Who Really Owns Your Money?
Money mixed with Spirituality is such a hot topic. Over thousands of years the topic of money seems to cause extreme reactions of various sorts. Unfortunately, when you talk about Money and Church in the same breath, it becomes a strong reason why people are not interested in listening and in some cases, some view money to be evil.
In spite of your current view on money, I believe that to live in order of priority according to the way God intends, we definitely need to have the proper perspective, purpose and role that money plays in our lives and spirituality. In this post I am going to lay the foundation that I believe we ought to have in order to see and use money in the right way.
Who Owns Your Money?
Throughout the entire Bible there are roughly 2,350 verses concerning money. This is roughly twice as many as faith and prayer combined. Fifteen percent of everything Jesus said related to money and possessions.
He spoke about money and possessions more than heaven and hell combined. The only subject Jesus spoke of more often is the Kingdom of God. Why? Because Scripture makes clear there is a fundamental connection between a person’s spiritual life and his/her attitudes and actions concerning money and possessions.
Often we divorce the two – Christ sees them as essentially related to one another.
One of the main issues of conflict is clarity on who owns the money and possessions in the first place?
There can really only be two answers to this question:
- I own my own money and my possessions
- God owns my money and my possessions
Having a clear answer to this is what would give meaning to its purpose.
If you are not a believer and follower of Jesus, then it makes sense to think that you own your money and possessions. However, a true believer and follower of Jesus when becoming a Christian is called to lose his life (Luke 9:24). He becomes a new creation (2 Cor 5:17). And this ought to have a huge impact on how we view everything we own.
Paul wrote in Rom 12:1-2 that because of God’s mercy and grace shown to us we ought to offer ourselves as living sacrifices…. Even in the Old Testament David understood that his role was to be the servant while God is the one that gives and owns everything. Read his prayer in 1 Chronicles 29:10-18
David’s Prayer
10 David praised the LORD in the presence of the whole assembly, saying,
“Praise be to you, LORD,
the God of our father Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
11 Yours, LORD, is the greatness and the power
and the glory and the majesty and the splendour,
for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, LORD, is the kingdom;
you are exalted as head over all.
12 Wealth and honour come from you;
you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power
to exalt and give strength to all.
13 Now, our God, we give you thanks,
and praise your glorious name.
14 “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.
15 We are foreigners and strangers in your sight, as were all our ancestors. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.
16 LORD our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you.
17 I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things I have given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you.
18 LORD, the God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Israel, keep these desires and thoughts in the hearts of your people forever, and keep their hearts loyal to you.
The Right Attitude Towards Money
From the passages above, it should be fair to say that for the believer in Jesus, the right attitude to have towards money should be that:
- God owns everything in heaven and earth
- Wealth and honour all comes from God
- God is the one that gives strength to all to accomplish things in life
- The one thing we can purposely do with our finances is to honour God
What has your attitude towards money been?