Money: February 28, 2013

TODAY’S WORD FOR THURSDAY FEBRUARY 28, 2013

MONEY

DEFINITION:

A coin, bill or bank note used as a medium of exchange for obtaining goods and services.

SCRIPTURE:

For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many grief’s. I Timothy 6:10.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

The world attaches far more significance to money than God ever intended. Instead of being regarded as simply a means of exchange for goods and services, it has become thought of as a source of power and prestige, and a means of achieving status, happiness, and security.

This leads to the false hope that money is the answer for everything. As believers we must not fall for these lies. When money is seen as an end in itself it leads us down a dangerous path. It will make us greedy and may even cause us to compromise our integrity. This is why the apostle Paul says that the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil. Of even greater danger, is the concern that the love of money can cause us to wander away from our faith in God.

God’s Word is very clear and warns us of the dangers of having money and putting too much importance on it in our lives, especially when money becomes more important than our relationship with God.

Money plays a large role in our existence. In fact, it is impossible to live without it. How would we purchase food, shelter, and clothing without money or some other medium of exchange? We all have the responsibility to work to earn money to support ourselves and family members that are dependent on us.

Money, down through history, has been more than a means for acquiring necessities. Wars have been fought over money. Lives have been ruined over money and people have died because of the lack of it. Paul said, “People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap that leads them into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction (I Timothy 6:9). 

We, as believers in Jesus need to gain proper perspective of money and what God thinks about it. God is the source of all money. Since everything originated from the Creator, it all belongs to Him (Psalm 24:1). We are the stewards of money that He has entrusted to us. We must use it wisely.

Secondly, God uses money for His purposes. We cannot separate our finances from our Christianity. The Lord provides money for our physical needs and uses money to transform us spiritually. When we are yielded to God, wealth is a tool that God uses to teach us self-discipline. Instead of using wealth to satisfy our desires, we learn to seek His will to guide us to use our wealth to be generous to those in need and to spread the good news of the gospel.

God wants us to use our money according to His purposes. These purposes are threefold:

First, for personal needs: “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.”  (II Thessalonians 3:10).

Second, for God’s work: “Honor the Lord with your wealth.” (Proverbs 3:9).

Third, for helping others: “He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord.” (Proverbs 19:17).   

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Ephesians 6:1.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

PRAYER:

Help me to make sure that our family is using the money You blessed us with as God has commanded us. Thank You for Your assurance that it is by being obedient to you and following your instructions, we will find joy and contentment our hearts truly desire.