Growing up in eastern North Carolina….I frequently heard it said that money talks.
Well for most of my life, if money talked, it said “good bye.” Either that or I needed a hearing aid.
Praise God, that’s not anymore the situation any more.
But here’s the question, I want you to consider during this teaching….if your money talks what is it saying about you.
Have you ever noticed that many people become uncomfortable when the pastor talks about money? Everyone is happy as long as he talks about grace, mercy, faith, or love. However, when the subject turns to money, some become extremely quiet, while others just tune out what he is saying.
I asked the Lord, “Why is it that your children react so negatively when the preacher talks about money?”
The Lord’s answer startled me. He said, “Harold, it’s because their money will tell on them.”
I asked, “What do you mean. Lord?”
He said, “Everyone at church is supposed to love me. However, you will never know who really loves me until you spend about thirty minutes looking through their checkbooks from the last few years. Only then will you know who they really love the most.”
What you just heard may surprise you, but the following verse should make it clear.
… where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Matthew 6:21
Notice our Lord doesn’t say where your heart is, your treasure will be. He says, where you treasure is, your heart will be. In other words, your heart (or your interest) will follow your treasure.
If you put your treasure in a motor boat, your heart will follow it to the open sea. If you put it in a motor home, your heart will be on the open road. However, if you regularly put your treasure into the things of God, your heart will always be with Him.
I grew up in a church where money wasn’t talked about…I never remember hearing anything said about tithing….but they did like money…..the church of my childhood had a simple financial policy “get what you can, save what you can and sit on the can.”
My Mom and Dad used to pick up kids and bring them to church….I remember one summer that wanted the church to pay their way to summer camp and the response from the deacons was no because it would take the savings account under 100K….now this is a church of less than 100 people in a town of less than 3K people.
My fine wife Bev and I, along with my parents paid for these children to go to church camp.
I remember when we left the church of my youth to attend First Assembly of God….one of the deacons, the one who handled the money, said, we’re sure going to miss you and he smiled.
In my spirit, I knew what he was going to miss….it was my money, as Bev and I were not only the largest givers to the church, we were the only ones who tithed on a regular basis.
In fairness, I must say that you can’t have faith for what you don’t have knowledge of…that’s why there is so much misunderstanding in the church about money.
The majority of the Church misunderstands what the Word of god teaches about money. They make the mistake of thinking money is evil. We have all heard people try and argue against the biblical message of abundance by saying, “But the Bible says money is the root of all evil.”
The Bible doesn’t say money is the root of all evil. It says the love of money is the root of all evil.
For the love of money is the root of all evil … 1 Timothy 6:10
God is not against your having money. He just doesn’t want money to have you. God never wants money to rule your life. If you start to love money, it will not be long before it becomes your master, making it impossible for you to properly serve God.
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon (money). Matthew 6:24
Prosperity is not what you have. . .it’s what has you.
Harold Herring is President of the Debt Free Army, an organization he co-founded with Brother John Avanzini. He is also the new President of Millionaire University.
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