Reason #929
No one gets rich over night. Well, if you inherited the money you might, but someone worked for it along the way. Wealth is accumulated. Even the lottery works that way. The jackpot grows over time with each dollar put in until someone wins it. And isn't it amazing how quickly it adds up? But what's even faster than growing money is spending money. You can save for years and years and years, and yet you can spend it all in mere minutes.
I read a quote the other day that said, "Think of fifty ways to save one dollar rather than one way to save fifty dollars." Either way, you will have saved fifty dollars, but if you can find little ways to save here and there, the likelihood of those changes becoming permanent increases. Before you know it, you're saving $50 easy and it's no longer a sacrifice. I'm one of those who falls on the opposite end of the spectrum. I can think of a million ways to save a dollar because spending $50 at one time makes me anxious.
I didn't grow up lacking. My parents met my needs and wants within reason. Of course, you can teach people money skills, but simply knowing how to spend wisely won't do the trick. Discipline does the trick. I know of people who've massed great wealth only to end up bankrupt. People who have somehow spent their millions of dollars and now have nothing to show for it. People who make six figures and are also 6 figures in debt. It's never a matter of how much you make, it's how much you spend. Discipline will pad your bank account more than a fat paycheck will. Discipline will let you breathe easy as you enjoy the fruits of your labor, and discipline will benefit you in more ways than one.
When Aaron and I got married, we had to find a happy medium for spending. I had to learn to be more comfortable with spending, and Aaron had to learn to be more conscious of price tags. They say financial issues are the number one cause of divorce, and that's a real shame. There is no good reason why we shouldn't be able to control our spending. But the almighty dollar has a serious grip on our lives, and we'll do anything for it. Yet maybe what we need to do, rather than sinking ourselves into debt and chasing down dollars, is to ask the Lord for discipline. We know we don't need more. You know full well that you have more than enough. You have enough clothes, jewelry, shoes, purses, food, cars, appliances, and square footage, but do you have enough discipline? Do you have enough discipline to stop when you know you've gone too far? To put that credit card back in your wallet rather than swiping it with the intent to pay it later? Do you have enough discipline to live within your means rather than trying to live within someone else's?
Jesus came to give us abundant, full life. He didn't intend for us to tie ourselves back down in bondage to debt trying to get rich. His plan was to give us a life of freedom, not a life owned by things. He came so that we would be rich in spirit, not rich in the things of this world. So we should enjoy what the Lord has entrusted to us, and that alone. We should thank Him for our blessings and be wise in how we use them so that they do not become our burdens. After all, money is a man made thing. No matter how much or how little we have, it'll never be the right amount. But Jesus' love never ends. His love grows and grows and never runs dry. And thank goodness for that because the things of this world will pass away, but His love will remain forever. And if you ask me, Jesus was the best investment I ever made. He has done exceedingly more for me than my bank account ever could or ever will, and the funny this is, He's done it all without using a single dollar.
#929 - Because He can do more for us than our bank account ever will.
"Those who trust in their riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf." - Proverbs 11:28
I read a quote the other day that said, "Think of fifty ways to save one dollar rather than one way to save fifty dollars." Either way, you will have saved fifty dollars, but if you can find little ways to save here and there, the likelihood of those changes becoming permanent increases. Before you know it, you're saving $50 easy and it's no longer a sacrifice. I'm one of those who falls on the opposite end of the spectrum. I can think of a million ways to save a dollar because spending $50 at one time makes me anxious.
I didn't grow up lacking. My parents met my needs and wants within reason. Of course, you can teach people money skills, but simply knowing how to spend wisely won't do the trick. Discipline does the trick. I know of people who've massed great wealth only to end up bankrupt. People who have somehow spent their millions of dollars and now have nothing to show for it. People who make six figures and are also 6 figures in debt. It's never a matter of how much you make, it's how much you spend. Discipline will pad your bank account more than a fat paycheck will. Discipline will let you breathe easy as you enjoy the fruits of your labor, and discipline will benefit you in more ways than one.
When Aaron and I got married, we had to find a happy medium for spending. I had to learn to be more comfortable with spending, and Aaron had to learn to be more conscious of price tags. They say financial issues are the number one cause of divorce, and that's a real shame. There is no good reason why we shouldn't be able to control our spending. But the almighty dollar has a serious grip on our lives, and we'll do anything for it. Yet maybe what we need to do, rather than sinking ourselves into debt and chasing down dollars, is to ask the Lord for discipline. We know we don't need more. You know full well that you have more than enough. You have enough clothes, jewelry, shoes, purses, food, cars, appliances, and square footage, but do you have enough discipline? Do you have enough discipline to stop when you know you've gone too far? To put that credit card back in your wallet rather than swiping it with the intent to pay it later? Do you have enough discipline to live within your means rather than trying to live within someone else's?
Jesus came to give us abundant, full life. He didn't intend for us to tie ourselves back down in bondage to debt trying to get rich. His plan was to give us a life of freedom, not a life owned by things. He came so that we would be rich in spirit, not rich in the things of this world. So we should enjoy what the Lord has entrusted to us, and that alone. We should thank Him for our blessings and be wise in how we use them so that they do not become our burdens. After all, money is a man made thing. No matter how much or how little we have, it'll never be the right amount. But Jesus' love never ends. His love grows and grows and never runs dry. And thank goodness for that because the things of this world will pass away, but His love will remain forever. And if you ask me, Jesus was the best investment I ever made. He has done exceedingly more for me than my bank account ever could or ever will, and the funny this is, He's done it all without using a single dollar.
#929 - Because He can do more for us than our bank account ever will.
"Those who trust in their riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf." - Proverbs 11:28
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