Everyone has a money issue. Our issues may be different, but indeed we all have an issue with money. To say we don’t is to say that our money management is perfect, and we know that nothing in this world is perfect except Jesus.
Money issues are countless: Not enough, no money saved, money not managed well, make a lot but have nothing, spend more than you make, not giving any money away, or maybe you’re working extremely hard for a little of nothing.
Before I proceed, let me say this: Money comes and money goes. This is true for us all, no matter our circumstance.
I’m learning a few things about money and here are 2 things that I want to quickly share:
1. We may have money issues but the issues are really rooted in our hearts. Our money issues stem from our heart issues.
2. We shouldn’t hold money so tightly. Money shouldn’t be as dear to us as it is. We so often think that money guarantees happiness, but this is just not the case.
Money simply magnifies.
However you are living today will only be magnified with more money. If you can’t manage $1,000 then you won’t be able to manage $1,000,000. It’s not the money, it’s us.
Money deceives and it provides a temporary happiness that just doesn’t last. For instance, yes I’m happy when I get a new pair of shoes but that happiness doesn’t last. It’s like a high that only lasts until one of life’s issues hit me in the face and then I’m faced with unhappiness once again.
What then? Buying more shoes certainly isn’t the answer.
We must learn to be content. No matter what we have or what we don’t have, we must learn to be content. To be happy because we have things is superficial. We must grow past that. We must be content, peaceful, and joyful whether we’re abound or abased.
“Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.”
– Philippians 4:11-12
Whatever situation you are in is no surprise to God, nor does He delight in our suffering. God will never put more on us than we can bear, nor will He set us up for failure. God will never set us up for failure.
If we see it He knows that we can get through it. The question then lies with us:
What are we going to learn from our money issues?
Are we going to get to the heart of the matter, or just make it through this money crisis until the next one, repeating this cycle our entire lives? That would be a tragedy. We may always face some type of money issue, but we should be maturing and the issues should not be the exact same issues.
We must mature in how we view & manage money.
Lastly, we have to stop holding our money so tight. Our safety and security is in God and God alone. We fool ourselves to think that our security comes from our savings account. We only have the savings account by the grace of God. Let’s work on trusting God more than we trust our money.
It’s not easy but imagine how our faith will grow when we see God do what our money can’t.
“But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. ”
– II Corinthians 9:6
Give and it will be given to you. God is pleased with our sincere, pure giving. As we give, God will lavish us in grace so that we will always have all that we need (II Corinthians 9:8). Trusting God instead of our money will allow us to be blessed to see His power at work.
The power is in God, not in money.
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