“Live simply in order that others might simply live.” -My “friend” Lindsay at Passionate Homemaking =)

This topic keeps coming up over and over again in my life. Ask anyone in my family and they will tell you that I am probably one of THE worst money managers in the whole entire universe…that is not an understatement. This is quite interesting because I am a very organized person and love to be organized. For some reason, this has not caught on in my money/banking world. After realizing how stupid and foolish that is, I’ve decided to make the change. A change away from making foolish decisions to making wise, God-honoring decisions.

It’s not like I spend money on lofty things like a new car or on lots of excessive things, I just don’t think before I spend. So, for example, I spend a day with friends and go out to eat, go get ice cream, go to a movie, and don’t record any of that or limit myself in any way. Before I know it *poof* the money has completely disappeared from my bank account never to be seen again.

It is quite unfortunate. One summer, I interned at a church and someone in the church gave us a pretty big chunk of cash as a gift for our service and I don’t even remember where that money went. One day it was there, and the next it was gone. There was (and is) a great, big, giant hole in my pocket. This needs to stop.

One of the huge reasons that I feel compelled to start spending my money wiser is because for one, I know soon a rainy day will come and I will NEED a cushion and something to keep me afloat. And two, I know that I have been given much so that I can give. I have been blessed with a job and all I do is spend that money on myself and any activity that I want to do, never once thinking about the other people who are less fortunate around me – who do not have a job, or have a job that pays very little, or who came across a series of unfortunate events, or or or. Simply, I have been blessed with much, so I need to bless others with much.

This is not only true for me financially, but it is true for me in all of my life as well. Me, a wretched, sinful person completely dead in my sin was given life despite everything I deserved. I deserve to go to Hell for eternity. I deserve to suffer eternally for all the mistakes and wrong doings I have done. I deserve nothing good. BUT I serve a great and merciful God. For example, Ephesians 2 tells us in verses 1-10 that simply, we deserve death, but God gives us life…now walk in that GRACE:

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience-among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved-and raised us up with Him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages, he might be able to show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. This is not your own doing, it is a gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

This grace that we have been given should compel us to not only be completely satisfied in Him and Him alone, but it should compel us to want to share this amazing, perfect gift with others. There should be SUCH a joy within us to go to all the nations to make His great name known. This should happen. I am so completely and utterly guilty of it not. Why does it not?

Well, we (I) get trapped in the world, especially in America, of ME, MYSELF, AND I. It is all about me and what I can do to please myself. This is a deep, dark, black hole. And, mind you, it is only escapable through the cross. It is only escapable when you realize that Christ is the only way out of death and into life, when you realize He is the only solution to ending sin, when you realize that He is the only solution to correcting the anger, hatred, bitterness, selfishness, and sorrow. He is the ONLY one who can bring joy despite painful circumstances. He is the only one who can bring light to this dark world. He is our ONLY hope.

Questions to ask yourself: In what ways can I rearrange my budget (Or even make a budget…like I have to do) in order to spend under my means and provide for those who cannot provide for themselves? In what ways has the gospel changed my life and how do I go about sharing that GOOD NEWS with others? How can I allow the gospel to shape and form my life today? How do I “live simply in order that others might simply live”?

To Be Continued… =)