August 19, 2012 By bnjewell
One of the best ways to determine the place that money has in your heart is to look at what you have sacrificed to acquire it, and what you might be sacrificing to keep it. Sometimes, an honest answer to that question can be quite scary.
Money is a tricky thing. We have to use it to get around in this world, and the more adept we become at earning it and using it, the more great things we can accomplish with it. But like the Force, money has a dark side. The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and Jesus tells us that if we’re not careful to master our money, it can make slaves of us.
We’ve talked in theory about a lot of the ways that money can make you a slave: greed, stinginess, envy, debt and the like. But it’s also instructive to study the lives of people who exhibit the signs of financial slavery, to see how it manifests in their life. Fortunately, the Bible gives us numerous examples of such people. In this and coming articles, we’re going to examine what scripture says about these people, starting today with the “Rich Young Ruler.” [Read more…]
August 9, 2012 By bnjewell
It’s perhaps the most misquoted verse in the Bible: People love to go around saying that “money is the root of all evil.” Of course, the Bible doesn’t actually say that. But what it does say on the subject is incredibly important.
Money is a pretty powerful force in our society. If we don’t handle it right, money can make slaves of us. And if we let money infest our hearts, it can lead us to do some pretty horrific things. If we don’t intentionally develop the right attitudes toward money, a quest for riches can lead us down some very dark roads.
That doesn’t mean, however, that money is all evil. In fact, God has given us resources to manage for Him, and He wants to see us succeed financially. So how do we make sure that we succeed with money in a way that is not evil? First, we need to take a close look at what God says about money. Then, we need to take a close look at our own hearts.
[Read more…]
July 31, 2012 By bnjewell
There’s an indelible link between money and authority. In order to be effective in one, you must be effective in the other.
You may think that this is obvious; after all, it seems like the people who have the money are always in charge. It’s easy for us to draw the conclusion that money begets power, and this is sometimes the case. But have you ever considered the possibility that the reverse might be true as well?
One of the keys to godly prosperity is a proper understanding of godly authority. A correct relationship with authority puts us in a place to handle money wisely. And handling money wisely, in turn, puts us in a place of authority.
[Read more…]
July 22, 2012 By bnjewell
If you read the Bible right, you can’t escape this conclusion: Jesus is loaded.
Yes, you read that correctly. According to scripture, the only begotten Son of God is wealthy beyond belief. And He wants to share some of His riches with you.
Now, please don’t jump to conclusions — I’m not getting ready to launch into a “prosperity gospel” sermon here. In fact, we spent the last article in this series discussing the shortcomings of prosperity teachings as a spiritual and financial philosophy. But one of the things that makes the prosperity gospel so enticing is that the Bible has a lot to say about money, and the New Testament in particular talks an awful lot about having riches in Christ. If we’re going to truly enjoy riches in Christ, though, we should probably stop and consider what that really means. [Read more…]
July 12, 2012 By bnjewell
Maybe you’ve seen them on late-night TV: Some preachers promise that if you follow their teachings, and give money to their ministries, that God will make you rich. In fact, some folks preach about money so much that they can make you think that the only reason to follow God is that He will make you wealthy if you do.
Spend enough time talking about God and money, and you’re bound to encounter these ideas. Collectively, they’re known as the “Prosperity Gospel,” and they can be incredibly polarizing. Some Christians stake their entire financial lives around the teachings of prosperity preachers. Others can’t stand the sight of these guys, and denounce them as heretics. And many people outside of the Kingdom of God use prosperity preachers to make a case that all of Christianity is a fraud.
So, where is the truth in all of this? After all, God does say in His word that He wants us to prosper. And yet, the teachings of prosperity preachers often smack of hair grease and smarmy platitudes. So what should you really believe?
[Read more…]
July 3, 2012 By bnjewell
They say that “you can’t take it with you,” and they’re right — there won’t be anything to spend your dollars and cents on in Heaven. But that doesn’t mean that money doesn’t matter; in fact, the way we handle money on earth can have eternal consequences.
In this series, we’ve been talking about the fact that God desires for us to prosper, and to be successful with the financial resources that He has given us. We’ve learned that prosperity is a fruit of righteousness, that obeying God brings financial blessings, and that if we follow God wholeheartedly, He teaches us how to succeed.
Most of those lessons speak directly to our human lives, but we know that there’s a lot more to this existence than the lives that we lead here on Earth. As Christians, we must always live with eternity in mind. And though it may seem surprising, the Bible tells us that the way that we handle our money in this life will have eternal reverberations. [Read more…]
June 21, 2012 By bnjewell
If you want to succeed in anything, the best place to start is by learning from those who do it very well. If you want to succeed with money, it will pay to learn everything that you can from the wealthiest being in the universe.
God owns everything (even the things that we think are ours), and He created the laws that govern the financial world. Because He’s a good father, He wants to see us succeed with money; because He is a good teacher, He shows us exactly how to do so.
It may seem like there’s a lot of mystery to prosperity, but there’s really no mystery at all. Prosperity is a fruit of righteousness, and God wants us each to enjoy it. Very often, though, we don’t get things right because we don’t ask Him how we should handle our money. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Put your trust in God, and He will teach you how to succeed. [Read more…]
June 12, 2012 By bnjewell
Parents, I have a question for you: Would you ever tell your children to do something that you knew would bring them disastrous results?
I don’t think that you would. You kids may kick and scream and throw a tantrum when you tell them to do something that they don’t want to do, and in that moment they may think that what you’re asking is awful. But of course, it’s not really awful. You give your kids rules and instructions to keep them safe, to teach them and to give them values that will help make them successful adults.
The same thing is true of our Heavenly Father. We serve a good God who loves to give us good gifts. One of those gifts is prosperity. God loves to see His children prosper financially. But in order to do that, we have to follow the rules that He sets for us. [Read more…]
June 3, 2012 By bnjewell
If you’re on the long journey toward escaping financial slavery and mastering your money, I’ve got some great news for you: God wants you to prosper.
That’s right, you’re not in this alone. Though the road may be tough, you have the greatest power in the universe on your side. And He promises that we will succeed with money, as long as we do things His way.
Sometimes we like to think about money, success and wealth as mysterious forces that bless some humans and curse others at random. But scripture makes it clear that this is not the case. Prosperity is actually a fruit of righteousness. If we do things the right way, we can count on succeeding, because that’s the way that God has designed things to work. [Read more…]
May 24, 2012 By bnjewell
What’s the difference between a slave and a servant? It all comes down to the heart of the Master.
If you’ve been following this site for a while, you’ve probably heard us talking about how money can make a slave of you. In sneaky and pernicious ways, money takes hold of our hearts, making us captives to greed, debt, poverty, insecurity and other bondage. If we’re not careful, we can wake up one day to find that money has taken control of our lives. Money makes us slaves.
And yet, God gives us a different model for money. The past few articles in this series have focused on the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25, and examine the fact that God wants us to be good stewards of the resources that He provides us. He wants us to work and be fruitful with our finances. He wants us to make our money grow. He sees us as His servants, handling His money for His benefit.
So, which are we — servants or slaves? [Read more…]