It happens. The unexpected medical expense. The sudden car breakdown. That appliance finally wearing out.

These kinds of unpleasant surprises happen to all of us. And, if we're honest, we often look back on how we responded and think, "If only…" Why do we tend to make bad decisions in the midst of financial crisis?

These sorts of crises involve more than just our bank accounts and credit cards. They involve our emotions. And so we tend to respond emotionally rather than rationally when crisis hits. Unfortunately, those decisions often lead us into further financial trouble.

Podcast host James Lenhoff explains that our brains are wired in such a way that our emotional reactions occur much more quickly than our rational thought. This leads us to respond to crisis in ways that address the emotion but may worsen our financial situation.

Join us for a discussion on how to rein in those emotions long enough to enable our rational thought processes to take over. If you're a church leader who interacts with people in crisis, you'll learn some important principles for helping without hurting!

To learn more check out www.GoodSenseMovement.org

Email James at: JamesLenhoff@GoodSenseMovement.org

Last week in episode 31, we admitted that financially, we often do things we don’t really want to, and neglect things we want to do. But that isn't the end of the problem. We keep acting this way, bringing the patterns of our past into the future. How can we break free?

First, we need to recognize that the past doesn't determine the future. As Michael Hyatt says, there's a big difference between "I didn't" and "I can't". One is a statement of fact; the other is a limiting belief. Why do we hold these limiting beliefs?

One reason is that we don't analyze the actual decisions we made. We simply wallow in the guilt over them, without understanding what led to those decisions. As a result, we don't equip ourselves to make different decisions in the future.

Another reason is that often these decisions are made without intentionality. They're made based on emotion, and those emotions are based on thoughts that we can't even remember now. So we fall into the same traps over and over again.

How do we break that cycle? The key is stewardship fundamentals, the "blocking and tackling" of managing well the resources that God has put in our possession. It's tracking our earning and spending, understanding our net worth over time, and planning where the money will go.

Podcast host James Lenhoff helps us think through why we keep making the same mistakes (or overcorrect and make the opposite ones!) and how to get our stewardship back on track.

To learn more check out www.GoodSenseMovement.org

Email James at: JamesLenhoff@GoodSenseMovement.org

Paul lamented that he didn't do the things he wanted to, and did the things he didn't want to (Romans 7). For many of us, that sums up our financial lives. We want to make good decisions, to use our resources in ways that honor God and achieve important purposes. But we don't. Why?

The truth is that most of our decisions don't start with numbers in a spending plan. Those numbers are just the outworking of our realities and our priorities (including both priorities we recognize and those we don't). Most of our decisions are made emotionally, and those emotions are based on our thought life.

We think, "I should have this, because my neighbor has it, or because my family expects it." This thought creates a feeling of inadequacy, which we medicate by buying whatever it is that we think we deserve.

Much of the time, our thoughts and the emotions associated with them are based on outside factors - the efforts of marketers, our experiences growing up, our own money motivations.

If we can recognize the thoughts and resulting emotions that drive much of our financial decision-making, we can begin to take control of them. We can measure them up against Scripture and ask, "Does this reflect what God thinks about me or about His resources?" As we try to think like God does, we naturally become more faithful stewards of what He provides.

Join us as podcast host James Lenhoff helps us think through these key components of our financial decision-making and shows us the importance of bringing these thoughts into captivity for Christ.

To learn more check out www.GoodSenseMovement.org

Email James at: JamesLenhoff@GoodSenseMovement.org