Is our culture obsessed?
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Join a Discipleship Group1 Timothy 6:10
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil,
You can't hear anything about sports these days without the conversation drifting to how much athletes are paid. Whether football, basketball, soccer…you name it, the superstars are competing for the biggest payouts in history. It wasn't always that way. I had the pleasure of meeting 1963's most valuable player in professional baseball and he said he was paid $3,600 for the season that year.
Today's top player gets $36 million a year and that doesn't include a contract to promote their favorite shoe. Football quarterbacks are now getting $45 million a season and more when they negotiate a multi-year deal. But this year's salary is not enough so players hold out each year for even higher numbers because they think they are worth more. Even worse, they don't want another player to get more money than they do so their agents push to see how high the contract can go.
Is our culture obsessed with the love of money? This is what the Apostle Paul is addressing in today's verse. No, having money is not sin nor does God penalize financial success. Many of today's ministry efforts are supported by people who love the Lord and are affluent enough to contribute large sums.
The question you need to consider is do you have an open hand when it comes to your money and do you surrender your finances to God? Whether you have a lot or a little, a true test of whether Jesus is Lord of your life is indicated by how you handle finances. In Proverbs 3 it says we should honor the Lord by giving him a portion of the first amounts we make, no matter how small it is. When Jesus saw a widow donate the equivalent of 2 pennies, he praised her because it was a demonstration of her faith that God would provide. She gave all she had.
Being generous with your money is a reflection of your heart to surrender everything to Him. Give to your church or find a Christ-centered ministry to support and ask the Lord how much you should give. Then obey what He tells you to do. Since it all belongs to Him, think of yourself as a steward of what He has provided.