Page 119 - Discipleship Ministries Student E-Book

Matthew 6:24 No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one
and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve both God and money.

Conclusion: Show me how you spend your money, and I can tell you how
much you love and honor the Lord. Sounds rather brash? Actually, how
you handle and distribute your money and your possessions is reflected in
your relationship with God. Debt is a reflection of your ability to trust God
to provide for you. You get into debt by spending money that you do not
have or spending more money than you have… you are telling God you do not trust HIM to provide your
needs or your desires and take spending into your own hands. We want what we want, and we want it
NOW! Our society tells us that we should put ourselves first, and that we deserve nice things. God’s
plans often require that we wait. When it comes to money and material things, we sometimes forget to
trust God fully. We don’t walk by faith in God, but rather take our lives into our own hands to figure
things out. We will be talking about debt later in this course in much more detail.

James 1: 2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3
because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its
work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

So, how should a disciple handle God’s resources?

1. Be content with what God has given you. Our yearnings will always exceed our earnings. We need
to be content with what He has given us to enjoy.

I Timothy 6: 17-18 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their
hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with
everything for our enjoyment. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be
generous and willing to share.

I Timothy 6: 6-10 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world,
and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9
Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires
that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some
people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Don’t forget that God’s role is to be our ultimate provider, and we must seek HIM first and be persistent
in prayer and obedience to His will. Be persistent in serving Him, allow Him to provide, and be humble
in receiving His blessings.

We will spend some more time on learning how to be content later in this course….

2. Place God first in Your Giving. Here is how God has designed it: Even if you do not have
much, give. God made a promise to us to bless us in proportion to our faithfulness in giving
(II Cor. 9: 6, 8, 10). We are to give with a cheerful attitude. Have you heard the saying,
“God does NOT need your money, but he wants your HEART, your love, and your
obedience?” Giving proves to Him that he has control of YOU.

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