Lets Talk About Money

"The wise has valuables and oil at home, but a fool soon runs through both."Proverbs 21:20

Last week we talked about fraud. Today lets talk about money. I will get to basics and for many of you, it will be too basic. However, it is important for the benefit of all of our readers.

To begin, I would like to clear the air and get rid of the myth that money is not important and it is bad or evil. Lets set the record straight. Money is important, extremely important if you want to live in today's society. If you are planning to live in a desolated island, money may not be important. The reality is that money is an important part of our lives, whether you want to accept or not. Pretending otherwise is foolish. Without money we cannot provide shelter, food or clothing to our families. Without money we cannot be generous and fund ministries and help the less fortunate.

What is money? Money is the harvest of our production. What we receive for our production and services, which allows us to obtain the production and services of others. You may hear people say "Money won't bring happiness", but as I travel in this journey we call life I notice that money brings more happiness than poverty. I am not saying that money is the most important thing in life and that we must elevate money to the level of God. I am just saying that money is important. To think otherwise is foolish. To be able to develop wealth this must be clear in your head.

Money is not bad nor evil by itself, what is bad or good about money depends on what we do with our money. If you take your hard earned money and provide the basics to your family, help the poor and fund ministries then your actions would put the money to good use. If you take your hard earned money and use it to fund your vices and develop illegal activities, then your actions put your money to bad use. In my opinion what is bad is your desire for money above all things and at all cost. That is when you become a slave of money.

However, the pursuit of money leads to your own destruction. It is proven over and over, just look around. Have you noticed that those who go in the pursuit of money (aka money slaves) are those heavily in debt, work grueling hours for a compensation that does not cover their basics, money is never enough (the more they have the more they spend), money never lasts (the faster they earn it, the faster they spend it), are constantly worrying where they’re going to get the money to pay for they bills and are willing to do almost anything to get it (money slaves?).

Money has the ability to reveal our true person. It is easy to say "I am a good person", "I am a Christian", "I help the ones in need", blah, blah, blah. I tell them, show me your checkbook and we will see. The way YOU use money reveals more than words. The use of money reveals who you really are. If you are greedy, money simply shows your greed. If you are dishonest, money will highlight this characteristic. If you’re poor minded, money doesn’t help you because you can’t control it. If you are a fool, you’re soon parted from it.


Having a clear understanding about money and its proper place in our lives and use of it will help us be better prepared to develop wealth. Does money equal wealth? Definitely not. Money is only a small part of wealth, it is only one of the many resources available to build wealth. Money in the hands of the unwise just makes a fool with money and the prime candidate for frauds and devoured by alligators. Money is just a tool to serve us, never for us to serve money. Having a clear understanding of the proper place of money in our lives will prevent us from ending up being slaves of money.