How Should We View Money?
When it comes to money, make sure it is serving you and not the other way around. Money is a TOOL. Use it wisely, and remember that it makes no promises. It's hard to earn, easy to spend, and makes no guarantees. But use it for your life, to help meet your goals, to allow you to give or minister where you deem fit, and to provide some security for a rainy day or unforeseen circumstances. Money can easily become a god, in which you are afraid to spend it, it looks down on you with angry eyes trying to cause fear. Flip that around and instruct it in what to do, because you are the boss of it. It is inanimate, and yet it can control our lives if we let it. Invest, not just for earthly gain, but eternal. Those dividends cannot be taken away and come with them promises from God. Luke 6:38: "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again." Malachi 3:10: "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." Remember who owns the cattle on a thousand hills - Ps. 50:10: "For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills." God cares for you - 1 Peter 5:7: "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." Be a good steward - 1 Cor. 4:2: "Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful." Trust the Lord; renew that trust daily because His compassion is new every morning, and He is faithful, money is not. Lamentations 3:22-23: "It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness." Do you find yourself in great fear when it comes to your security and your money? Pray for God's leading with your spending. Use it wisely, and try to have a healthy view of money, creating good things with it, not indulging in your own greed, or hoarding because you refuse to trust God, but utilizing it where it can be of good use for you, your family and others you care about.