I Timothy 6:7-10
"For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."
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Many of you may remember the 1980s movie "Wall Street". It was a top grossing movie and one of the most famous lines from the movie was "Greed is good" (http://youtu.be/PF_iorX_MAw). I would bet that almost 30 years later, many Americans would still view greed as a good thing. Webster defines greed as "a selfish and excessive desire for more of something (especially money) than is needed. So is greed, in any form, good?
Well, let's see what God's word has to say about greed. Greed is mentioned in our verse today and it draws a direct connection between greed (the love of money), and straying from your faith. It also more pointedly says that the desire to be rich, will cause you to fall into temptation and harmful lusts and lead to destruction. In Luke 11:39, Jesus even exposes the greed of the Pharisees and calls it wicked. Note to reader: You don't ever want to be on the side of the Pharisees in Jesus' parables. ;)
The topic of "your" money is probably one of the sermons topics that many ministers avoid the most (maybe only second to sexual temptation). Since we have already covered sexual temptation and purity in my devotion on Aug 18th, I thought I could jump right into this topic as well! So does the Bible, and Jesus especially, talk about money that much? Well, money is mentioned literally hundreds of times in the Bible (about 1/3 of the parables discuss money, and Jesus talked about money more than heaven and hell combined). If Jesus spent so much time discussing money with his early disciples and followers, don't you think we should give it some of our attention also?
For me, the teachings of Jesus on money come down to this. We need to realize that everything we have on this earth is a blessing from God - it is all His and just on loan to us to steward and use to His Glory! In the Old Testament, the tithe was the standard of giving. But with Jesus, he wants it all! He wants all of our heart and if we have an inflated love of money, then we crowd out the space intended for him to dwell in us. You cannot serve two masters! Who are you going to serve?
At the risk of offending anyone (and we should all be "offensive for Jesus" more often), I ask each of you to honestly evaluate what place money holds in your life. How much of your income are you giving back to God? Are you hung up on whether God wants you to give based on your net income or on your gross income? Do you think that donating your time is a worthy substitute for donating your dollars? Do you keep saying that once you get your finances in order, then you will give more? Do you rationalize lower giving goals because you say the kids or grand-kids need it? Do you think you are too young to give more, or too old? Do you need to save "enough" for retirement first, and then you will give more to God? Do you use the 10% tithe as an ultimate and final goal to give, or do you strive to give even more than the tithe?
Ouch! Some of those questions may have hit home and stung a little for you - I know some did for me! We need to be convicted and stung a bit though sometimes and I know God will use that sore and softened heart to speak directly to you. Study on this topic, meditate on his word, talk to your pastor or spiritual mentor, pray about it. And after fervent prayer, I challenge all of you to step up your giving to your church and other Christian charities. Step out in faith and God will meet you there. I cannot tell you how many times we have increased our giving in faith and he has blessed us both financially and spiritually. So, don't hold back God's blessings, give of yourselves and your money to further his will and his kingdom.
...and don't forget to love God with all your heart, love others as He does, and use every minute for His will and to His glory!
"For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."
----------------------------------
Many of you may remember the 1980s movie "Wall Street". It was a top grossing movie and one of the most famous lines from the movie was "Greed is good" (http://youtu.be/PF_iorX_MAw). I would bet that almost 30 years later, many Americans would still view greed as a good thing. Webster defines greed as "a selfish and excessive desire for more of something (especially money) than is needed. So is greed, in any form, good?
Well, let's see what God's word has to say about greed. Greed is mentioned in our verse today and it draws a direct connection between greed (the love of money), and straying from your faith. It also more pointedly says that the desire to be rich, will cause you to fall into temptation and harmful lusts and lead to destruction. In Luke 11:39, Jesus even exposes the greed of the Pharisees and calls it wicked. Note to reader: You don't ever want to be on the side of the Pharisees in Jesus' parables. ;)
The topic of "your" money is probably one of the sermons topics that many ministers avoid the most (maybe only second to sexual temptation). Since we have already covered sexual temptation and purity in my devotion on Aug 18th, I thought I could jump right into this topic as well! So does the Bible, and Jesus especially, talk about money that much? Well, money is mentioned literally hundreds of times in the Bible (about 1/3 of the parables discuss money, and Jesus talked about money more than heaven and hell combined). If Jesus spent so much time discussing money with his early disciples and followers, don't you think we should give it some of our attention also?
For me, the teachings of Jesus on money come down to this. We need to realize that everything we have on this earth is a blessing from God - it is all His and just on loan to us to steward and use to His Glory! In the Old Testament, the tithe was the standard of giving. But with Jesus, he wants it all! He wants all of our heart and if we have an inflated love of money, then we crowd out the space intended for him to dwell in us. You cannot serve two masters! Who are you going to serve?
At the risk of offending anyone (and we should all be "offensive for Jesus" more often), I ask each of you to honestly evaluate what place money holds in your life. How much of your income are you giving back to God? Are you hung up on whether God wants you to give based on your net income or on your gross income? Do you think that donating your time is a worthy substitute for donating your dollars? Do you keep saying that once you get your finances in order, then you will give more? Do you rationalize lower giving goals because you say the kids or grand-kids need it? Do you think you are too young to give more, or too old? Do you need to save "enough" for retirement first, and then you will give more to God? Do you use the 10% tithe as an ultimate and final goal to give, or do you strive to give even more than the tithe?
Ouch! Some of those questions may have hit home and stung a little for you - I know some did for me! We need to be convicted and stung a bit though sometimes and I know God will use that sore and softened heart to speak directly to you. Study on this topic, meditate on his word, talk to your pastor or spiritual mentor, pray about it. And after fervent prayer, I challenge all of you to step up your giving to your church and other Christian charities. Step out in faith and God will meet you there. I cannot tell you how many times we have increased our giving in faith and he has blessed us both financially and spiritually. So, don't hold back God's blessings, give of yourselves and your money to further his will and his kingdom.
...and don't forget to love God with all your heart, love others as He does, and use every minute for His will and to His glory!
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