR
HUMANITY INTERNATIONAL
Generous giving is something that seems out of reach for the vast majority, and
generosity with contentment is only for the very rich, not average, working-class
Joes like the rest of us. Enter authors Brad Hewitt and Jim Moline. These
gentlemen turn our thinking about contentment, giving, and financial stability on
end and ask us to make a radical change, one that begins not with the budget, but
with the heart. Whether you’re a young family just starting out, or middle aged
and trying to navigate college tuition or fast-approaching retirement, they will
challenge you to drastically change your attitudes and ideas regarding your
finances and giving. They will help you break the persistent desire for more in
our consumer-driven society and ask you to reach for something better,
something most of us can’t see on the financial horizon. That elusive something
is peace—the peace that comes with contentment and the decision that we have
enough, enough for ourselves and enough to share.
SHERRY SURRATT, PRESIDENT & CEO OF MOPS, INTERNATIONAL; AUTHOR OF
BRAVE MOM, BEAUTIFUL MESS AND JUST LEAD
In a culture in which financial plans and money tips abound, Your New Money
Mindset takes us deeper: to the heart. Hewitt and Moline invite families into a
soul-healthy approach toward finances, casting a vision extending well beyond
bills and 401Ks into the gospel calling of generosity. This fresh perspective
beckons us past “how to” into the life-shifting call: “Follow me.”
KELLI B. TRUJILLO, EDITOR OF TODAY’S CHRISTIAN WOMAN
Imagine sitting down with a Bible and all your finances. Next to you sit two
fellow Christians—a psychologist and a financial leader. With warmth, wisdom,
and wit, they talk to you about your faith and your money. That important
conversation is Your New Money Mindset.
LEITH ANDERSON, PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF
EVANGELICALS
Brad and Jim demonstrate that while good financial strategies are important,
they fail to address the root issue that keeps us in constant angst—our money
mindset. How do we achieve a mindset that believes we have more than enough
regardless of income and puts us in a position to share it joyfully with others?
The authors wisely lead us down the path toward this blessed position. Well
written, challenging, and powerful!
PATRICK JOHNSON, CHIEF ARCHITECT OF GENEROUSCHURCH
Brad Hewitt and Jim Moline authentically share their own journey to a healthy
relationship with money and challenge us to take the same journey. In Your New
Money Mindset they connect you with a free online assessment that will help
you discover your own money mindset so you can make the necessary
adjustments to live the life God dreams for you to live.
DAVE FERGUSON, LEAD PASTOR OF COMMUNITY CHRISTIAN CHURCH,
VISIONARY LEADER OF NEWTHING, COAUTHOR OF FINDING YOUR WAY BACK TO
GOD
Your New Money Mindset is a book that belongs on the shelf of every family
who desires to walk in financial freedom. Brad Hewitt and Jim Moline are
perfect collaborators, and they have created a resource that will help you have
the mind of Christ in the way you view money. The journey you travel with the
authors will help you realize your feelings and attitudes about money and how to
break free from the debilitating effect of consumerism. Finally, I believe that the
transformation that can occur when you experience this New Money Mindset is
one that will change the world.
ELLIE KAY, AUTHOR OF LEAN BODY, FAT WALLET
Brad Hewitt and Jim Moline do an excellent job of providing eye-opening and
practical ways to put your faith into action by nurturing a spirit of generosity,
regardless of how much money you may or may not have. I recommend Your
New Money Mindset as a resource to individuals and congregations, for it
contains many nuggets of truth that help you explore your relationship to money
and to an incredibly generous God.
M. SARAH BRECKENRIDGE, EXECUTIVE PASTOR OF ST. ANDREW’S LUTHERAN
CHURCH, MAHTOMEDI, MN
In Your New Money Mindset, Hewitt and Moline persuasively convince us that
there is no such thing as “financial security.” In this compelling book full of both
research and personal narratives, they offer an invitation to go beyond money
management to a deeper understanding of the ways our relationship with money
has distorted our views of success and our image of “the good life.” Mere
strategies of self-discipline and delayed gratification are not enough to free us
from the bondage of consumerism and the myth we buy into that larger bank
accounts will provide the options and affirmation of significance that we are
longing for. Investing in a rich relationship with God, living with generosity of
time and resources, and practicing the countercultural virtue of contentment are
some of the signposts that mark the way on this journey to genuine financial
freedom and wisdom.
LAURA ROBINSON HARBERT, PHD, DEAN OF THE CHAPEL AND SPIRITUAL
FORMATION, FULLER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
Fixing our money problems starts with changing our hearts, and in a world filled
with so much noise about finances, Brad and Jim show us how to create real and
lasting change. A thought-provoking read, no matter where you are in your
financial journey.
RUTH SOUKUP, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF LIVING WELL,
SPENDING LESS
It’s one thing to say consumerism is like a cancer in our American culture. It
certainly is, but many say that. It’s another thing to offer a clear, compelling cure
for that cancer. That’s what Brad and Jim do in Your New Money Mindset. The
book is filled with assessment tools, stories, Scripture, and personal candor. I
want my children and my congregation to read this book.
BILL BOHLINE, LEAD PASTOR OF HOSANNA! LUTHERAN CHURCH; AUTHOR OF
IT’S SUNDAY, BUT MONDAY’S COMIN’
In the spirit of generosity, the authors will not receive any compensation from the sale of this book.
At Thrivent Financial, we help our members make a difference in their churches and communities by offering them a menu of
generosity and volunteer programs. In 2014 alone, Thrivent members held 53,995 local activities to make a difference in their
communities. Additionally, in 2014, Thrivent members and supporters raised and donated $106.7 million and volunteered 10.7 million
hours. This book will help Thrivent members continue to make a difference where they live, work, and worship.
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Learn more about Thrivent Financial at www.thrivent.com.
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Your New Money Mindset: Create a Healthy Relationship with Money
Copyright © 2015 by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. All rights reserved.
Cover photograph copyright © Jesse Kunerth/Dreamstime.com. All rights reserved.
Designed by Mark Anthony Lane II
Edited by Jane Vogel
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version,® NIV.® Copyright ©
1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from THE MESSAGE by Eugene H. Peterson, copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000,
2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked NCV are taken from the New Century Version.® Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version,® copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale
House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked NRSV are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989, Division of Christian
Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
ISBN 978-1-4964-0780-1
ISBN 978-1-4964-1019-1 (ePub); ISBN 978-1-4964-0781-8 (Kindle); ISBN 978-1-4964-1020-7 (Apple)
Build: 2015-09-08 10:18:06
To the founders of Thrivent, who established an effective way for
members to help to bear one another’s burdens and live
generously.
To current members, who model living generously and being wise
with money.
To future members, who will join the journey of changing our
world for the better.
Contents
Foreword
Chapter 1: Our Money Problem
Chapter 2: A New Money Mindset
Chapter 3: Ready
Chapter 4: Longing for Security
Chapter 5: Living in Freedom
Chapter 6: Longing for Independence
Chapter 7: Living in Community
Chapter 8: Longing for More
Chapter 9: Living in Contentment
Chapter 10: Longing for Success
Chapter 11: Living in Our Calling
Chapter 12: Change the World
Discussion Questions
Acknowledgments
Notes
About the Authors