The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - How to Become Rich

Episode Date: May 20, 2022

Do you want to know how to become rich? It seems as though most people have an innate desire to seek material wealth. However, in today’s episode, Jeff shares how to find true wealth that lasts. Snippet from the Show Give, be generous, and enjoy the love of God. Email us with comments or questions at [e-mail]. Text “jeffcavins” to 33-777 to subscribe and get Jeff’s shownotes delivered straight to your email! Or visit ascensionpress.com/thejeffcavinsshow for full shownotes!

Welcome to the Jeff Kavens Show, where we talk about the Bible, discipleship, and evangelization, putting it all together in living as activated disciples. This is Show 271, How to Become Rich. Well, hello again, my friend. I'm Jeff Kavans, and if this is your first time joining us because somebody invited us, you, it's good to meet you. This is the place where we talk about discipleship. We talk about all things, scripture, of course, and how to apply our faith to everyday life. I love that quote from Vatican II, Gaudi Mitspez that says that one of the biggest errors of our day is this gap between faith and everyday life. And I like to bridge that. And it works in my own life,

and I love to share that with people like you. Hey, we're going to talk about how to become rich today. Maybe that's why you are listening. If you Googled how to become rich and you ended up here, well, that could be divine providence. So we're going to talk about that. Before I get into that, if you do want the show notes, and if you're new, I do give a lot of show notes. I give the scriptures that I use. I put it all together. We have a great package to send you every single week that will prepare you for the show so you don't have to write it down while you're driving to work. We want you to stay safe. And so all you have to do is type my name, Jeff Kaven's, one word, Jeff Kavins, and you can send it to 3377, quite biblical, 3377. So I've wanted to

talk about this topic for quite some time now, how to become rich. It really doesn't take any level of skill to observe in our culture today that people are really interested in becoming rich. wealthy, whatever you want to call it, independent, off the grid. There's all kinds of ways of defining what it means to be rich. But typically people are interested in having, you know, enough money to buy the things that they want to buy, to be independent to not worry about tomorrow, you know, both in their own lives and their children's lives. And there's something in us, isn't there?

There's something in us. I don't know how to describe it, but there's something in us that wants to accumulate and make sure that we're safe and that we're going to be taken care of. And in the modern era, that's money. You know, it used to be clamshells. It could be gold. It could be any kind of precious metal. It could be something, you know, simply made up like a piece of paper.

Hey, that's what we do have, don't we? The dollar bill. And if you gather enough of those dollar bills that starts to make you happier and happier and more secure and more secure. Or does it? I don't think so. I do not think so. One of the things that we see on TV is we see a lot of people with a lot of money who have a lot of problems and they don't know what to do. So let's talk today a little bit about true wealth and what it means to be really rich. I want to start off by talking to you about the very beginning of the Bible in Genesis chapter 3. I'm not going to go into this, you know, in real,

in real detail, but I do think that it's important to get a foundation when it comes to, you know, why are we wanting to be rich? What does it mean to be rich? And I want to say at the beginning here, nothing wrong with a 401k. Nothing wrong with having, you know, some money laid aside to take care of emergencies that might come up. That could actually be very prudent. And if, if you If you want to go deeper on all of that, I do have a series with Ascension Press about wisdom. I think it's an eight-part series on wisdom. And one of them is on money, wisdom and money. So if you want to have a whole Bible study on topics related to wisdom, check that out at ascensionpress.com.

Okay, so I want to read this to you in Genesis. And this actually gives kind of the reason and the DNA, if you will, is to, why we like to accumulate things or money. It says in Genesis 3, now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, did God say you shall not eat of any tree of the garden? And the woman said to the serpent,

we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but God said you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree, which is in the midst of the garden. neither shall you touch it lest you die but the serpent then said to the woman you're not going to die you're not going to die for god knows that when you eat of it your eyes are going to be opened and you're going to be like god knowing good and evil so when the the woman saw that the tree was get this good for food number one number two that it was a delight to the eyes number three that the tree was was desired to make one wise those three things

She took of it, and she ate, and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate. And then guess what happened? The eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons. So you have to look at this from the standpoint of Adam and Eve, and particularly Eve, because that's where the crosshairs were on as far as the attack. God said you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the middle of the garden. And then he said, lest you die. And then the serpent comes in and says, did God say? She goes, yeah, we can't touch that thing. We can't eat it. And then comes the big lie where the enemy says, listen, you can go ahead and eat it. Because you know why? Because God's pulling one on you

here. He knows that if you eat of it, you're going to be like him. He doesn't want that. and so it's like a bill of goods here and you know that the enemy is selling adam and eve and so they're looking at this tree and it's described by even in genesis three six as it is tasty it is beautiful and it is to make one wise those three things are so good right i mean you could you could even describe someone today as being rich because they have lots of tasty things and they have lots of beautiful things, and they are so wise, you know, that they've figured it out. And that's maybe the way that we would define being rich today, at least having enough money to buy the beautiful things and the tasty things. And if you want to go on to self-improvement,

you're certainly well equipped to do that with all of the money. Well, people who want to get rich do have a tendency to hold on very, very tightly to that which is tasty and beautiful and makes them unique, wise, particularly skilled at navigating life. But in the course of conversations, you quickly learned that we oftentimes put people into two brackets, rich and poor. And when we were kids, you have to admit, we all wanted to be rich, didn't we? We wanted to be rich. The desire to be rich is the gateway drug to Genesis 36, and Genesis 36 is the fast track

to becoming like God. or so we think you know thinking about that just now about you know when we were kids and we're thinking man i want to be rich i got to tell you a quick story here it's kind of funny i i've always been you can call it drifty or you can call it deep thinking but when i get into deep thinking which i absolutely love to think uh it's like an exercise when i was a kid i think i was in like fifth grade my dad was trying to get uh my attention at the kitchen table and he kept saying jeff Jeff. And I didn't even hear him. And finally go, Jeff. Oh, I started. What? What? And he said, what were you thinking? Where were you? And I said, oh, I was thinking, how can I make money without working? And he started laughing, of course, you know. Oh, you're going to be one of those, huh? How can I make money without working? Well, I actually figured out a way. I went around the neighborhood. and I got about 10 contracts that I wrote up personally in fifth grade, I think it was,

that I would mow someone's lawn or I, yeah, in the summer I mowed their lawn for $5. And I got about 10 of them. And then I realized, uh-oh, uh, I don't think I can get 10 of these done every week. What am I going to do? So I went out to my friends and I said, hey, you want to make three bucks? And I'm like, sure. Three bucks went a long ways back then. and they said sure and I said okay uh can you mow that lawn over there I'm supposed to

mow it but I don't have the time you mow it for three bucks and they said uh yeah so I got my friends to mow all these lawns and then I collected two dollars from every one of them they didn't work so uh-huh I was to tell my dad that one these days I did I did figure it out that's what deep thinking will will do but that's what we all thought about as kids didn't we were going to make a lot of money when I grow up Well, money represents in our culture. It represents power and opportunity. It opens doors. And money offers a life of ease, at least in our thinking, and no worries, raising our status, buys anything, and I mean anything that you want. But listen to what Timothy says. And I'll put all

these in the show notes. In 1 Timothy, chapter 6 and verse 10, he says, for the love of money is the root of all evils. it is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierce their hearts with many pains. Now, we most likely have heard that verse, haven't we? I'm sure you have. For the love of money is the root of all evil. And someone may say, you know, they pull out a $20 bill and they say, well, I don't love that. And that's not what it's talking about. It's not talking about, you know, you love a greenback.

is talking about the love of money, the love of money, the great desire to acquire money, the way it completely dominates our heart and our thinking. That's the root of all evils. Isn't that something? Wow. The love of money is the root of all evils. And when you, evers too. But when you go back to Genesis and you listen to what the Word of God says,

that she looked at that tree and she saw beauty, tasty things, and made one wise. That's what money will get you, the tasty things, the beautiful things, and those things that will make you wise. So money represents a gateway to those things. And to love money is the root of all evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced their hearts with many pangs. And then he goes on in the same chapter and says,

As for the rich in this world, and this is going to be the set of verses that I'm going to riff off of here, as for the rich in this world charge them not to be haughty nor to set their hopes on uncertain riches, but on God, who richly furnishes us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good deeds, liberal and generous, not politically speaking, but thus laying up for themselves a good foundation for the future so that they may take hold of the life, which is life indeed. Whoa, what a beautiful text. As for the rich in this world, he gives them like four things that they really need to focus on. And he's talking to the rich or those who have this incredible desire to become rich, independent. Now, there are two characters in the book of Acts.

There is the rich young ruler in Luke chapter 18. Mark calls him young, a rich young ruler. And then there's another lady in Acts 16. And her name is Lydia. In the first one, the rich young ruler, it says in Luke 18, and a ruler asked Jesus, good teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said to him, why do you call me good? No one is good, but God alone. You know the command. You know the drill. Do not commit adultery. Do not kill. Don't steal. Don't bear false witness. Honor your mother and father. You know all this. And he said, all these things I have observed from my youth. Clean slate, Jesus. And when Jesus heard it, he said to him, oh, oh, one more thing that you still lack. Sell all you have and distribute to the poor. And you'll have treasure in heaven. And come follow me. But when he heard this, this young man, what happened? When he heard it, he became sad, for he was rich. So you see in that story, Jesus is telling the guy how to become really rich, which is treasures in heaven.

Spoiler alert. Treasures in heaven is how you become really rich. and when Jesus suggested that he divest himself of earthly treasures and give it to the poor, he became sad. Now, on the other hand, you've got Lydia. Lydia in Acts 16, it goes like this. Paul says, we remain in the city some days on the Sabbath day and went outside the gate to the riverside where we suppose there was a place of prayer.

And we sat down and spoke to the woman who had come. come together, the women who had come together. One who heard us was a woman named Lydia from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods who was a worshipper of God. The Lord opened her heart to give heed to what was said by Paul. And when she was baptized with her household, she besought us saying, if you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay. And she prevailed upon them. So she was a very, very generous person. So you've got two rich people here. You've got the rich young ruler who became sad when he thought about divesting himself of his riches. And then you've got Lydia who had a conversion. And what did she do? She wanted to give and open up

her house. So the riches of the young ruler clouded his thinking and hindered his union with Jesus. but Lydia, a dealer in expensive purple cloth, she worshipped the Lord with an open heart and was baptized her and her whole household. So when your season of material wealth arrives, if it does or if it hasn't already, this 1st Timothy 6, 17, and 18 passage is telling you to do the following four things. Okay, four things it's telling you to do if you've got some, wealth in your life, right? Four things. I'm going to give you those four things right on the other side of this break. Before we go to that break, I want to remind you about the insight journal

that Father Mike and I put together a journal that captures the gold and the insights that you hear at talks and books and podcasts and so forth. And you don't want to lose them. So there's a place to put and you can also create an Insight Journal for your grandchildren, for your children. When they become 18 or 21, you can give them this great gift of all the things that you have been capturing for them. That's called the Insight Journal. I'll put that in the show notes and I'll be back right after this. You're listening to The Jeff Kaven Show.

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we see every week at Mass. It explains with clarity the symbolic realities and historical facts of each one. To order the sacred that surrounds us visit ascensionpress.com or Amazon. All right, so we're talking about how to become rich.

And if you thought you were going to come here with a four-step program on how to gain a lot of money, I have something better for you. I have something better. In 1 Timothy, chapter 6 and verse 17, just to review, as for the rich in this world, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on uncertain riches, but on God who richly furnishes us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good deeds, liberal and generous, thus laying up for themselves, a good foundation for the future so that they may take hold of the life, which is life indeed. Now, I'm going to tell you what these four things are,

but I've got to ask you, my friend, I mean, you and I are friends so we can talk about these things. Do you want to really become rich? I mean seriously, filthy. Oh, I should put, holy rich. Really? Okay, filthy rich. You really want to? Well, let me show you how here, okay? Number one, what was written to Timothy, number one is don't be arrogant. Well, I've never heard of that in a get rich scheme before don't be arrogant work hard become successful in life but don't think of yourself as better than others because of your material wealth you see when when you take on the attitude with your wealth and that wealth could be different than money I mean there could be different kinds of wealth experience and influence and um intellectual

property, whatever it might be. Don't become arrogant. Because that, that arrogance follows wealth many times. You know, you turn the corner and you walk 10 feet, look back, there it is. It's following you. In Deuteronomy 818, Moses reminds us, but remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth. That's right. God is the one that gives us the ability to produce wealth don't be arrogant it's you know when it comes to the christian in their money uh you have to change your relationship with money just like if you're addicted to alcohol you got to change your relationship with alcohol you got to change your your relationship with things and in uh in the context of today's show and what we're talking about you have to change your relationship with money you

aren't an owner you're a steward as a steward it means that every everything belongs to the Lord in your life and you're taking care of it in a responsible and prudent way. And so Moses reminds us, you know, don't be arrogant. Remember something. Remember, my friend, it's God who gives you the ability here. Number two, don't put your hope in your wealth. Wow, is this important. Do you know just recently there was a huge collapse in the cryptocurrency market. And I have been talking to a lot of people, a lot of millennials who are invested in Bitcoin and Ethereum and Solana, you know, just all kinds of different projects out there,

Cardano and Engine, all these different coins. And one of them was called Luna, Luna, Luna Terra Luna. And it was one of the real princesses of the cryptocurrency. discussion on YouTube and in about a 48 hour period this which was in the top five I think it was of all of the crypto projects completely collapsed I mean completely collapsed to below half a penny and it was up into a I don't know what was it like 70, 80 dollars a share or something like that and it just collapsed because of a problem that was not that evident. Well, anyway, this brought great agony to many people.

I mean, crying and just hopeless. And they put all their eggs in a basket, which you don't do if you know anything about investing. And it was really something. They put their hope in that wealth. And it went for some people, had $30,000, $40,000 worth of Luna. and I'm not kidding you. Look it up online. Within 48 hours, it went to half a penny. Oh, my gosh. Proverbs 23-5 says, cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, or they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.

Well, I got to tell you, Luna, L-U-N-A, sprouted wings last week. And a lot of people were hurt because, why? They weren't hurt that they just lost money. they were hurt because they put their hope in their wealth. And as you know, a good job or business can be here today and gone tomorrow. 401k account can be cut in half by a crypto project that just is gone. It's like Luna. So don't put your hope in chariots.

Don't put your hope in wealth. Put your hope in God. Number one, don't be arrogant. Number two, put your hope in God. And if you put your hope in God and you happen to have owned Luna, you know, some maybe $1,000, $2,000 worth, you're not going to be as devastated as you would be if your hope was in the money. The third thing that Paul tells Timothy in this wonderful text on finances in 1st Timothy 6, 17, and 19, the third thing he says is, be rich in good deeds now hold it right there before you turn this off before you turn it off remember i'm telling you from the word of god how to become rich i'm telling you how to become rich

in the kingdom of god which dwarfs finances and cryptocurrency i'm telling you something here that truly will satisfy you, and it's not just for here on earth, but it lays down treasures in heaven, or lays up treasures in heaven, I should say. So the reason you bought Luna and you were so devastated when it collapsed was because you were laying up treasures on Earth. Now, again, not bad to have a 401k, not bad to have an emergency fund. but if you're all about laying up treasures on earth that was painful so what paul is saying here is that we are to be rich in good deeds good deeds and walking in virtue is rich you either believe that

or you don't if you don't believe that then go back to luna and and figure out another one but if you're really serious about being rich, you're going to pay attention here to hear what Paul says. He says to the Ephesians in chapter two, for we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works. To do good works. And Paul said it to Timothy, you know, we're going to lay up treasures in heaven. So what are some of those good deeds? Well, if you take a look at all the vices, and then you look at the counter to those, you're going to see the solution to the vices, and if you walk in that solution, you're going to become richer, or richish. You're going to become richer.

So, for example, pride, you want to become rich in humility. Greed, you want to become rich in charity. Envy. Oh, it's a killer. I was just on the Matt Frad show this last week. pints and Aquinas. And we talked about this. You want to look that up.

We talked about envy. Oh, it's so deadly among Christian ministries and families. Envy. What do we do? Envy. Kindness. Anger. Compassion.

Lust. Purity. Gluttony, temperance, sloth. Have you ever seen a sloth? That is one of the weirdest animals. Emily and I were watching National Geographic a while ago. I'm both laughing thinking, what,

is God just telling you a joke here? Anyway, sloth, diligence. Diligence. So, be rich in good deeds. And then, number four, be generous and willing to share. Be generous and willing to share. Okay.

It is beautiful to see a generous person in action. It's kind of like a physician. Do you know when I had my neck operated on back in 2001? Dr. Smith operated on my neck. And I'll tell you what, the three or four weeks after that, I was just, I was in love with this guy. I just thanked him so much for what he did to help me and share his skill sets. What a blessing.

And I said to him one time, I remember, I said, thank you for working with God. It meant a lot to me. He was generous and willing to share his. is skills. And if you have come into money, then you're going to have an opportunity to be generous as well. The point is this. And Paul says this to the Corinthians. He says, the point is this. He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. And he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one of us must do as he has made up in his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion.

Forget this. For God loves a cheerful giver. Now, do you believe that? Seriously, do you believe that that God loves a cheerful giver? Well, then give yourself a chance to be loved. Never looked at it that way, did we? Give yourself a chance to be loved. Now, God loves you all the time.

I understand that. But Paul's making a point here. God, he, you know, of all the things he loves, I got to tell you, Corinthians, he loves a cheerful giver. So enjoy the love of God today. Give, be generous. Now, what we know for sure is that riches are not some things. Riches are not necessarily money or stuff or recognition. And we know that the real riches in life are those intangible things that are going to live on throughout eternity. They're going to go through the purgation that we may go through, you know, that burning of the chaff. Relationship with Jesus, eternal life, that's rich.

Sacraments in worship, that's rich. Wisdom from Scripture, oh my, that is rich. Oh, that's so rich. Amina, I get so excited about these things. Walking in the wisdom of God is like going to McDonald's where they have those little balls in a great big pool and you can run around and flop around in them. Well, the wisdom of God is like playing in one of those,

you know, but they're all golden balls, golden chips and things, whatever in there. And you're just marinating in the wisdom of God. That's rich. Relationships. Someone's going to recognize you. What were you trying to say there, Jeff? Relationships, friendships with a few people.

That's being rich. Peace of mind. Come on now, that's rich. Recognize intrinsic value in yourself and everyone else. That's rich. Experiences over stuff. That's rich. Health.

Oh, my. That's rich. Capacity to love. You're talking about a gold mine there. Access to education. Access to a Bible. Catechism. Wow.

Okay, my friend, that's what I wanted to share with you this week is I knew that you wanted to be rich. I knew that. It's just a matter we need to sort out what kind of richness are we talking about. And making money for most people, you know, a lot of people don't have a big problem making money. Others do, I guess. But the kind of rich that we're talking about here is the kingdom of God and anybody. And I mean anybody can experience that. So as I close out here, I want to remind you that if you want the show notes, text my name, Jeff Kavis. to the number 33777 will get you those. If you want to get an inside journal,

we'll put a link in the notes for that at Ascension Press. And as always, get into the Bible and study. If you haven't gone through the great adventure Bible study, I teach a eight week and a 24 week, walk through the whole Bible, then do it. Become acquainted with the author of the book, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, God the Father. and it will change your life.

It really, really will. All right, I want to pray for you now and pray that God will help you in your heart to aim at the treasures in heaven. Because, and you can mark my words on this, and if we get to heaven together and you happen to see me standing over there to the right, looking at the throne, come on over.

And you're going to say, you were right. And what do I mean by that? Treasures in heaven will cause every treasure on earth to fade. And all the effort you put here on earth into earthly riches will fade compared to the crown that you may receive that you can throw down at the feet of Jesus. Decisions. Decisions. Decisions. I love it. Okay, so let's pray. In the name of the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Lord Jesus, I thank you for my friend. I thank you, Lord, for my new friends who have come to join and to listen and to absorb your word and put it into practice.

Jesus, help us. If my friends or myself are entangled by the love for money or the love for riches, Lord, help us to be free from that. Refocus our eyes, Lord, help us to do that, to look to you and to the real treasure in heaven and give us, Lord, the fortitude, the tenacity to make the decisions that are in line with your word and what true treasure is. Help us to be generous, Lord, with all that you have given us and not to be arrogant and not to put our hope in things. Lord, may we be free. And if need be, we may need to go to confession and just really know and get counsel on this. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord, for all the riches you have given us. And we thank you in your name, we pray. Amen. Father, son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

I love you, my friend. Remember to tell others about the show, and we look forward to seeing you next week. Bye-bye.