Estimated reading time: 2 minute(s)
Recently, money has been a big issue again here in the Campbell household. I wonder if it just is for every household. I know it’s not for some. But I think it might be for many, if not most.
And it is here.
Sadly it seems there are times where the topic of money (money in, and money out) begins to just take over. Every decision is greatly affected by how it will affect money flow. How we spend our time, how we spend our money… that’s when it really frustrates me: when it “takes over”.
Somehow I was reminded of a post I wrote a long while back where I mused about the reason that we often find ourselves here. It’s me. It’s definitely me. I not only don’t love money, I think I don’t like money. I don’t want money. I’m grateful that God gives me many chances to get money. He gives us what we need to live, to be sure. (And there’s so much more that he does there, that I can’t elaborate here, now.)
But I still don’t like money.
Jen read a book recently called, Rich Dad, Poor Dad. She’d like me to read it, and so I will. But I just feel like I won’t connect with it because of my disdain for money. We’ll see. Maybe it will change my attitude towards currency and the pursuit of same.
Maybe that would be a good thing?
For now, I only feel like it takes over. When you have too little, it causes you to seemingly alter your priorities so that you can have more. When you have too much then you have other problems (taxes, where to best invest, etc). Most people laugh at the notion of “too much money”, but I think the biggest problem we Americans face is our affluence. We have too much stuff, and it chokes the life out of us.
So, lemme know what you think … perhaps you’ll help me have a better view towards money? (Or perhaps you’ll join me in the non-pursuit of money?) Either way, please add your voice below, or on the linked article page.
Article: I’ll Never Make a Million
Greg, never say never. Just watch the Lord begin to work in your life to prove you wrong when you make those ultimatums! 🙂
Remember, the more we have, the more we can give. Yes, to whom much is given, much is required–and there are some challenges to having stewardship of large sums of money. One of the biggest is keeping the government from getting all of it. 🙂
However, if we treat the money as if we are stewards, we can get excited about hearing from the Lord about where to give that money! We can live the “Secret Millionaire” life every day.
I grew up so poor we had no electricity sometimes because there was no money to pay the bill. Kind people dropped sacks of groceries on our doorstep because they felt sorry for a mother with 5 children who often could not feed them. I wore hand-me-downs most of my growing up years and got “free” lunches at school.
Today, praise God, I live abundantly, and I LOVE to be able to give abundantly. To live in lack and to not be able to meet my own needs well, or those of my family, leaves me unable to joyfully and freely give to others when I see their need. What if you could give away more in a year than you now make in a year? How could you change lives with that?
The book Jen wants you to read is an excellent one. We would not be opening our Christian Retreat center which we pray will be a blessing in many lives if we had not understood and followed the principles in that book, and BELIEVED that money is a good thing if we keep our priorities in the right place.
I guess the thrust of the 2008 post, as well as what I’ve been thinking again is that, given a choice, I’d prefer to be without things or the comforts that our American culture treats more as rights and/or necessities than to be constantly arranging my life so that we can earn the resources to afford those things. (There’s way more to our personal situation, but perhaps that can be for an email or another form of conversing.)
AND, I must stress that I did not intend either of these posts to suggest that my way is the RIGHT way. Just want to make that clear. Everyone definitely needs to understand where their heart is, what their priorities are, and stick to that unwaveringly.
For me, I’ve realized again and again that money (though it can do some good) is just not (and never will be) my priority. I think I can do as much good for someone as a friend/relationally, with or without financial resources. I think I can give to people through raising the amazing people God has placed under our care (both directly to them and then to whomever they may impact throughout their lives) with or without financial resources.
We still need to eat. And work is in itself a valuable ethic, something to know and live out. But the pursuit of financial gain is just really distasteful to me. (AGAIN, just for me!) 🙂
I will read the book … and let you know (likely on this site) what thoughts it stirred in me.