Does God Care About Money?
I don't know how to answer that question because I cannot fully understand the heart of God. But, looking carefully at the evidence in Scripture, I notice that Jesus taught about money often in His parables and sermons. Paul had a lot to say about money too. Proverbs is full of wisdom for handling money.
God may not care a lot about money. After all, everything belongs to Him! He doesn't need money or anything money can buy. But, He certainly cares about how people He handle their money. The Lord cares about how men, woman and children feel about money.
"No servant can be devoted to two masters. Either he will hate the one and be devoted to the other; or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money, (Luke 16:13 NIV (c)1979).
God cares who we are serving. Are we devoting our energy, time, and ambition to making lots of money or having an expensive lifestyle? Or, are we seeking after God and His Kingdom with every bit of strength we possess.
Money is a distraction for many Christians, keeping them from fulfilling their God-given destiny. Instead of walking in God's call on her life, the carnal Christian is distracted by cares of the world. Many times worries make us seek after money instead of Jesus.
Money Reveals our Heart
I don't know how to answer that question because I cannot fully understand the heart of God. But, looking carefully at the evidence in Scripture, I notice that Jesus taught about money often in His parables and sermons. Paul had a lot to say about money too. Proverbs is full of wisdom for handling money.
God may not care a lot about money. After all, everything belongs to Him! He doesn't need money or anything money can buy. But, He certainly cares about how people He handle their money. The Lord cares about how men, woman and children feel about money.
"No servant can be devoted to two masters. Either he will hate the one and be devoted to the other; or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money, (Luke 16:13 NIV (c)1979).
God cares who we are serving. Are we devoting our energy, time, and ambition to making lots of money or having an expensive lifestyle? Or, are we seeking after God and His Kingdom with every bit of strength we possess.
Money is a distraction for many Christians, keeping them from fulfilling their God-given destiny. Instead of walking in God's call on her life, the carnal Christian is distracted by cares of the world. Many times worries make us seek after money instead of Jesus.
Money Reveals our Heart
Money has a way of testing our heart, revealing what our values are. What we love will come to light in our behavior and actions. When we thing something is important, we will find a way to spend our money on. If out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaketh, then out of the overflow of the heart, the wallet spendeth.
How we spend our money, how we react emotionally when money is tight, and how we spend a windfall of money reveals our heart towards money. Money is either a necessary tool to provide for our families and extend the Kingdom of God or money is the object of our affection and desire. The love of money is an epidemic in our culture, revealing the heart of an adulteress. Remember, we cannot serve two masters. We cannot love God AND money.
The love of money is a dangerous thing. Not only does the love of money distract us from loving the Lord, it also produces all kinds of other problems.
"For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs," (I Timothy 6:10).
One sin leads to other sins. I have friends who started out on fire for God, got married, and had a godly desire to provide for their families. Soon, though, the desire to provide turned into the desire to accumulate wealth. What a difficult balance to walk because we are commanded to prepare for the future by saving money, investing for the future.
Can we save, invest, and provide without loving money? Of course! Or Jesus wouldn't ask us to do both! Two Christians can both be living on a budget, tithing, working hard, investing for the future, and giving to the poor with one Christian loving money and the other Christian not loving money.
Love of money is an issue of the heart. Only you can know if you love money or see managing money as a responsibility from God. Examine your heart and ask the Holy Spirit to show you what is going on inside.
Money is at God's Disposal
How we spend our money, how we react emotionally when money is tight, and how we spend a windfall of money reveals our heart towards money. Money is either a necessary tool to provide for our families and extend the Kingdom of God or money is the object of our affection and desire. The love of money is an epidemic in our culture, revealing the heart of an adulteress. Remember, we cannot serve two masters. We cannot love God AND money.
The love of money is a dangerous thing. Not only does the love of money distract us from loving the Lord, it also produces all kinds of other problems.
"For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs," (I Timothy 6:10).
One sin leads to other sins. I have friends who started out on fire for God, got married, and had a godly desire to provide for their families. Soon, though, the desire to provide turned into the desire to accumulate wealth. What a difficult balance to walk because we are commanded to prepare for the future by saving money, investing for the future.
Can we save, invest, and provide without loving money? Of course! Or Jesus wouldn't ask us to do both! Two Christians can both be living on a budget, tithing, working hard, investing for the future, and giving to the poor with one Christian loving money and the other Christian not loving money.
Love of money is an issue of the heart. Only you can know if you love money or see managing money as a responsibility from God. Examine your heart and ask the Holy Spirit to show you what is going on inside.
Money is at God's Disposal
If you set your affection on God instead of money, you will never have real money problems because God will provide for every need. Needs may not be met the way we would like, but we will not go hungry. Miracles will happen in our lives as used by God to be a channel of blessing for others.
God owns everything, all the wealth of the entire world belongs to Him. All riches are at God's disposal to do with whatever He wishes. He also has a heart for the poor. He wants the earth's wealth to be used to bring honor to Jesus, extend the Kingdom to the ends of the earth, and meet the needs of the poor.
"He who is kind to the poor, lends to the Lord, and He will reward him for what he has done," (Proverbs 19:14).
When we give money and resources to the poor, it is like lending to the Lord. He always pays off his debts. He will repay what you have given beyond what you can imagine. You can't out-give God!
God will get it to you if God can get it through you. It is God who determines whether your pockets are full or empty. He is more concerned about your character than your comfort. He will withhold finances from you if it is necessary for your character.
If we love money, it is hard to be generous. If we love the Lord, we try to manage our money in a way that pleases God, making it easy to be generous.
Money Can Be Used to Extend the Kingdom of God
God owns everything, all the wealth of the entire world belongs to Him. All riches are at God's disposal to do with whatever He wishes. He also has a heart for the poor. He wants the earth's wealth to be used to bring honor to Jesus, extend the Kingdom to the ends of the earth, and meet the needs of the poor.
"He who is kind to the poor, lends to the Lord, and He will reward him for what he has done," (Proverbs 19:14).
When we give money and resources to the poor, it is like lending to the Lord. He always pays off his debts. He will repay what you have given beyond what you can imagine. You can't out-give God!
God will get it to you if God can get it through you. It is God who determines whether your pockets are full or empty. He is more concerned about your character than your comfort. He will withhold finances from you if it is necessary for your character.
If we love money, it is hard to be generous. If we love the Lord, we try to manage our money in a way that pleases God, making it easy to be generous.
Money Can Be Used to Extend the Kingdom of God
The most important thing we can do with our money is to use it for the glory of God. After all, money is simply a tool we use to do good. We glorify God by seeking His Kingdom first with all of our strength, wisdom, and wealth. We use our money to take care of our family, care for the needs of our local church, take the Gospel to the ends of the earth, and care for the poor.
When this financial truth gets down into our spirit, we will enjoy financial freedom and joy! When we obey the Lord, joy overflows!
If you are want to learn more about finances or teach economics and financial management to your high school teen, let me recommend Economics, Finances, & Business, a one-credit high school course using living books and hands-on projects. You can purchase Economics, Finances, & Business at Amazon. The E-book is available at PayHIp or Currclick.
For His Glory!
Merey (Meredith Ludwig Curtis
When this financial truth gets down into our spirit, we will enjoy financial freedom and joy! When we obey the Lord, joy overflows!
If you are want to learn more about finances or teach economics and financial management to your high school teen, let me recommend Economics, Finances, & Business, a one-credit high school course using living books and hands-on projects. You can purchase Economics, Finances, & Business at Amazon. The E-book is available at PayHIp or Currclick.
For His Glory!
Merey (Meredith Ludwig Curtis
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