It’s been a lot of fun for me to join with Dave Ramsey and thousands of other churches across America these past several weeks, talking about taking back the economy, and stop waiting for someone else to fix us.
In this series called, “Great Recovery” we’ve been talking about the six basic beliefs that can rebuild the nation. One of those is to deal with money God’s way. In the process of writing this series, I’ve come up with my own five basic money mantras. I offer them here for you in the hopes that you’ll write your own.
- Every dime, every dollar, every day is a gift from God. I never forget that because I don’t want to take the resources that God pours into my life for granted. The minute I do, pride and hubris threaten my very existence.
- I’m not an owner, just a manager. The truth of the matter is, everything I have; my car, my house, and all my other possessions that I think I own are just mine temporarily. They are passing through my life, and I’m a manager. My future is not only the fact that I can accumulate a lot of stuff, but I can manage what I have that allows them to be a blessing.
- I am blessed to be a blessing. God has poured all these resources into my life so I can use them to help other people. I’m not just a consumer and a taker, I’m a maker and a creator, a giver.
- I’m only responsible for my stuff. I find myself related to people who live lives I don’t approve of. The good thing is I am not responsible for their choices and behaviors. Yea God! Neither am I responsible for yours, and neither are you responsible for others – not even your own children. So the truth is, I accept responsibility for my stuff. I can’t accept responsibility for yours, or the government’s, or someone else around the world. All I need to do is focus on my personal responsibility.
- There will be a test at the end that benefits. If you believe the Scriptures, and I do, we’re told that there’s a point when man wants to die and after that, the judgment. I like what Don Henley said. “In the good old days, words like sin and satan had a moral certitude.
Today, they are replaced with self-help jargon; words like dysfunction and anti-social behavior discouraging any responsibility for one’s actions.” Amen, preacher Don. I want to be able to stand before God at the end of my life and hear Him say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”