The True Purpose of Money | A Blog Series on MONEY Part 3 of 5
“When God gives more you, it’s to raise your standard of giving, not your standard of living.” - Randy Alcorn
In this blog series on money we’ve looked at, What it means to be truly, authentically wealthy and Deconstructing Your Income
Now lets take a look at the true purpose of money.
God gives us money to increase our standard of giving, not just our standard of living. Once I woke up to the power of money a few years ago, I've been on a long journey of digging into the true purpose of money. It fascinates me how we have so much money living in the first world, yet many people live in a sense of lack, often feeling like they don't have enough.
It doesn’t make sense because I recall times while I was travelling. I had very “little” money, but those were some of my happiest times in life!
Right now as I work a full-time job and I have a consistent regular income, I'm getting a precious opportunity to really dissect and practice the money at principles and habits I want to have in this lifetime.
Money has spiritual power. Money has real power. Money can convince people to do things that they would not otherwise do. Money can set people free. To have money, in any amount, is a great blessing. It's something that we are given to steward.
“What do you do with your resources in this life is your autobiography.” - Randy Alcorn
I own nothing. It’s all God’s.
I’m just God’s money manager.
When I remember that I actually own nothing, I am free. I am only here on earth for a short time and while i’m here, everything is a gift! Even the breath in my lungs is a gift. Each new day is a gift. I will remind myself of this gift aspect of life for my entire life. I never want to forget that every day is a gift. While reading the book, “The Law Of Rewards” by Randy Alcorn, he has a page that is a contract to give over all of your assets to God. There is space at the bottom of the page where you sign and date the contract. I did it. And I choose to remember and live in the space of freedom, having given God care of my assets.
Sure, there are days where are days I forget and my human self takes over and I wander off into unhelpful thoughts, but this contract is an anchor in my consciousness. I love remembering and knowing that God holds the hold universe together and he can do just fine with my financial life. In fact, God can do a much better job of managing my finances than I can since he knows everything that going on in the world.
In this part of the series, I'd like to share some of key spiritual principles of money and reveal it’s true purpose.
Money is given to us to steward.
Stewarding is a word that I don’t hear much of outside of spiritual circles, yet it’s a beautiful and powerful word. Just money and our lives are a gift, we are given these gifts to Steward them. Stewarding means that you put something to it’s highest use. SOmetimes it’s a practical use, but sometimes it a love-based use.
Our words affect how to treat money.
Personally, I’ve chosen to take the word “spend” out of my vocabulary. I no longer “spend” money. I use it. I allocate it. I distribute it. I share it. Spending infers that something is empty one it is used up. If I’m spent, I’m finished. I have no energy and I need to take a few days off to rest. It is not possible to totally spend our abundance. We always have something to give, like a kind word, a hug or a snack to share. This practice of saying I use/allocate/distribute/share my money is powerful. Try it and you’ll see.
Likewise, I also avoid saying that something is “my money.” Is it really my money? No, as I mentioned above. I’ve already signed the sacred contract to give all of my assets over to God. Then, it’s as if God has given me back the life I have to life and some money to function in this life. Most of all, I believe that we are given money to learn how to use it. Why would God (or the universe, a higher power of your understanding. For now, please don’t get caught up on the word “God”. Choose a word that resonates with you if God does not.) give me more money if I have yet to learn how to effectively steward the money that I am currently given?
Changing How I Relate to Money Is Changing My Life
Adopting this attitude towards money has set me free from complaining about the amount of money that I have. I currently work for a charity and it's common knowledge in the nonprofit world, that if you work for a non-profit you'll get paid less than if you work in the corporate world. For a long time I held on to the story and in my secret place with God I would complain and be got grudgingly ask God when am I going to make more money. This kind of attitude towards any life situation is not fruitful. It basically leads to a dead end where I just keep complaining. I knew that I needed to stop this. so in my secret place of prayer, I let God speak to me.
It took many conversations with God but it's finally sunk in: the amount of money that I am given right now is exactly the right amount for what I mean and what I need to learn. I'm also receiving different forms of abundance and blessings and reward that are not just money. and I am learning to identify what those other forms of blessings are, and to be extremely grateful for them. I trust that their job arrangement I have right now is exactly perfect for what I need in life.
Just having more money doesn't necessarily solve my problems. I may think I want more money because I think it's going to solve my problems, but when I look more clearly I can see how God has actually set up my jobs in a way where those problems I want to solve are already solved. For example my main full-time job is extremely flexible, I can work from home pretty much any day I want. The hours are extremely flexible my management is chill and the projects are fun and easy. There are many blessings in this.
In conclusion:
I trust that more money will come to me when it's the right in my life and when I'm ready for it. Until then I love diving into the true purpose of money, trusting I have the exact right amount for what I'm supposed to have right now. I put my energy into learning how to use, allocate, distribute and share the money that I'm currently given. this brings a sense of freedom and contentment to my life that, frankly, is worth money!
In this article, I've only scratched the surface of the true purpose of money. I'll write more about this in the future the purpose of money is to fulfill our life purpose. It's to give. It's to love. It's to share. It's to learn how to channel this powerful resource in ways that heal our planet heal our souls and build a heaven on Earth. To know if you're using your money and the right way, you can ask yourself, am I using my money to give?
Am I using my money to love, both myself and others?
Am I using my money to share? Are there ways I'm being called to share my money?
Where am I being called to invest my money?
Am I using my money to build the most beautiful world my heart knows as possible?
Of course, these might seem like very deep questions when all you want to do is buy a latte on your way to work. I'm not saying that you have to ask yourself this with every single little purchase, but I can speak from experience that if you spend time answering these questions for yourself you will find a new zest for living and freedom. You will no longer be able to be controlled by others and how they think you should spend your money. you will know exactly how God wants you to use the money that you're given, and when you're using your money in this way you will feel a certain teed deep in your soul that more is coming. Because you know how to steward it well.
I love talking about money because it’s it's so empowering to know what to do with this incredible resource that we have, especially if you live in the first world with access to jobs add opportunities to work with Incredible business.
I'll leave you with this little thought: if you work a full-time job in the modern world you will make million dollars in your lifetime. Possibly a lot more than just 1 million. So what will you do with this money? What will you do with the time that you're given?
Imagine if you learned how to use $10,000 wisely and then you discovered that God would give you 50,000, and then a hundred thousand? These are the kinds of questions that will only be answered by actually trying. By taking time with God and with yourself to look at the reality of your life add to see it the way God sees it. Everything is a blessing. Trust.
Dive into all 5 parts of the this blog series on Money:
Part 1: What It Means To Be Truly, Authentically Wealthy
http://www.anitawinglee.com/blog/authentically-wealthy-money-part-1-of-5
Part 2: Deconstructing and Appreciating Your Income (No Matter How Much You Make)
http://www.anitawinglee.com/blog/deconstructing-appreciating-your-income-part-2-of-5
Part 3: The True Purpose Of Money
http://www.anitawinglee.com/blog/the-true-purpose-of-money-money-part-3-of-5
Part 4: How To Spend Your Money Most Wisely
http://www.anitawinglee.com/blog/spend-your-money-most-wisely-money-part-4-of-5
Part 5: Totally Surrendering My Finances To God
http://www.anitawinglee.com/blog/totally-surrendering-my-finances-to-god-money-part-5-of-5
