Love Money

"But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 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 6:6-10

Wow!! You go Paul!! What an indicting treatise on our credit addictions. We want it, whatever it is, and we want it now!! I have been a fool in this manner. Have you? I once took a necessary pay reduction a couple years back and presumed it would hopefully be able to be returned soon and did not adjust my lifestyle accordingly and used credit to live beyond my means. With the creeping debt I already had and a few surprises and BOOM!!! I was way upside down. The pay reduction continued and I still had the credit debt, with rising interest costs. Not the first time either. I had done this twice before without the noble justifications and here I was in the same pickle, just not wondering why. The third time really was a charm. I have adjusted the lifestyle, stopped the credit spending and am midway through a sacrificial repayment program. The new austerity and sensibility has been rewarding. One of the keys to my grief relief has been my total commitment to tithing, frugality and good stewardship. I can't say I can really tell that anything is so terribly different, but combining responsibility with restraint, without changing my heart for generosity has somehow blessed me immeasurably. I have peace and contentment and even with my heavy payment obligation I seem to be doing better month to month than ever. Who would have ever thought that self-control and discipline could solve anything? Needless to say I am feeling just a little self-conscious about my transparency here and will try to be a better example from now on. How about you? Are you convicted about this? Are you out of control? Are you in denial? Are you willing to let God be the Lord of your Almighty Money? I have attached an email that I read regularly; "Matt about Money" for your consideration. You can subscribe if you want to if you want Biblical advice about all things financial.