Christian Living

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Larry Lilly's Letter Wednesday November 14, 2007

I was talking with a man the other day and the subject of money entered the small talk. He seemed to know a lot about money as do many people who do not have any. I listened intently as he spouted off a long list of truisms about the stuff of commerce. When I interrupted him due to the constraints of my time, he seemed offended. I really should have been nicer, but when I suggested that we stop standing around and talking all the benefits of money and get with what we do in the hope making some, well our conversation ended with a huff. I guess it's like everybody talking about heaven ain't going there.

The late Sylvia Porter who was the most well known and respected financial advisor of her time became a financial expert as the result of her widowed mother losing the family fortune in the crash of 1929. At the height of her career her column was read by 40 million people. I have never had even a day with those numbers!

Mrs. Porter said:

"Money never remains just coins and pieces of paper. Money can be translated into the beauty of living, a support in misfortune, and education, or future security. It also can be translated into a source of bitterness."

What would you do if you won the lottery? Most answers to that question reveal that most people do not have a clue as to just what money means, what it can or cannot do or why most people who hit a jackpot are broke within five years. Bible believing Christians and members of every twist of every religion fall into the same pit of monetary ignorance. One question must be answered before understanding can break through and it is seldom asked let alone answered.

What is money supposed to do? Money, how you gain it, how you use it and your attitude about it reveals the depth of your character. The old stories about selling your soul to the devil to get money have their root in truth, the truth being that each time you cut even the tiniest corner on matters of integrity in order to gain more of the coin of the realm you reveal just what you are all about. Judas Iscariot was not the first or the last man to put the value of 30 pieces of silver above a relationship. We sell out our spouse, our children, even our reputation due to a serious misunderstanding of what money will and can do.

Sylvia Porter made the above statement about money and she hit the nail on the head. Far too many of us permit money, the manner in which we gain it, or the lowdown ways in which we lose it to be a determining factor in our mental and spiritual state.

Sylvia's comment on money being a source of bitterness really caught my attention. Over four decades of pastoring and on occasion refereeing bitter fights with church members over who was going to get Mother's CD's has burned into my psyche the truth that people love money more than they love people and when this is a compelling feature in their makeup, bitterness follows as sure as night the day. God has a plan to prevent bitterness concerning money. You should look into it.

Larry Lilly Copyright © 2007 Use with credit.

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