Money Problems

1 Timothy 6:9-11: Money Problems

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains. But as for you, man of God, shun all this; pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness.

I don’t know about you, but I always seem to have money problems. Whenever my bills are due, they get paid, thanks be to God. But there never seems to be enough for the few extras that my wife and I would like to have. We usually have just enough or a little less than enough to pay for our monthly expenses. It all gets paid, but we wish we had a little more. And then, as soon we get a little more, our expenses go up -- increase in taxes, pre-school costs, car payment, insurance, and the list goes on. When can we get a break and get ahead?

Paul’s advice is exactly what I need to hear. He says, essentially, to stop fixating on the things we can get and spend. They do not bring true happiness. Instead, we should pursue eternal things like being kind and loving to those around us. We should exercise gentleness and self-giving toward others. We should deepen our faith and endure the difficult path that sometimes comes our way. When we focus on connecting with and reflecting the love of God toward others, we transform our outlook and experience a life-changing paradigm shift. 

Dear God, thank you for the many blessings in my life. Forgive me for looking the other way and for being distracted by temporary things. Please grant me the grace to be the person of love, caring, and self-giving that you created me to be. In Jesus Christ I pray, amen. 

Peace, 

Stan