Money Is Everything!

from Stewardship Nuggets by Herb Miller

“Money plays a major role in our personalities…

“The way money exerts these enormous influences in our lives is determined less by how much of it we have than by the philosophy we have adopted regarding money.

“That personal philosophy determines how we think and behave regarding money, and tends to fall into one of four general patterns:

1. Some people insist that money is not important. ‘Money does not buy happiness,’ they often say.
2. Other people insist that money is the most important thing in life. ‘Money is not the key to happiness,’ they say, ‘but if you have enough of it, you can have a key made!’
3. Still other people say that life is like two lanes of traffic. ‘Money is important in the material lane but not in the spiritual lane,’ they seem to say. ‘To connect with God, you move to the spiritual lane—you pray. To be in touch with the real world, you move to the material lane—you run in the rat race, trying to make a buck.’
4. Jesus held a fourth view. Jesus said that money is everything—not in the usual sense of that term but in the spiritual sense. Jesus did not divide reality into two parts—the material and the spiritual. He said that the way we think and behave with regard to money impacts us both physically and spiritually. Its use and misuse affect our relationship with God and the quality of our life. ‘For Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also,’ Jesus said (Luke 12:34), illustrating his point with a story about a rich man who tried to achieve a quality life by building more barns to hold his wealth. The punch line says, ‘So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God’ (Luke 12:21).” [Money Is/Isn’t Everything, Herb Miller]

Which of those four views describes your philosophy of money?

Last updated: 2006-09-05