Word of the Week - Money
“People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many greifs”. 1 Timothy 6:9-10
Last Sunday my Pastor shared a powerful message on “Money”, which is very relevant and related to the “Word of the Week” on stewardship I shared last week, see below. It was so powerful and relevant I feel led to share an overview of his message this week. If you have time, I encourage you to watch this message. You can access by clicking this link Beyond the numbers - Money .
Money (Mammon) – for many of us, this topic can be sensitive. We may ask, what does money have to do with our faith? Well according to Jesus it has a lot to do with our relationship with God. Jesus talked about money twice as much as heaven. 16 of the 38 parables of Jesus had to do with money and possessions. There are over 2000 verses about money and possessions in the bible. This is simply stated in Matthew 6:21 “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” I have heard it said that if you really want to know what someone values then just review their money ledger (check book or credit card records) and you will know. Whether we like to admit it or not, this is truth. The good news is that God’s word is full of instruction on how we should see and handle money and possessions, and even better news is “God’s Way works”!!! Rev. Billy Graham said “If a person gets their attitudes toward money straight, it will help straighten out almost every other area of their life”. I believe this and have personally experienced this in my own life. I believe it starts with getting our heart right toward God and realizing that He is Lord and our provider. He is the source of everything!!
God’s way vs. our way – Many of God’s principles about money are counter intuitive because they are counter to conventional wisdom. We are trained to believe that the goal is to achieve the “American Dream” by managing our lives and money a certain way that emphasize the following: 1) Work hard and earn as much as you can, 2) Make more so you have more to spend, 3) Create margin so you can save, 4) Invest your money so you can build security for the future, and 5) Give if you have some left. This sounds good and right but it is not aligned with God’s way; therefore, it will not result in the outcome our hearts need and yearn for.
The real question is do we desire to grow rich in the things of this world at the expense of our soul or grow rich in the things of God and live the abundant life that Jesus promises. The “life that is truly life” is “Godliness with contentment”, which is great gain” 1 Timothy 6:6 The truth is that if desire to live the abundant life that Jesus promised, we must get right in our relationship with money and possessions. We cannot have both as clearly communicated in the gospel of Luke 16:13 “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
God’s way as it relates to money – “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine” Proverbs 3:9-10 When it comes to money and possessions, we must first establish that God is the owner and our provider, see last weeks “Word of the Week” on stewardship. The proper order is simple, God first in all things especially money and possessions. If put God first in our relationship with money, then He will bless us and we will live in abundance and be in a position to live generously. Secondly, we must understand our relationship with money and our heart motivations, so we can pursue God’s way as it relates to how we handle our money and possessions. “Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” This is what the Lord Almighty says; “Give careful thoughts to your ways.” Haggai 1:5-7
Beyond the Numbers – God’s way:
Calling vs compensation – Our lives count for way more than our ability to earn money. God created us for a unique God purpose and when we connect with our purpose, we find fulfilment and can live to our full potential. If we are living in our purpose, we will add lots of value and be blessed financially. “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace”. Acts 20:24
Contentment vs Consumerism – Contentment is not the fulfillment of what I desire but the realization of what I already have. The anecdote to discontentment is living with a grateful heart and having a God perspective. The truth is that Jesus is enough. If we can start from there then we will have contentment and God will bless us abundantly. “Don’t always be wishing for what you don’t have. For real life and real living are not related to how rich we are.” Luke 12:15
God Dependent vs. Independent – It is good to save and have margin, but we can never buy the lie that we will find security in money or possessions. How much money would be needed to secure your future against all imaginable circumstances? It is good to plan, but it is foolish to believe that building more net worth “bigger barns” will give us peace and security. “Then he said, This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store up surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “you have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” But God said to him, You fool!!! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself? This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:18-21
Stewardship vs. Ownership – Simply put, God owns me and all that He has given me. The real question is how will He use me and my possessions to accomplish His objectives. This is our God purpose!! See below “Word of the Week” from last week. “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” Matthew 6:19-20
Generosity vs. Misery – The root word of misery is miser. Misers hold things with tight hands, but godly generous people hold things with loose and open hands. Jesus said himself “It is more blessed to give than to receive” Acts 20:35 How tight are we holding onto our stuff? This is always a great question to ask ourselves, especially as we accumulate more stuff. “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, “says the Lord Almighty”, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates and heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe. “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land, “ says the Lord Almighty”. Malachi 3:10-12
God’s way works! I can personally testify to this truth. I tried the worlds way and was essentially bankrupt by the age of 30, both financially and spiritually. By the grace of God, I surrendered my life to the Lordship of Jesus in my early 30s and changed the way I relate with money and possessions. Since then I have lived in abundance both spiritually and financially. I am learning and growing each day, but God has opened His floodgates, and our barns are overflowing more and more. This creates an amazing opportunity and blessing to be generous with our money, time, talents, and resources to play our part in God’s awesome plan for a time such as this.
When we get right with God, money and possessions we actually “Enjoy” our blessings. God is so awesome that He desires for us to enjoy the blessings He has given us as we live out our God purpose. It really is a twofer, this is abundant living. I love how Paul communicates this to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:17-19 “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put heir hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life”.
I pray we would all grow in this area and experience the “Life that is truly life” as it relates to our money and possessions.
Blessings,
Duane