It is said that Love makes the world go round. I would like to point out though that without money it’s going to be a hungry, uncomfortable trip. In order to live in relative comfort one must have money. Money provides us those things that we need to survive and the extras that make our days a little brighter. In order to have a place to live, food to eat and clothing to wear, we have to have some money. We like to have more money to have what we call ‘creature comforts’ also. Appliances to help us cook our food, clean our home and clean our clothing. A little something to entertain us, a television, a computer, a grill, books, toys for the kids etc. Maybe even a little more for a vacation, a boat, or a second car.
Ok, so maybe you want a lot of money. You want to live in a big house, wear fancy clothes and own your own plane. Nothing wrong with that.
Greed, envy, lust………… Such ugly words. Do you hear the murmuring when it’s announced how much some CEO or executives of a company make, the complaints when shareholders make a profit when a company does good? We live in America where people can succeed to the tune of great wealth. It’s not reserved for those who come from wealthy families or who have some special connections somewhere. The opportunity is there for anyone. With perseverance, hard work and good decisions, money can be made.
The Bible says ….for the love of money is the root of all evil….. It doesn’t say money is the root of all evil, but ‘the LOVE OF money’.
In this world some form of currency is a necessity. Regardless of whether you use a barter system, or shells or pesos, dollars, francs etc, some form of currency is necessary to survive. Having money and desiring to have more money in and of itself isn’t wrong.
We all like to have the things money can provide. But what does your love of money cause you to think or do?
Do you love money or do you LOVE money?
The LOVE OF money is a heart issue.
When you read or hear about someone else who has earned a lot of money, or even inherited a lot of money what goes through your mind. Do you take to Facebook or Twitter to voice your dissatisfaction to the world, maybe even stir some people up?
What would you do to get or keep more money
- Have it taken away from someone who earned it
- Lie on your taxes
- Lie on a welfare/food stamp application
- Keep a wallet you found instead of turning it in
Most of us think we don’t have a problem with our thoughts about money. But, stop just a minute and look at the first item on that list. How often have you thought it’s just not right that some CEO or shareholder or company executive makes the amount of money they make? Have you gone as far as thinking that maybe the government should draft some regulations to stop that? How about determining that because it’s a ‘publicly traded’ company that you should have some say?
If someone points out that these are free enterprises and can pay as little or as much as they want to their executives, to continue to make the decisions that make the company profitable, or that publicly traded simply means that anyone can purchase stock, do you quickly try to drown them out with your comments on how it’s not fair and not right? Do you start name calling or worse cursing that person?
Do you look at things like taxes and applications for welfare/food stamps and think that it won’t hurt anyone to lie and besides, ‘I pay taxes’ so I’m just keeping my own money? Have you ever found a wallet or a large sum of money with no identification and kept it because ‘no one’s going to be able to find who it belongs to anyway’?
Do you let dissatisfaction creep into your life because someone has more money than you? Is your ability to live, work, find enjoyment in life diminished because of how you feel towards those who do have more money than you?
Money by itself is not good, it’s not bad, it just is. Loving money becomes ‘the LOVE OF money’ when we allow it to alter our thoughts and actions in ways that consume us to get more and more even at the expense of others.
What is in your heart?
DISCLAIMER: When I reference Corporate executives, I am NOT referring to those whose companies had to be bailed out by the taxpayers and still received enormous sums of money. That is a different issue altogether.
Down the Rabbit Hole 