Who do you serve?

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“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Matthew 6:24)

Photo credit: ©iStockphoto/tntemerson

Money is one of the most powerful tools in this world. It can be a tool for blessing, but most often it is a tool to enslave people into serving it, pursuing it, dreaming of it, and so turning away from God.

We all need money, that’s a fact. But the key issue is how we relate to it.

That brings to my mind a quote from Leigh Anne Tuohy from the book “The blind side”, by Michael Lewis (she was played by Sandra Bullock in the movie that was based on this book):

“God gives people money to see how you’re going to handle it”.

That quote showed up in the book after Mr. Lewis described a lot of things that the Tuohys have done to help their community, mainly poor african american students. They had already helped a lot of people before they had contact with Michael Oher, which is the starting point of the plot of the movie. If you only watched the movie, you don’t know about that.

That quote is used as if their generosity needed to be explained, as if it isn’t the “normal” attitude expected from someone with a good financial situation.

But Leigh Anne makes a good point. You are responsible for handling the money God gives you and showing through it where your heart really is.

God’s followers don’t necessarily have to be poor or rich, but either way they need to have a different approach to money. And according to the apostle John, the way we deal with money shows our love for God:

If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. (1 John 3:17,18)

As we talked before, love is action, and what we do with our money shows who we really love: God or money. It’s that simple.

We are responsible for our brothers and sisters well being. God bless them through us, He provides to the needy by using the resources He gives to us, to you and to me.

We have to use money as a blessing, as a way to change other people’s lives, not only for our own benefit. We need God’s guidance on requesting it and using it.

Because when God gives someone money or any other resource, He expects him/her to do the right thing with it, and He will hold them accountable for it.

From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. (Luke 12:48)

Question for you: if you had money only to barely survive, what would you miss most that you would no longer afford?

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