Money Mentalities Part 2

Monday Morning Commentary

All month long we are focusing on the topic of money. Yesterday, Pastor Chad focused his message again on the idea that the mentality we have concerning money will either hinder our faithfulness to God or serve our faithfulness to God. Our mentality (what we know to be true) about money, must be fixed if we are going to ever have stability in the area of finances. 

Jesus says in Matthew 6:24, “You cannot serve God and mammon.” Jesus is telling us that money seeks to divert our loyalty to God; therefore, we have to be aware of this and not allow money to master us. The apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 6 says that godliness is to be the goal of every believer. Godliness means our aim in life is to please the Father. But for many, the temptation is to replace this goal and pursue worldly gain instead. Or even more serious, some people are deceived to think that godliness is the means to gain. 

Paul continues in his letter to Timothy and reiterates the teaching of Jesus that believers are to ensure that their loyalty is to God and not to this world. Money seeks to cause you to pursue the things of the world; its pleasures, its comforts, its riches. But that is exactly what the Father seeks to give His children. 

So why pursue the form the world offers when only the Father gives pleasure that endures, comfort that remains and riches that do not waste away? Instead pursue the Kingdom. Pursue the will and the heart of the Father. This is what Jesus did when He walked the Earth. He did not allow his loyalty to be divided. He did not seek the ways of this world or what He could gain from it. Jesus’s pursuit was to please the Father! What are you pursuing? 

To pursue the Father means to make a choice of love. You can love God or you can love money. You can love God or you can love the world. You can love God or you can love self. For Jesus, the choice was to love the Father. He understood that nothing in the world was worthy of His love. Everything a person gains in this world ultimately perishes. When you live with that understanding, it opens up your heart to be able to fix your choice and mind to pursue only that which is eternal. What are you choosing to love? 

God’s will for your life and your obedience to walk in it – that is eternal! You will enjoy the reward of obedience for eternity so making the choice to serve God is a worthy way to live. You could choose to serve the world system; eventually you’ll find that it fails. You’ll lose a contract; you’ll lose a client; you’ll lose your job. And the world will not offer to care for you. You’ll be left to fend for yourself. In His goodness, God honors your choice to love Him and serve Him by giving you all that you need here on the Earth. When your heart is set to pursue the Father, when your choice is to love Him and serve Him, you will find yourself cared for by a faithful God. 

Fix your mind! Pursue the Father. Choose to love Him and serve Him. Then, see that He alone can satisfy.