There are so many voices out there, especially when it comes to money. So many philosophies and attitudes and books and even names for it. Money, cash, benjamins, moolah, denaro, beans, bucks, greenbacks. Even within the Church there seem to be so many different theologies about money. One view that seems to capture the Bible’s broader, balanced view of money was summarized by the English preacher, John Wesley almost 250 years ago.
“Earn all you can, save all you can, give all you can”.
By this phrase, Wesley was advocating the biblical principles of hard work, staying out of debt and generosity: three great attitudes for us to begin to foster and to weave into our characters. But even simple maxims need qualifying: “we ought not to gain money at the expense of life, nor at the expense of our health,” Wesley mentions. “Do not throw it away in idle expenses, which is the same as throwing it into the sea”.
I’m sure those of us who have heard about the recent reports of wasted money in large corporations or in our government, have shaken our heads with some level of disapproval. Perhaps even called for heads to roll. But what about us?
Regardless of where we are financially, maybe looking at our own spending is a place where we can all start. Allow the Sprit of God permission to speak into our spending, give us a check (pun intended) in our spirits as to where we might be prone to wasting our God-given “moola”, whether earned or borrowed.
Has anyone had any experiences like this? Perhaps nudges from God about something we were about to buy, that in hindsight we wished we had listened to? Or perhaps successes in where we have not spent money on “idle expenses” to steal the phrase from Wesley. Or does this even apply to us today?
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Hey, subtle must be your mdlide name. Great post!
Money IS the REAL god of this world. No matter what ANYBODY or ANYTHING says. Because without it, YOU simply would die. You can’t eat without it, you can’t get shelter without it, you can’t drink without it, come to think about it; you can’t do ANYTHING without it (literally!). As for god, he’s just a mythical being invented by political leaders in order to subjugate and control the masses. God is just the virtual side of the human mind and is nothing more that a temporary answer but not a solution to questions that science and technology have yet to answer. Hence the god of the gaps; the more scince and technology explains life, the less god will be needed.
I think these are all great points.
What about actually HOW we spend our money? Not that the practice of giving some away isn’t of paramount importance.
But what about the money that we don’t actually give to a charity, a church, a person, a cause? Is it’s use not also ‘worship’? Is that not also of importance? What do people feel about that? How has the Lord guided you in that regard?
I like money. But I love God.
I’m reminded of Matthew 6:19-21, 24 which says, “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. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also…No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”
It would be pointless for a person to invest in a ship they knew was going to sink, or a car they knew was not going to run. That’s kind of like what Jesus was saying here in this passage.
Verse 21 talks about our money and our heart. It makes sense that the things we are willing to invest our money in (as money in this world is what essentially gives us life, i.e. food, water, housing, etc.) would be the focus of our heart. If we willingly give our first fruits back to God (after all, the money He’s blessed us with is His anways) then our heart belongs to God. And as verse 24 sums up, “You cannot serve both God and Money.”
There are many other verses that talk about the dangers of money such as Ecclesiastes 5:10, 1 Timothy 6:10, and Hebrews 13:5. 1 Timothy 6:10 says, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” God wants to protect us from that. He does not warn us about the dangers of money and tell us to give Him our money because He is “mean” or doesn’t want us to enjoy what He’s given us. He doesn’t need our money. But He wants our hearts and He knows that money can easily be made into an idol that our hearts seek after rather than Him.
And He promises us so much! Now, that shouldn’t be the only incentive to give, but God has intentionally lets us know that He won’t leave us empty handed. Malachi 3:10 says, “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 of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.” That is a great promise.
In closing, returning to Matthew 6, after Jesus preaches on money, urging His disciples to invest in the Kingdom rather than earthly things that pass away, Jesus tells his listeners: “do not worry.” In verses 25-34, Jesus goes through the “necessities” of life (the things we “need” money to obtain) and tells His disciples, Do not worry about these things! And then He goes on to promise that God will provide us with what we need if we seek Him first (essentially reaffirming everything He had spoken on in chapters 5 and 6).
This is a radical call to give our hearts completely to God by giving Him our money. A common humanistic fear in giving away our money is that we then won’t have money to buy the things we need. But we have been promised that we will be provided for by our loving Father. So give freely! Give lovingly! And may we give God our hearts for where our treasure is, there our hearts will be also.
Tithing has been something that has been tough for me, having not grown up doing so, or really seeing anyone else set that example for me.
Once my relationship with God became stronger, this thought came across my mine: “All I’m doing is giving back to God what he gave me. He bless me will these funds and the least I can do is offer a portion it back to him and it will be another form of worship.”
Once I started the pattern of tithing, I noticed that the choke hold that money once had on me was nearly gone. I’m am more relaxed rather than stressed about money and the urge to spend has gone way down. I know that because of this new experience of tithing (for 2 years now), God has blessed be so much more than I could have ever have bought with that money. Now I can’t help but be full of joy and be so thankful and grateful for everything He has and will bless me with as I tithe.
Personally, it also helps to remind me that acquiring money isn’t the root of all happiness… This idea likes to sneak up on me, especially being business student.
John 3:36 “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life…”
It’s not our money, it belongs to God.
If we use it for the Lord, He is no man’s debtor and will reward now and in eternity.
He does give some of it us to enjoy for ourselves, but if we don’t use it for Him too, then he’ll give the blessing to someone else who will.