Financial Discipleship - the Bible on SavingsSample

Flee and Submit

How can we overcome the strong temptation to multiply our wealth for the wrong reasons? By remembering to split and submit! In 1 Timothy 6:11, Paul counsels Timothy, “Flee from these things [the desire to get rich], you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.”

When you become aware of your desire to increase your riches for the wrong reason, run from that temptation and replace it with a godly pursuit. Next, submit. The ultimate way of escape is submitting to Jesus as Lord. We can do this in confidence because Jesus overcame a massive temptation to become fantastically rich. After Christ fasted forty days in the wilderness, the devil tempted Him three times. The final temptation is recorded in Luke 4:5-7 – “And he [the devil] led [Jesus] up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, ‘I will give You all this domain and its glory . . . if You worship me.’” Can you imagine that temptation? In an instant, Jesus was shown all the kingdoms of the world. However, because He was submitted entirely to the Father and was empowered by the same Holy Spirit who lives in us, He was able to resist the temptation.

I am of the opinion that our heavenly Father is far less likely to increase our resources when we are motivated simply to get rich. Wanting more – loving money – closely parallels greed. And “greed . . . amounts to idolatry” (Colossians 3:5). The Father watches jealously over His children to ensure that we will not be drawn away from loving Him with all our hearts.

(excerpt taken from Charting Your Legacy, Howard Dayton, 2022)