Financial Discipleship @ Work Part 1预览

The Power of Money

Managing money is not just a technical exercise but more a spiritual discipline. Jesus unmasked the power behind money and called it ‘mammon.’ Mammon competes for our devotion and service and wants to drive a wedge between us and God and between people. If the business belongs to God, every financial decision is a spiritual decision! Jesus said, "you can’t serve both God and mammon!” He wants us to be free and not to be slaves to money! The choice is ours!

This implies that if money is the only driving force behind the goals of a business, or in making important decisions, then we are serving mammon and not God. God’s will must be the driving force, and He will always provide enough to do His will.

As believers, we are in a spiritual warfare. We ought to be spending time in prayer and Bible study to arm ourselves against mammon and evil in the marketplace. Conflicts about money are probably the most common source of relationship breakdown.

At the cross, mammon was present in the form of Judas, who betrayed Jesus for 30 silver pieces. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus purchased our freedom and destroyed the power of mammon. He wants us to live in financial freedom and to be able to use the assets of the business for the well-being of people. Jesus will set you free from the power of money!

As a young entrepreneur and CEO of a chemical company at age 30, my goal was to become financially independent at age 50. That meant success in business and investing well. Money was my goal. Around age 30, we were very successful in business but that came with a price. My relationship with my wife became very strained. My health was poor due to overwork and stress. My relationship with God was almost non-existent. I remember sitting in church one Sunday and all I could think about was how to pay the bills the next day.

The focus on money was destroying my life. I joined a prayer group of Christians in business and these friends helped me to re-orient my priorities, to focus on God and not money.

Have you experienced the destructive power of money in your life? Are you trusting God or money?