I have obviously been doing a lot of thinking lately about what I want us to do with our lives (John and me) and I keep thinking about how easy it is to get caught up in money here in Dallas and not even realize that you are doing it. I mean, this is the place where women dress up to go to Target, the place where people try to look their best at church on Sunday, not for God, but for each other. This is the place where women wear makeup to the gym...to get sweaty, the place where there are at least 6 malls within 15 miles of my house, not to mention thousands of stores that are separate from the malls. This is a city where thousands of Christians are in debt because of their over exuberant spending with money that they do not have. This is the place where money ultimately rules our lives. It is scary to me to live here. I have lived here all of my life and have been caught up in all of this for my entire life without realizing how absolutely ridiculous it was. I went to private school. I have always been surrounded by this and I have always joined in. But, do I want to raise my kids in this kind of environment? I don't think so. I am not in any way saying that you cannot be a follower of Christ in Dallas, but I am saying that I think it's VERY hard to be a follower of Him and not get caught up in this desire for more more more.
So, since this has been weighing on me heavily, I decided to look up money and wealth verses. This is what I found. I know that God blesses some of us with money, but no where in the Bible does it then say that we should use that money selfishly and for ourselves only. Sure we give our 10% here in Dallas, but we keep the rest of it for ourselves and feel ok about it, and most of us have to because we have to use that money to pay off our continuously growing credit card debt!
Ecclesiastes 5:10
Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless.
Matthew 6:24
"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
1 Timothy 6:10
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Hebrews 13:5
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
2 Chronicles 1:11
God said to Solomon, "Since this is your heart's desire and you have not asked for wealth, riches or honor, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you have not asked for a long life but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people over whom I have made you king,
Psalm 49:20
A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish.
Proverbs 11:28
Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.
Proverbs 22:1
A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.
Proverbs 11:4
Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.
Matthew 13:22
The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.
1 Timothy 6:17
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.
Revelation 3:17
You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.
1 comment:
Hey Sarah :-) Happy Friday! Having lived away from Dallas for several years now, I'm with you about the bent toward materialism there. It is one of the hardest things for me to get used to when we come back into town. I know it is totally possible to live a life sold out to Christ and be untouched by materialism in Dallas (I've been blessed to see many examples), but it was always a struggle for me when I lived there. I cared way too much about what everyone else thought.
On the flip side, where I live now is an environment which is more or less hostile to Christianity. Not just apathetic, but often openly antagonistic. It's scary to imagine raising kids in a place where so few would share any of their beliefs and basic values. So it's also a challenging place to be a Christian but in a different way than the challenges I experienced in Dallas.
Through Christ, we can live our lives for Him in all circumstances including materialism and hostility... but yeah, it can be hard. And it requires constant viligence. And I haven't figured it out either!!
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