Money is only a problem when we look at it through the world's eyes. We think of it as ours. We think we earn it. We think we get to keep it. I've performed many funeral services, though. Not once were they able to take it with them.
It's not ours, it's God's. Everything came from God, belongs to God, and is entrusted into our care by God. When we look at things through this perspective, it changes everything...for the better. Whenever you receive money, like from a paycheck, try to think of it this way. Release it back to God in your mind. Then, receive it back from God to remind you it was placed in your care. Finally, redistribute it for God's purposes. When you do, it will relieve you of the pressure and worry.
Seeking God's Kingdom and God's Righteousness changes the way you spend God's money. Seeking righteousness may remove things from your spending list that really don't take you down the righteous path. Seeking God's Kingdom will cause you to think about where the money will best bring people to and build people up into Christ, who is the head of God's Church.
"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one-- I in them and you in me--so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:20-23 NIV)
God intends us to work together - to be in unity with one another. Jesus asked God to glorify Himself through us. Jesus asked the Father to reveal Himself to the world through our unity with one another. I've heard people talk about the invisible Kingdom of God that cuts across churches and denominations around the world. Jesus, though, prayed for God's Kingdom to be visible through all of us - wonderfully diverse connected in unity.
"This, then, is how you should pray: "'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:9-10 NIV)
So how about you? Do you pray for God's Kingdom to come and God's Will to be done here on earth as it is in heaven? Do you strive to be the answer to Jesus' prayer, living in unity with the rest of God's Church? Do you release, receive, and redistribute the resources God entrusted into your care to use them for God's purposes? Do you worry about money, or have peace because you seek His Kingdom and His Righteousness?
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