The Bible is packed full of verses about financial lessons.  For example, did you know that the Bible talks about money over 2,000 times?  Pretty crazy huh?  It’s evident just from my last Bible study that money is an important subject to our Lord.

It’s so important, God even says that it’s the hardest thing for a rich man to accept Jesus as his savior.  Hard to swallow, but oh so true.

I got to thinking about verses dealing with finances and I’ve hand picked five that are not only applicable but hit me close to home.  I’ll share each verse and what it means to me in my life.  Hope you enjoy!

Deuteronomy 8:18

“Remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth.”

When I’m feeling selfish or feeling like hoarding possessions, I think of this verse.  It’s easy to forget that God gave me certain skills to produce wealth in the first place!  It’s always encouraging to come back to this verse and remember that I’m nothing without Jesus.  If I get a bonus at work, praise God, if I make extra money on some side jobs, praise God.  All the praise should and will always go back to Him.

Proverbs 13:22

“A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children.”

Although I don’t have any kids yet, this verse is already convicting me!  My sinful nature doesn’t want to give ANY money away!  It’s a beautiful thing to not only give an inheritance to your kids but also to your grandchildren. It’s also an image of God’s love for His children.  I pray to God that I can honor Him in this way someday!

Luke 12:15

“Then Jesus said to them, ‘Watch out!  Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.’”

I see greed all around me.  I’ve seen people stab other people in the back (not literally!) and lie to people’s faces to get ahead in life.  It’s just not worth it.  It’s also refreshing to come back to this verse and realize that life is more than the stuff we own.  It’s about how we steward the stuff!

Proverbs 3:9

“Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.”

This is all about tithing and giving the Lord your best “crop.”  You should set aside money for your church or missionaries first, then pay your bills.  Using your money to further God’s kingdom should always come first.  I like to do checklists to make sure I’m still on the right track.  If certain things like entertainment or eating out are cutting into my tithing, it’s time to cut back on those things, not tithing!  I don’t want to stand in front of the Lord someday and be embarrassed about my poor stewardship.

Leviticus 25:23

“And remember, the land is Mine, so you may not sell it permanently.  You are merely My tenants and sharecroppers!”

In closing…

We own nothing in this world!  We might think we do from time to time, but everything is God’s.  This verse helps me remember that and it also keeps me humble.  I’m simply a “tenant” wherever I am.  Nothing is really mine.  Convicting isn’t it!

Well, I hope these verses affected you for the better.  I know they’ve had  a big impact in my own life and have seen them change the way I view the world and my own personal finances.

photo by smemon

It’s 2012 and you’re still eating donuts?  Put that croissant down and get serious about your fitness goals!  Yes, I did just call you out.  You set a resolution this year and you’re not about to fail, that’s why I’m writing this article!

If you tell me money is holding you back, well that’s a bunch of nonsense.  All I hear is excuses, excuses, excuses.

Thankfully, getting fit requires little to no budget at all!  It’s all about your personal drive and ambition.  As I’m a huge fitness nut myself, I thought I’d share my top 7 tips for getting fit on a small budget.  I understand what it’s like to be strapped for cash, as I’ve been poor most of my life.

So please check out the following tips and go reach your personal fitness goals.  Time to start sweating!

Run for free

Go buy a pair of your favorite running shoes and hit the local trails!  If the trails scare you, you can go on the open road.  Whatever you choose, it’s all free!  If you’re just starting out, you’ll want to start small and gradually work your way up.  Start with one mile a day for a week and slowly increase the distance each week.  Running can also be a fun group activity to do with your friends.  Running is one of the best workouts anyone can have.  It works every part of your body and requires some serious effort.  I highly encourage you to start running as it’s easy on the wallet.

Get paid to workout

What if you want to work but also want to get paid for it?  Well, you could become a fitness instructor at a local gym!  Not only would you get a free membership to the gym but you will get a good workout in while teaching others how to do the same.  It’s a win-win in my book.  Go to your local gyms and ask around.  Some don’t require credentials; they just want to see a drive and passion for working out!  What better way to reach your fitness goals than by teaching other people and getting paid for it!

Join a local workout league

OK, so if you’re a group type of person (I’m not), then joining a local workout or running league would make sense for you.  There is typically a small fee associated with this, so it will have a minimal effect on your wallet.  Cities should offer an organized program and there are private organizations that do this as well.  They understand that you want to work out, so you shouldn’t be searching too long before you find a fun group to workout with.

Rent workout DVDs from your library

You know those funny kick boxing DVDs and P90X programs?  Well they are actually a great workout!  Where should you rent them though?  From your local library of course!  You’d be surprised about the large selection at libraries.  They have every workout DVD you can think of.  Stop wasting time and go rent one of these DVDs!

Build a home gym from used equipment

Go hit up some garage sales and start building your own home gym!  This idea only works if you have large property or a big house.  You’ll need some room to make this happen.  You can find some awesome equipment at local garage sales.  Who didn’t have a workout bench growing up?  I see workout equipment at garage sales all the time.  I’ve even seen semi-brand new equipment for pennies on the dollar!  No excuses. Go build yourself a gym if you’re too lazy or too stingy to go to the local gym.

photo by superfantastic

I’ve talked before about how to build wealth.   I’ve even talked about buying gold.

But if you really want to be rich. I mean, lavished-with-gold-beyond-your-wildest-imagination rich, then there is one investment you must make and one step you must take…and it involves buying gold.

You Think You’re Rich Because You’ve Got Gold, But You’re Not

I was reading about the Laodicean church in Revelation recently (Revelation 3:14-22), and here’s what it says in verse 17:

For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.

Talk about perception not based in reality!  The Laodicean church thought they were rich, but God shows them the truth of their situation.

They might have had a lot of gold, and they were certainly rich from the world’s standards, but they were poor spiritually.

Their material wealth blinded them to the reality of their spiritual poverty.  And God wants something better for them.

But before we judge that church, let’s think about our own lives?  Are we any better?  Too often my perceptions of who I really am are not steeped in reality.  I often have a much higher view of myself than I ought.  And God regularly delivers a clarifying wake up call.

How to Buy Gold and Get Rich in 1 Simple Step

So what does God suggest?  Sell high?  Diversify their income?  Find alternative asset classes?  Take a look at verse 18 or God’s investment:

I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich.

And in verse 19 he gives us the step we must take:

“Be zealous and repent!”

In other words, He tells the Laodiceans that although they had earthly riches, they needed to turn away from putting their trust in their earthly gold and instead put their trust in Him.

Buying gold refined by fire means taking that step of repentance.

The kind of gold that God offers is one that you and I can’t afford!  There’s an infinite value on it, and it cost him his very Son!

The riches of heaven (eternal life, peace and joy with God) are the riches that last.  And God counsels us to buy from him even though we can’t afford it.  Here’s what 2 Corinthians 8:9 says:

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

Why God Says This

He says these things because he loves us.  And our response to him should be one of repentance.  Look at verses 19 – 20:

Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

The offer stands even today. God is standing at the door.  All we have to do is turn away from putting our trust in other things, repent and put our trust in Jesus Christ.

Then we will be rich!

I came across an excellent post on blessing your workplace by being a faithful gospel presence and building into the lives of others.

The idea is to engage others in a way that creates opportunities for faithful proclamation of the gospel to happen.  Here below are just 15 ideas with my commentary under each one.

You can check out the entire list of 30 here.

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1. Instead of eating lunch alone, intentionally eat with other co-workers and learn their story.

It’s easy to spend our time at our desk and continue working. It’s much harder to be intentional with hearing others’ stories.

2. Get to work early so you can spend some time praying for your co-workers and the day ahead.

If you can’t get to work early, you can still spend time praying for your co-workers.  I’d suggest letting them know that you’ve prayed for them, or even ask them if there is anything specific you can pray for.

3. Make it a daily priority to speak or write encouragement when someone does good work.

It’s amazing how far this goes.  Be an encourager.

4. Bring extra snacks when you make your lunch to give away to others.

The idea here is to show them that you’re thinking of them.  Just don’t give away the home-made chocolate chip cookies to the lady who is on a diet!

5. Bring breakfast (donuts, burritos, cereal, etc.) once a month for everyone in your department.

This simple gesture goes a long way in building equity into relationships! Bagels and/or donuts are a great treat to break up the monotony of the office!

6. Create a regular time to invite coworkers over or out for drinks.

I thought this was an interesting one.  This would be difficult for those who are totally against drinking of any sort.  For those okay with a drink, this might be an interesting way to get to know people. I just wonder how effective this would be in terms being viewed by others as “someone different”.

I would maybe change this to “Create a regular time to invite coworkers out for coffee or dinner”.  Definitely having them over to your home is a great idea too.

7. Make a list of your co-workers birthdays and find a way to bless everyone on their birthday.

It’s amazing in our culture how much people appreciate a simple gesture on their birthday!

8. Organize and throw office parties as appropriate to your job.

Find reasons to celebrate!  Learn to have fun and be viewed as someone who appreciates levity.

9. Make every effort to avoid gossip in the office. Be a voice of thanksgiving not complaining.

This is a hard one, especially when you may not agree with your boss, organization, or others.  Be a thankful person. Don’t complain and bring others down that road with you.  It’s not a good road to head down.

10. Organize a weekly/monthly pot luck to make lunch a bit more exciting.

This is a cool idea.  When you are the organizer, you begin to be viewed differently by people. You’re viewed as a leader (whether you realize it or not), which opens up opportunities for people to begin looking to you for other advice (potentially paving the way for the gospel conversations).

11. Ask someone who others typically ignore if you can grab them a soda/coffee while you’re out.

Ah yes, the whole “Kill ‘em with kindness” concept.  The idea here is to make an inroad with someone who you would potentially gloss over because they “ignore you”.  Many times, people who are shy or introverted come across as rude even though they don’t mean to.  This is sure to break down some walls.

12. Go out of your way to talk to your janitors and cleaning people who most people overlook.

This is excellent!  This was Jesus’ style of ministry.  The people who tend to be forgotten in society were the ones he often reached out to.  Give them a “Thank You” card to let them know you appreciate their work.

13. Invite your co-workers in to the service projects you are already involved in.

I had an opportunity to do this when I volunteered at our local Food Bank.  A co-worker told everyone else about this and how great of a time it was!

14. Start a small business that will bless your community and create space for mission.

This is something that I feel God placing on my heart.  How great would this be to use creativity and entrepreneurial skill to build a business specifically intended to bless others and reveal Christ in word and deed to the community!

15. Lead the charge in organizing others to help co-workers in need.

How great would it be if you were able to organize a meal plan for someone who was sick, or helped someone mow their lawn while they were laid up.

And Be Ready – 1 Peter 3:15 Style!

When you are demonstrating love, building relationships, and being a beacon of hope, many will wonder where that hope comes from.  Be ready to share the gospel in those times faithfully, boldly, gently and with respect at every turn.

What other ways have you connected with people you work with?

Josh also says, “These are very practical ideas for what to do but we also need to consider how and why we do it. Here is a helpful sermon from Jonathan Dodson on this subject called EXISTING TO WORK“

I’m currently reading Pursuit of Godby A.W. Tozer.  I first read it eight years ago, but I wanted to re-read it because I remember how powerful it was at the time.

If I had to choose only one book to recommend that will challenge you in your walk with God, it would be this book!  It will confront your idols and give you a grander picture of your relationship with Jesus Christ.

That’s exactly what is happening, again, as I read this book.  The 2nd chapter, entitled The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing, retells the story of God’s testing of Abraham through the giving up of his son Isaac, the most-prized treasure in Abraham’s life. 

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His point is that gifts from God often wind up replacing God himself in our hearts.  It was never intended to be this way.  Here’s a line from page 22:

Things have become necessary to us, a development never originally intended.  God’s gifts now take the place of God, and the whole course of nature is upset by the monstrous substitution.

God confronted the idol of Abraham’s love for his son Isaac.  God knew that Abraham treasured his son more than God himself, so he put him to the test.

Is God your most-prized possession?

Is He the thing you value and treasure most in this life?  Is your relationship with Christ your utmost pursuit? 

I am asking myself these questions, and am not liking the answer.  It’s funny how the gifts of this world tend to steal time away from our real Treasure.

Abraham trusted God.  He knew that God would raise Isaac from the dead, so he obeyed.  And at the very moment before it became too late, God stopped Abraham and blessed him because he didn’t withhold his son from God, his most-prized possession! 

Of this, Tozer offers a striking paraphrase of what God said to the patriarch in that moment:

It’s all right, Abraham.  I never intended that you should actually slay the lad.  I only wanted to remove him from the temple of your heart that I might reign unchallenged there.  I wanted to correct the perversion that existed in your love.

Do you have everything and possess nothing?

Tozer says that although Abraham had everything (he was very rich, had a great family and the son he always wanted), he possessed nothing. 

Abraham’s real treasures were inward and eternal, not external and temporal.

Many of us have a great spouse, family, career, blog, car, house, investment portfolio (insert your own blessing here), and we live as if those are our real treasures!

Tozer says the secret to an abundant spiritual life is realizing that we possess nothing. 

By possess, Tozer does not mean we simply do not own our treasures, but rather he means that our treasures do not own us.  In other words, we must consciously and intentionally perform heart surgery on ourselves so we remove the treasures from the center of our hearts and put God in his rightful place.

What treasures might God be confronting you with?

I am asking myself that question as I read through this chapter, and I’ve got an idea that God might be wanting me to give up a treasured possession that I love deeply within my heart. 

How about you? What do you hold so dearly in your heart that gets in the way of your relationship with God?

What should you do if you recognize a treasure that has replaced God?

Tozer says on page 28-29:

1. Put away your defenses.  In other words, don’t justify your love for your treasures.
2. Remember this is holy business.  In other words,  don’t deal with this issue cassually.  Name the treasures of your heart.  Name things and people one by one, and take seriously this call to heart surgery.
3. Experience this truth.  In other words, this isn’t just something we can visualize.  We must live through Abraham’s bitter experiences in our own hearts if we are to experience the absolute blessing that follows the giving up of our most prized possessions.

Tozer ends with a dynamic prayer on page 30:

Father, I want to know you, but my cowardly heart fears to give up its toys.  I cannot part with them without inward bleeding, and I do not try to hide from Thee the terror of the parting.  I come trembling, but I do come. 

Please root from my heart all those things which I have cherished so long and which have become a very part of my living self, so that You may enter and dwell there without a rival. 

Then You will make the place of Your feet glorious.  Then will my heart have no need of the sun to shine in it, for Yourself will be the light of it, and there shall be no night there.  In Jesus’ name, Amen. 

I came across this post regarding objections to giving to the poor.

Giving to the poor always seems to be one of those sticky issues that polarize, but that needn’t be the case.

Giving, especially to the poor, when rightly filtered through the lens of the Gospel, is a great way to glorify God and show others the love of Christ.

Consciously or subconsciously, we each have objections to giving to the poor that we must recognize.  When we see exactly what our issues are with giving, we can rightly correct our view.

Below is B. B. Warfield‘s response to three common objections to giving to the poor as quoted in the great book by Tim Keller, Ministries of Mercy:

Objection 1. “My money is my own.”

Answer: Christ might have said, “my blood is my own, my life is my own.” Then where should we have been?

Objection 2. “The poor are undeserving.”

Answer: Christ might have said, “They are wicked rebels . . . shall I lay down my life for these? I will give to the good angels.” But no, he left the ninety-nine, and came after the lost. He gave his blood for the undeserving.

Objection 3. “The poor may abuse it.”

Answer: Christ might have said the same; yea, with far greater truth. Christ knew that thousands would trample his blood under their feet; that most would despise it; that many would make it an excuse for sinning more; yet he gave his own blood.

Oh, my dear Christians! If you would be like Christ, give much, give often, give freely, to the vile and poor, the thankless and the undeserving. Christ is glorious and happy and so will you be. It is not your money I want, but your happiness. Remember his own word, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

Other Posts About Giving and Generosity

• What Jonathan Edwards Teaches Us About Giving to the Poor – Part 1
• What Jonathan Edwards Teaches Us About Giving to the Poor – Part 2
• How Should We Help the Poor?
• 3 Powerful Things John Wesley Teaches Us About Money
• 5 Reasons You’re (Probably) Not as Generous as You Should Be
• Should You Give Money to a Homeless Person?
• Should You Wait to Give Until You Have Enough Money?
• What Does It Mean to Store Up Treasure in Heaven?
• 10 Things Christians Must Do With Their Money

The other day I stopped off at the grocery store to stock up on snacks for the big football game – Bears vs. Packers.

I’m a die-hard Bears fan, and the Packers are the arch enemy!  Every game against them is big!  The result was less than stellar for my team, but there was still good news that came out of it.

On the way home I noticed something on the bottom of my receipt.

Here’s what it said:

Text “HUNGER” and your zip code to 71717 and Kraft Foods will donate one meal to your local Feeding America Food Bank!

www.istockphoto.com/egeeksen

What a brilliant and easy way to fight hunger and donate to your local Food Bank!

So I figured I’d give my readers a chance to do the same.  It’s simple, easy, and you’ll donate one meal to your local Food Bank!

So please, take 10 seconds and text “HUNGER” AND YOUR ZIP CODE to 71717!

A big thanks goes to Kraft for being willing to donate meals!  You can check out more by going to Kraft’s Fight Hunger Facebook Page.

Let’s See How Many Meals We Can Donate

Leave a comment below and/or hit me up on Twitter to let me know you donated a meal!

Each one adds up!

Food and Poverty Statistics from Feeding America

You can check out Feeding America’s website for more information on these statistics:

• In 2009, 50.2 million Americans lived in food insecure households, 33 million adults and 17.2 million children
• In 2009, 14.7 percent of households (17.4 million households) were food insecure.
• In 2009, 5.7 percent of households (6.8 million households) experienced very low food security.
• In 2009, households with children reported food insecurity at almost double the rate for those without children, 21.3 percent compared to 11.4 percent.
• In 2009, households that had higher rates of food insecurity than the national average included households with children (21.3 percent), especially households with children headed by single women (36.6 percent) or single men (27.8 percent), Black non-Hispanic households (24.9 percent) and Hispanic households (26.9 percent).
• In 2009, 7.8 percent of seniors living alone (884,000 households) were food insecure.

Let me know if you joined in the effort by commenting below and Please RT this post!

I’ve been very interested in the idea of Business as Mission recently.  The idea that businesses can be a strategic influence for the gospel.

Work isn’t just a means to making more money. It is a means to a greater purpose of glorifying God by impacting others lives.  Work is a high calling.

Tim Keller has a great article at Redeemer’s Center for Faith and Work on Christians, work, and cultural renewal.

I’ve added titles to help with scanability of the work and culture article, but Keller’s quotes are in tact:

www.istockphoto.com/hidesy

We Work for What’s Important

Every culture works on the basis of a ‘map’ of what is considered most important.

If God and his grace are not at the center of a culture, then other things will be substituted as ultimate values. So every vocational field is distorted by idolatry.

Christian medical professionals will soon see that some practices make money for them but don’t add value to patients’ lives.

Christians in marketing and business will discern accepted patterns of communication that distort reality or which play to and stir up the worst aspects of the human heart.

Christians in business will often see among their colleagues’ behavior that which seeks short-term financial profit at the expense of the company’s long-term health, or practices that put financial profit ahead of the good of the employees, customers, or others in the community.

Christians in the arts live and work in a culture in which self-expression is an end in itself. And in most vocational fields, believers face work-worlds in which ruthless, competitive behavior is the norm.

Two Mistakes Christians Make With Their Vocation

There are two opposite mistakes that a Christian can make in addressing the idols of their vocational field.

A Theology of Work

At Redeemer, especially through the Center for Faith & Work, we seek to help believers think out the implications of the gospel for art, business, government, media, entertainment, scholarship.

We teach that excellence in work is a crucial means to gain credibility for our faith. If our work is shoddy, our verbal witness only leads listeners to despise our beliefs.

If Christians live in major cultural centers and simply do their work in an excellent but distinctive manner it will ultimately produce a different kind of culture than the one in which we live now.

Work That Renews Culture

But I like the term “cultural renewal” better than “culture shaping” or “culture changing/transforming.”

The most powerful way to show people the truth of Christianity is to serve the common good.

The monks in the Middle Ages moved out through pagan Europe, inventing and establishing academies, universities, and hospitals.

They transformed local economies and cared for the weak through these new institutions. They didn’t set out to ‘get control’ of a pagan culture.

They let the gospel change how they did their work and that meant they worked for others rather than for themselves. Christians today should be aiming for the same thing.

A “Two-Kingdom” Mindset

As Roman society was collapsing, St. Augustine wrote The City of God to remind believers that in the world there are always two ‘cities,’ two alternate ‘kingdoms.’

1. One is a human society based on selfishness and gaining power.
2. God’s kingdom is the human society based on giving up power in order to serve.

Christians live in both kingdoms, and although that is the reason for much conflict and tension, it also is our hope and assurance.

The kingdom of God is the permanent reality, while the kingdom of this world will eventually fade away.

What are your thoughts?

Too often we think money is the greatest thing in the world!  Think about it. How much time do we spend working for it, planning around it, worrying, reading and writing about it, and constantly thinking about it.

We can all agree that money won’t be the most important thing in eternity, but we sometimes fail to realize that money isn’t even the greatest thing in the here and now.

I came across a great post from Matt Perman who blogs over at What’s Best Next on 3 Things more valuable than money found in the Bible.

istockphoto.com/nobeastsofierce

Matt lists those as:

An Excellent Wife:

“An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels” (Proverbs 31:10).

Wisdom:

“Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her” (Proverbs 3:13-15).

Suffering for Christ:

“By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward” (Hebrews 11:24-26).

I don’t know about you, but I often need to be recalibrated back to the center.  I need to constantly be reminded that money isn’t the greatest thing even in this world.

 My kids have all the food, clothing, shelter, and toys they need, and even more of what they want.

How and why did this come to be?  Do they go out and buy it all themselves?

Of course not, their loving parents provided them with everything. In the same way, God provides everything for us by His grace.   

Romans 11:36 says, “For from him and through him and to him are all things.”

How strongly do we implement this verse in our lives? We have to realize that EVERYTHING is from our creator, including what is in our bank account, our homes, and in our investments.

Whether we save or hoard, it’s still God’s money.  So let’s take a look at the difference between saving and hoarding by asking two questions:

What is our Motivation with Our Money?

I still have many art supplies from when I was an art major in college. I’ve given most of those supplies to my kids as part of our reward system.

Drawing is among the favorite activities in the house.

Let’s pretend I ask my 9 year old daughter if I can use the colored pencils I gave her. Before she answers me, she weighs her feelings on the matter.

She thinks to herself, “I was planning on using those to draw a pretty picture for my room. What if she uses them until they are nubs, or what if she breaks them? Maybe she won’t even return them at all! What if she wants to make my brother a pretty picture and not something for me?!”

Given all of these concerns, she tells me no.

What does that say about her feelings for the colored pencils? What does that say about her relationship with me? Did I not give those to her? Could I not easily provide new ones? Does she really NEED colored pencils to survive or are they just making life a bit more comfortable? What if she had hid them from me so I couldn’t use them? How selfish is her response?

Now let’s pretend she tells me yes (which is definitely the more likely scenario, given the kind-hearted, people-pleaser she is). She might even have those same concerns, but she trusts me enough to use them. She understands they were not hers to begin with.

How often do we have these same concerns with our money or our possessions?

What is the Purpose of Our Money?

When you save money or possessions, what is the purpose? How closely are you holding onto them? Your answers will indicate if you are saving or hoarding.

The acts of saving and hoarding both involve storing up. With hoarding, however, there is a sense of hiding and secrecy, selfishness. It’s the idea of possessing something, and lacking the intention of sharing or giving some of it. If our children were acting that way, we’d likely want to talk to them about being selfish or feeling entitled.

Jesus preaches,

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! (Matthew 7:7-11).

We think we need to save for emergencies or because we want to plan a family vacation. Those desires are not wrong at all; it’s wise financial planning!

But when we encounter a circumstance where it is really God asking us to give out of that savings, how quickly do we trust him? Are we being misers with what we have saved and hoarding it, even though, without God,  we wouldn’t have it in the first place?

Let’s make sure to rid ourselves of these selfish desires when we save. As followers of Christ, we need to realize that possessions, comfort, security, power, etc., is not what draws us closer to God.

When Jesus returns, how will you answer when he asks you, “What did you do with what you stored? Did you reach my kingdom? Did you trust me when I told you to use it?”