A Warning from Billy Graham
There is nothing wrong with men possessing riches. The wrong comes when riches possess men. (Billy Graham)
Prosperous or Possessed?
Paul offering advice to a young Christian leader named Timothy had this to say about greed.
Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (1 Timothy 6:9-11 NV)
In our materialistic culture, how can we tell if we are being tempted by greed? Because as Billy Graham says, there’s no sin attached to being wealthy.
Here are 4 warning signs:
Do you tithe your income? Tithing is an Old Testament practice. You won’t lose your salvation it you don’t give 10% to the church, in order to keep the lights on. It’s not required.
But it’s wise.
Giving a percentage back to the Lord every time we get paid is a reminder that all our blessings ultimately come from Him.
Are we honest in our financial dealings? If a cashier gives us too much change, do we return the extra money? Do we pay back money we owe? Honestly pay our taxes? Each time we do these things, our lives become a little more free of greedy impulses.
Do you gamble or play the lottery? It’s your money. Spend it any way you want to. But when people dream of hitting the jackpot, What does their dream-self spend the money on?
This mental exercise can be very revealing.
When the Holy Spirit nudges you to give money away, do you obey? I’ll be frank with you, these requests can be annoying. Because Jesus is serious about freeing our hearts from the devil’s deadly trap. So sometimes He’ll ask us to give more than we’re comfortable with.
Have we given Jesus the right to tell each of us how to spend our money? Or do we continue to have the deciding vote.
The Soapy Testimony
A Christian woman in Alaska had only one bar of soap left and winter had almost begun. There’d be very few flights in to provide supplies during the months of darkness and bad weather. Soon a neighbor knocked on her door. Innocently she asked for a bar of soap.
Immediately he Holy Spirit started working in the Christian’s heart. Giving in, she blessed her neighbor with her last bar, but inwardly she was raging about the unfairness of it all.
It’s been many years, but since that day, this Christian woman has never had to buy another bar of soap.
Soap bars show up in the mail, or are handed to her as free samples. Bars come to her in all sorts of ways, but she never runs out of soap.
This proves my point. The Holy Spirit has a wonderful sense of humor.
My Spiritual Point
God’s not trying to hide any blessing from us. Instead he want’s to help us avoid one of the devil’s worst traps. Greedy people are never satisfied; never truly happy or content. Because they always want more.
Instead, our Creator wants to give us inner peace. Just follow His leading.
These images came from Pixabay.com.
Editor’s note: I am publishing this post two days early because of personal circumstances.
