Many today preach a false gospel about prosperity. They teach that if you have enough faith you can command God and use His power to give you a bigger house or more money. For those who study the Bible for themselves, this can quickly be recognized as foolishness.
There are plentiful examples of wealthy people who served God such as Abraham, Solomon, and David. As a matter of fact, wealth used to honor God can be a great resource. Great wealth was used to build God’s temple. Wealth can be used to help people around the world and of course to share God’s word.
However, there are even more abundant examples of poor people who served God with great faith, such as the prophets and disciples… and even Jesus Christ Himself.
58 But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.”
Wealth is not an indicator of someone’s relationship with God.
The love of money on the other hand, when it replaces the love of God, leads many to ruin.
6 Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. 7 After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. 8 So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.
9 But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
Matthew 6:24 reminds us of the following:
24 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
It is easy to give lip service and say that we serve God and not money. If you truly reflect on how you live and where you spend your time… would it tell a different answer?
Want to look at it more objectively? Take on a challenge for a week. Without doing anything out of the ordinary in your schedule, keep track of where you spend your time. You can, of course, do this for more than a week. At the end sum up by category where you spent your time putting the most time at the top and the least at the bottom. You will likely see things like “sleeping” near the top and that is ok. You will have “eating” and “TV or internet or online entertainment” and such. You may have a hobby. Many of us will have jobs to include. Mom’s who take care of their children full time should absolutely give them self credit for the category “taking care of children” for this is one of their most important responsibilities before God. Where in the list does “prayer” show up? Where in the list does “Bible study” show up? How about “rest”, as God commanded us to observe the Sabbath? What about “helping others”?
Do not exclude work from the analysis as a “must do”. How much we do and what job we do are choices and they do compete with the time we can devote toward God. If your work is pleasing to God and honoring His kingdom (e.g. ministry outreach formally or informally in your workplace or mom’s taking care of their kids, etc.) do not feel bad that you spend a significant portion of your time there. If, however, work is only a means to gain an income it may have a different consideration. Ultimately you are the “judge” and you should prayerfully consider what changes you should make rather than get defensive and just rationalize why you are already doing everything right. Consider involving an accountability partner whom you trust and who shares a true faith in Jesus Christ.
You can of course complete a similar activity tracking over the course of a month where you spend your money.
For most of us, the results will make us think and more objectively challenge ourselves on how much time we really devote to what we serve. Do we serve money, our own selfish desires, or God?
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Remember that all you have belongs to God. Manage your money God’s way. Visit GrowGodsMoney.org .