For the love of money
is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have
wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains. 1 Timothy 6:10
Life is expensive. The growing economic inequality in our
culture exasperates that every day. Many people are feeling significant economic
pressure, including Christians. Christians have to pay the rent, the electric
bill and buy groceries just like everyone else. But how Christians respond to
economic pressure should be different than non-believers.
The focus of the Christian life should on serving the Lord,
not in accumulating material possessions. That does not mean that believers
must live in poverty, but that the pursuit of material possessions should not
drive our lives. Our worth has already been declared by the Father when He gave
His Son to die for us. No amount of earthly wealth can increase that declared
worth, nor can any level of poverty lessen it.
Christians should remember this as they choose their careers
and as they look for employment. Will our chosen career put more money in our
bank account but leave us little time for serving the Lord? Christians should think
carefully before they get into debt. Especially if that debt then requires them
to work extra hours in order to service the debt and they no longer have time
to serve the Lord.
When Christians don't get the balance of eternal perspective
and earthly possessions right, they tend to drift from their faith. They fail
to care about their families like they should. They fail to care about the poor
like they should. They find themselves working when they should be worshipping
with other believers. They find themselves cheating in their taxes or stealing
from their employer. All of these things will lead to significant problems at
some point. These things make our faith less powerful. They make us
self-centered. They cause us to have relationship problems. They can cause us
to have legal issues if our love of money outweighs our love of truth and
integrity.
Making the love of money the focus of our lives will make us
wander from the faith and fill our lives with many pains. We must guard our
hearts and keep ourselves focused on Jesus. Only by keeping this focus will we
find real contentment in our lives, contentment in our faith, and contentment
with our possessions.
Lord, help us keep our focus on You and not on our possessions.
Amen.
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Dr. Terry W. Dorsett has been a pastor, church planter,
denominational leader and author in New England for more than 20
years. He is a happy husband, a proud father and adoring grandfather.
He is a cancer survivor and believes that God
works powerfully through times of suffering. He writes extensively
and you can find all of his books at:
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