The Real Problem of Money

"WHEN He saw the crowds, He had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." (Matthew 9:36)

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The problem with money is that, whether we have too much of it or not enough, it takes our focus off God and puts it on the world. Most often, when we think of money getting between us and God, it's when we begin to believe that money, not God, will fix what's wrong in our life.

The real problem with money is that whenever we begin to believe that we need anything in addition to God (be it health, wealth, food, shelter, justice, family...), we've gone astray. We want all those things, and the world tries to convince us that we need them to live, that we need to live, that we need them to be happy, that we need to be happy. The world lies. 

The real problem with money is that we can't need both money and God (Matthew 6:24), and we are constantly being harassed by the necessity of it, goaded into following a misled throng into the power of it with overpriced education, extravagant medical care, steadily rising taxes, blown up mortgages, and subsequently falling salaries. And then we're left to worry about something that we simply can't do anything about, and with an insurmountable sense of helplessness and chronic insomnia, and a huge gap between us and our Father. Just what Satan wants.

But Christ has compassion on us and our worldly concerns. He died for those concerns of ours. He allows us the freedom to ask for what we think we need, so long as we keep in mind that He knows what we need. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are wonderful things for a government to try and ensure for its citizens. But for those who love God, "to live is Christ, to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21). Do your best with those bills that don't match that salary, but remember that there is nothing worth losing sleep over. You are a new creation in Christ: enemy of the world and reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:16-21).

Suggest verse to repeat when the world tries to make itself the most important thing in life is from Luke 12:22.

PRC buddies, remember to breathe!

"Do not be anxious -------> 5 count inhale

about your life." -------> 5 count exhale

See The Real Problem of Pain.