Today’s post is about money.

We all love money and we all hate money. Having money allows us to do things. No having money prevents us from doing things. I have been on food stamps. I have not known where my next meal is coming from. I’ve had to choose to eat or pay a bill. That is a scary situation. It is even worse when you have a family to provide for. Today we finish our Financial Peace University course. It’s been nine weeks of learning about money, behaviors, and how we are conditioned in the states to be in debt. As Dave Ramsey says, living well is 80% behavior and 20% Math. Changing our behavior changes our outcomes.

The funny thing about money is it isn’t just about buying things. It’s about security, safety, and relationships. We aren’t meant to live in debt. We aren’t meant to fight about how to spend our money. Usually, these fights are because there isn’t a common ground on what is important. Then, of course, there is the feeling of guilt. I don’t make enough money. I don’t know how to spend money. I can’t take care of my family. The guilt eats at us.

From Whisper

“Whoever loves money never has enough;
    whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income.
    This too is meaningless.” – Ecclesiastes 5:10

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” – Matthew 6:24

Money is not evil. The love of money is evil. In Matthew, we can’t serve two masters. God is our master, not money. Let’s become the master of our money. It isn’t easy. It takes hard choices. I bought my first cup of coffee in nearly 6 weeks last Friday. It’s small sacrifices to, as Dave Ramsey says “live like no one else so you can live like no one else”. This is hard stuff. This has only been only 9 weeks but I really feel different. We aren’t worried as much about tomorrow. We have to make choices every day and will continue it. It will take a long long time to get where we want to. But I look forward that day, as I can give more. Our girl scout troop just finished cookie season and decided to give 10% of their profit to the Church, School, and our community partner. I was so proud of them. They didn’t even think twice about it. It is something they do.

I don’t know the answers, but know that we can make our money do what we want it to do. If we don’t tell our money, where to go, then it will tell us where it wants to go. Let’s rule our money.

#78of365 #FaithBites #FaithJourney #FPU