Loving Money

When I woke up this morning there was one phrase from a Christmas song repeating in my mind, “Do they know it’s Christmas time at all?” With all the abundance of this Christmas I feel almost weighed down with material wealth. Despite my good intentions to give from my abundance to those less fortunate, I realize that practically, I really do very little. Sure, I give my token $30 a month to good causes, but the large majority of what I receive is spent on me or things kept for my well being without much thought of how much I could sacrifice to help those who have far far less than I could imagine. This fact really bothers me. It’s not right. I fear I might have gotten caught up in the materialism of my culture and not kept a balanced perspective on how I should share with the rest of the world. What would it look like to share equally with the rest of the world?

As I walked along Mission Creek the other day pondering this, I wrestled with the fact that I really do want nice things. I really do desire money for dance classes. I really do desire to be able to afford a nicer house. And yet over the last two years as we have lived by faith (having a low salary and trusting God to bring in enough for our bills each month), I can’t complain for lack. God led us to a wonderful house that has been an abundant blessing. He has always, often miraculously, provided enough money for all our bills, including money for date nights at the movies, regular visits to coffee shops etc. Really we are very wealthy. As we have lived dependant on God we have been so happy. I remember a conversation with my husband that we would almost prefer to live by faith than to live dependent on a salary, because we didn’t have to fear or worry or ‘manage’ as much; we just lived and trusted that the money would be there and it always was. It was simple.

Even the small things we desired have been provided – from small things like needing fruit in the house and someone giving us a pile of extra fruit without knowing our need, to being thousands short and receiving cheques from unexpected and unknowing people, to personal things like desiring a nicer set of plates and bowls for our kitchen (as we have been living off our grandma’s old set for 7 years) - amazingly, without us mentioning anything, my mother-in-law bought a beautiful 8 piece set from a church sale, which ended up being the exact set I had secretly admired in the mall a few weeks earlier. God knows and He provides. “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart”.

Another Scripture came to mind, “You cannot serve both God and money”. It struck a deep chord in me. I realized that my mentality was twisted. I figured there were two choices: that I could live serving God and depend on Him to provide for me, or I could choose a lifestyle with a better paying job, manage my money myself and trust in my job to provide for my wants. How wrong! Even if I had a better paying job, my Provider is still the Lord. I must be so careful not to trust in money. Money comes and goes – it is not safe. Companies rise and fall. This is no place for security. God is my Provider. This means that even if I receive a pay check from a company, God is still providing that for me. My trust and hope cannot shift from him, so that if I lose my job I am not shaken or worried because nothing has changed – God is still providing for me in one way or another. He has just changed the means. Maybe it will be people bringing food over to the house, or someone lending us their car – one way or another I will be provided for and He will give me the desires of my heart.

I feel this is an important lesson for all of us. I feel God has started to challenge us as a nation regarding our security. I feel the lesson has begun but is not over. The world will continue to shift and shake and where we place our hope, our dependence and our security is very important. If we believe that a solid paycheck is the answer to security, we better work on changing our perspective or we may be quite shaken when it’s not there.

Perhaps simple living really is the answer for it all… when we depend on God we don’t have a tonne, but we have enough, and not just to scrape by, but to enjoy life too. When we give money away sacrificially to others, again we are forced to live simply. Be content with what we have - not believe the lies that my older TV or last year’s version of phone makes me any less than those that bought the newest versions. Knowing that my identity is not in what I own, and that I can be content and grateful with much less. Seeing that those around the world with less are brothers and sisters and deserve just as much as I have…

The Bible says, ‘The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil”…it can cause me to trust money rather than God, it can cause me to selfishly hoard for myself rather than considering the desperate needs of others. Loving money leads to evil, but loving God leads to life. Food for thought.

Jennifer Gumienny is the Regional Director of Heroes - an experiential program that helps teens see their value and live positive lives. She loves the outdoors and can be found hiking no matter what season of the year it is.