Money "Whoas"

Despite all the terrorist nut jobs threatening "Death o America!", our own knot-heads rioting and looting, and drugged-out criminals in every neighborhood; the biggest problem continues to be "the love of money, the root of all evil" (1 Tim 6:10).

This love of money, "greed," is what fuels the wars, drives the looting and keeps the drugs flowing.  It is the sponsor of political corruption and the greatest barrier to wiping out disease and hunger throughout the world.  It is the foundation upon which the rapage of cancer and obesity rests in this country.  And it is the primary culprit in erroding the foundation of the family in America as finances is the number one contributing factor in divorce.

If we could get our money under control instead of being controlled by our money, much of this country's ills and even the world's, would be arrested.  Money is the root of all evil and the antidote to this poison is to "keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have" (Heb 13:5).  Learning to trust God instead of money is the key to that transition from moneylust to godliness.

Paul said that he had "learned the secret of being content in every circumstance...whether living in plenty or in want" (Phil 4:11-12).  And he revealed the secret in verse 13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."  Trusting in God, leaning on Christ rather than looking, longing and lusting for money is the answer.  Putting money in its place as a servant instead of being a slave to money is the way to keep greed from taking root in your life and destroying your world.

Victory begins by "seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness [allowing] all these [material] things to be added to you" (Matt 6:33).  Simple steps to align your finances to kingdom principles are to create a balance of generosity in spending, giving and saving.

Spending every nickel you have leads to want and even desperation.  Saving everything leads to greed and stifles life.  But when we learn to give generously, while saving sensibly and spending appropriately, then we reap the blessings of God-honoring behavior as we always "reap what we sow" (Gal 6:7).

Creating a balance of perhaps 80/10/10 or 70/15/15 or whatever seems to work best for you, allows you to spend without guilt, save without resentment and give freely from the heart.  If one gives away 10%, saves 10% and spends 80%, the needs of today are being met, the needs of tomorrow are being prepared for and the needs others are being attended to.

Of course, what you do won't change to world or even our country, but it will change your life.  And, if enough of us change our disposition toward money, the country and the world will begin to change a little at a time.  The simple fact is that to begin to end money woes, we have to start saying "whoa" to money.

We have to rein it in one person at a time, which will alter the future of one family and enough families changes a community, enough communities changes a city and so on until the entire world is changed.  And if that never happens in our lifetimes, wouldn't you rather spend your lifetime pursuing freedom instead of debt?  Jus' Say'n.