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July 29, 2009
Guest Post: How to Be Rich - The Lie of Riches
I'm not a fan of liars. In fact, I'd rather have you be brutally honest with me - even if it hurts - than for you to lie to me. But the fact is we put up with lots of lies. Some of them we tell and get away with. Others are told to us and we believe. The facts are in: Satan is the biggest liar of them all. Don't you agree? Even Jesus said that was true. Check out John 8:44.
Let me get back on track as we talk about money. Most people don't want to talk about money because it hurts so much. Far too often we let the "bad" or the problems pile up, and it isn't until the pile is too big to handle that we deal with it through painful things like bankruptcy, bad credit, broken relationships, and much more. Call it what it is.To not deal well with your finances is to believe some lies.
Satan wants us to serve money. Take a look at Matthew 6:24 where we are told no one can serve two masters, God and money or God and anything else. Or look at 1 Timothy 6:10 where we learn that money can cause all kinds of bad things in our lives.
Answer this question: do you want money more than you want God?
Ok. You might have answered that question right. But stop and go look at your calendar and your checkbook. Who do those two record keepers say you serve?
Ouch! (Sorry.)
It's time to put Satan in his place, and that means we have to start living what we believe as well as using what God has given us in the right ways. We must confess that we are blessed people, and we must commit to use what we have in different ways.
Say out loud (or yell it if you want to) something like this, "I won't trust money; I will trust God."
Can you do that?
There are a couple things that are true of people who trust money more than God. You can tell or even hear them say that there is never enough. I want more, more, more! Another fact is that that money never provides peace. Look at wealthy people and celebrities who end up dealing with serious problems that their money couldn't get them out of. Another fact that might be hard to understand is that rich people have a harder time in giving big. Yeah, they might give some big numbers, but it is only a tiny piece of what they have. Check out Barna Researc for the facts.
So what will you and I do to make sure we are not serving money and that we are serving God? We need to be honest. Don't believe the lies. Deal with the issues. Get help, and love God with it all. Read what God says in 1 Timothy 6:17.
As a pastor, I could not lead the people I love to do what I was not doing. This road is NOT easy, but this road is right. No longer could my family live on credit and increase our debt. We had to get honest and love God more. Did I just say that having debt means I don't love God? For me the debt showed that I didn't trust God the way that I want to and must.
One of the biggest pieces of getting honest and not believing the lies about money is becoming a bigger giver. And I love to give. Here is a quote that blew me away:
If you can't be generous when it's hard, you won't be when it's easy. Zig Ziglar
Yep, I have preached this stuff to our people at The Community Fellowship, and I also made it a piece of the life my family lives. It is a daily process of not serving a budget but of serving God who has big time blessed us and wants to use me and what I have to serve Him through serving others.
Stop believing the lies. Honor God. Show Him that you trust Him by dealing with your finances in ways that honors Him.
Michael Harrison has impressed me with his commitment to building the Kingdom through the ministry of the local church. And he has struggled through what that means as it related to personal finances as well as church financial development. He preached a series recently called How to Be Rich. I've asked him to share some commentary on what happened both in and out of the pulpit as he bravely dealt with what some pastors believe to be a four-letter word ... cash. I'm delighted he agreed to share his thoughts. Be sure to check out his blog too.
Related Post:
Guest Post: How to Be Rich - Love More ... Expect Less
Guest Post: How to Be Rich - Good News & Bad News
Guest Post: How to Be Rich - Meet Joe Sangl
Guest Post: How to Be Rich - Winning with What You Have
Posted by bstroup at July 29, 2009 7:00 AM
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