reflections
WHO OWNS YOU?
BY DINO MICIANO
Money shapes our lives, our thinking and our decision making. So why bring that up in a column about faith?
Jesus once said: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” – Matthew 6:21. Jesus was wise to point out that the human “heart” or soul follows treasures and not the other way around.
Money competes for the control of our soul. It is limited but yet we live our lives as if it will never run out. How? We borrow and the problem is not knowing when to stop. There is a big difference between having a “standard of living” and “quality of life.”
Every opportunity we have, we attempt to raise the “standard of living” to satisfy our hearts desires. There is no limit to how high of a standard of living we want because we achieve that by borrowing money and acquiring things which lead to debt.
What I’m saying is that we can elevate our “standard of living” by getting into debt. That’s when life starts to get messy and our soul starts to get compromised in our walk of faith.
Money and things start to choke away everything else, especially the things that really matter.
When we start drowning in debt, we start to become prisoners of our own doing and the pressure gets to us. We may have elevated our standard of living but we end up sacrificing the quality of our lives.
We lose sleep and peace knowing that we may be paying off that debt for most of our adult life. Who wants to live that way? Yet many do thinking that raising the standard of living will produce happiness. It does but only for a split second and all the excitement eventually disappears.
A person of faith should focus on having a “quality of life.” We can only change the quality of life by being aware that life is limited, time is limited, resources are limited and our days are limited as well. Many will say at this point that we need to “live within our means.”
But there’s a better way of looking at it. Living within our means can mean my spending is equal to my income.
If that is the case then we consume everything we’ve earned but have nothing for a rainy day. What happens when there’s an emergency? What do we do when we realize we need to change the car tires, or when it’s time to change the leaky roof? Where do we get our financial resources when we’ve lived within our means by spending all of our income.
Jesus said in Luke 16:13 – “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” It all boils down to who is the master of our hearts – God or money?
So here are some steps to take to have some control over our finances:
1. Decide that you won’t get in debt and be a slave to your finances.
2. Set some space, make room, between your income and spending. In other words, don’t spend it all. Live instead on a percentage of your income. Set aside a percentage for your future, for your present, and be generous with your wealth.
3. Spy on your money. Log in your income and expense. Know where your money is going to go and check if you are living within your goals.
4. Cut any unnecessary spending and pay off your debt.
5. In everything you do, always ask – Does this bring praise and glory to God? The chief competitor of your heart is your stuff. Jesus knew it and preached it. He reminds us that we either serve God or we serve money
Life is better when we allow space between our resources and our spending. Space means to set aside some for tomorrow and learn to live within a percentage of your income today. It allows us to breath and spend quality time with God, our loved ones and the beauty around us.
Dino Miciano
Pastor
NetWork Christian Church
