Early in my life, money represented success and achievement. I believed it was my responsibility to make as much as possible with what God had given me. The problem with this view is I used all of that money for myself. As time went on, the pendulum swung the other way, and I became reckless with money. I started spending and using God as my “piggy bank.” I would pray for God to provide all I needed while I sat back and waited for the work and money to arrive.
When I had a family, I started to work and pray for money so I could provide for them. It seemed honorable, but I found I was deceiving myself. This thinking was flawed because I was spending more time seeking, working, and thinking about money than I was with my family. I was confusing ambition for provision.
Unfortunately, all these perspectives are flawed.
One of the greatest minds on how to manage our money in a godly way came from Larry Burkett. He always said money was a thermometer. It is a gauge of our trust in God. He said, “Money problems are not material problems. They’re spiritual problems being reflected in a material way.”
Like many things God gives us, we can either do good or bad with it, and God never intends for those gifts to take his place. There is not a “right” amount we should all be seeking. However, we are to do our very best in whatever we do as if “doing it for the Lord.” We need to pray God reveals what the right balance is for us and continually reflect on where we find our security.
FX3 Challenge:
Read:
Read and meditate on Colossians 3:23-25. What do these verses say to you?
Pray:
What is your view of money and work?
Meditate / Make It Real:
How will you place your faith in God not only in times of trouble but in prosperity?
