Defining my relationship with money is not easy since I didn’t get much of an opportunity to get to know him when I was younger – he didn’t stay around very long. I’m relieved when he’s around – he can be very helpful when needed – life can be very challenging when he is absent. 

He is the type that needs to be told what to do and where to go, otherwise he tempts me to see how I could use him in all sorts of ways. If I don’t use him properly, he diminishes or is unavailable. He even says, if you want more of me around, you need to work harder, longer and extend yourself or, borrow more of him to get things.

I understand that Money is spiritual and is the opposite of God. For God to increase, it is me that needs to decrease. Money wants me to increase, to think more highly about myself than I really ought to think. Money tries to convince me that my abilities and hard work are really what has increased wealth in my life. God, on the other hand, desires that I see that the abilities and talents I have to generate wealth are actually gifts from Him. God wants me to walk humbly through this life with him, while Money wants me to be proud of my accomplishments. 

Money tries to convince me that he is here mainly for my personal benefit and I need to keep him around to secure my future. God, on the other hand, is my future; my eternity is in Him. He convinces me to “be generous and willing to share.” God prefers my security be in Him and use the wealth that He has blessed me with wisely. He knows that too much of Money might find a place in my heart – so much so that my dependence on Money grows and my dependence on Him shrinks. God calls me to be financially dependent (on Him).