We talked about our money, and giving to the poor this morning. Our church was studying James 5:1-6. We were shown that we are rich (even if you feel poor), comparatively. I have two pages of notes from the sermon it's self, but these are the thoughts I had personally. If you know us you know that having the fiances to live is a struggle. I have been dealing with a lot on my mind lately and money is a part of what explodes up in there on a daily basis. This is a whole different perspective, and I haven't quite worked it all out, but I thought I would share:
People who are poor are necessary to fulfill Jesus' teachings on how to treat people. With out the poor we would avoid a lot of living out the New Testament. Do poor people exist partly to grow us as Christians? Why then do we just assume that God is against us if we struggle financially? What if God's plan for our life is to be poor so that we can challenge others to give and to live out Jesus' teachings? On the flip side of that; Do the rich also exist in our lives to teach and challenge the poor? To teach them contentment and thankfulness??
The thing that gets me the most about this is, are we struggling financially to grow others? I think I would be much more ok with struggling for someone's benefit then because of something I have done, but it does put struggles in a different light to think about it this way. I haven't totally worked out what I think of this yet....just throwing my thoughts out there. I do know that these thoughts do not apply to every person struggling with money. Sometimes it really is the consequences of our own life. I was just thinking of this in perspective of the person that is faithful and responsible and still struggles. I was thinking of this personally, not necessarily as a whole.
Soooo .......tell me what you think!
1 comment:
i thought it was a great message!
this sort of thing has been on our minds lately too. i think for us it has been a struggle of discernment as was mentioned sunday. i feel like the bible urges us not to worry about what the person might do with the money & certainly not to judge why they are in the situation. but it can still feel a little confusing. i agree that we are all rich & very blessed. also, our time is such a gift to others. i think that sometimes when we feel like we don't have much there is a lot to be learned for the days when we are abundant. i think this is a topic that could go on for days. but that's my two cents for now.
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