Money
I think about money a lot. Mainly, I want to make sure that I am doing the right things with my money. Money is one of the top things talked about in the Bible. What we do with our money shows where our heart is. We have to be on guard against getting and keeping money for our own selfish desires. This is an extremely hard thing to do.
One of the main things I have been wrestling with lately is retirement savings. I know it is important to save for retirement. But on the other hand, I dont want to be rich. My brother and I had a good discussion about this a while back. On one side, wealth could be good as long as your heart is good. When you have money, your character really shows. So if you accumulate wealth, and you use it all to benefit other people who are in need then this could be a very good thing. However, if you are accumulating wealth so that you can have a bigger house, a nicer car, security, etc., then this can be a very bad thing. Especially while so many people in the world have nothing but the clothes on their back and have a hard time getting food and shelter. The hard thing for me is putting my trust in God and not putting my security in money as I have talked about in earlier posts.
Here are some scriptures I have been reflecting on lately.
1 Timothy 6: 17-19 - 17Command 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 their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19In 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.
Ecclesiastes 5:10 - Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless.
Hebrews 13:5 - Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
James 2:15-16 - 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?
1 Timothy 6:6-10 - 6But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9People 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. 10For 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.
Acts 2: 44-45 - 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.
Matthew 6:24 - 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.
Luke 18: 18-23 - 18A certain ruler asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
19"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone. 20You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother."
21"All these I have kept since I was a boy," he said.
22When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
23When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth. 24Jesus looked at him and said, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! 25Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
Luke 12: 15-21 - 15Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."
16And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'
18"Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '
20"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?'
21"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."
Proverbs 18: 10-11 - 10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower;the righteous run to it and are safe. 11 The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it an unscalable wall.
What are your thoughts on saving for retirement, wealth, money struggles,etc.?
P.S. - I also think the other extreme of having lots of debt is also a bad thing but I will tackle that in another post (or let my brother, Dustin, do a guest post since he has thought about that and studied that more than I have)
One of the main things I have been wrestling with lately is retirement savings. I know it is important to save for retirement. But on the other hand, I dont want to be rich. My brother and I had a good discussion about this a while back. On one side, wealth could be good as long as your heart is good. When you have money, your character really shows. So if you accumulate wealth, and you use it all to benefit other people who are in need then this could be a very good thing. However, if you are accumulating wealth so that you can have a bigger house, a nicer car, security, etc., then this can be a very bad thing. Especially while so many people in the world have nothing but the clothes on their back and have a hard time getting food and shelter. The hard thing for me is putting my trust in God and not putting my security in money as I have talked about in earlier posts.
Here are some scriptures I have been reflecting on lately.
1 Timothy 6: 17-19 - 17Command 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 their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19In 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.
Ecclesiastes 5:10 - Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless.
Hebrews 13:5 - Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
James 2:15-16 - 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?
1 Timothy 6:6-10 - 6But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9People 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. 10For 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.
Acts 2: 44-45 - 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.
Matthew 6:24 - 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.
Luke 18: 18-23 - 18A certain ruler asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
19"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone. 20You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother."
21"All these I have kept since I was a boy," he said.
22When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
23When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth. 24Jesus looked at him and said, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! 25Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
Luke 12: 15-21 - 15Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."
16And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'
18"Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '
20"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?'
21"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."
Proverbs 18: 10-11 - 10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower;the righteous run to it and are safe. 11 The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it an unscalable wall.
What are your thoughts on saving for retirement, wealth, money struggles,etc.?
P.S. - I also think the other extreme of having lots of debt is also a bad thing but I will tackle that in another post (or let my brother, Dustin, do a guest post since he has thought about that and studied that more than I have)
posted by D Love at 8:43 AM
1 Comments:
I justed wanted to touch on something I said in this blog that I was thinking about. I referred to the money we have as "my money"....and "our money". This may be a big problem that I have. I should try to develop the mindset that is not really my money but instead I am just a steward of the money. Everything I have is God's and God has entrusted it into my care to use for his purposes.
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