"You have to work hard to offend Christians. By nature, Christians are the most forgiving, understanding, and thoughtful group of people I've ever dealt with. They never assume the worst. They appreciate the importance of having different perspectives. They're slow to anger, quick to forgive, and almost never make rash judgments or act in anything less than a spirit of total love . . . No, wait--I'm thinking of Labrador retrievers!" David Learn, 1998

Thursday, January 27, 2011

HOW TO BE RICH - (1) Be grateful

NOTE: This starts a series, Faith and Finances, which will include three posts on "How to Be Rich" and six on "Holy Spirit or Madison Avenue?" which may offer more personal help to you than you think in struggling with your financial priorities.

Three Biblical principles will ensure you will always be wealthy.

Principle #1: BE GRATEFUL
     The United Nations defines "rich" as "having more than you need."
     How much more? According to Mr. Micawber in Charles Dickens' novel David Copperfield, "Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, expenditure twenty pounds nought and six, result misery."
     Being rich is an attitude, a choice. It is seeing yourself as having enough. The Bible talks about godliness with contentment being great gain, 1 Timothy 6:6-7. We can be content with what we have when we realize that we have Him and He is enough. (People I know and people I have read about who have been stripped of everything but Him verify that fact.)
     Clarke's Commentary, in commenting on verse 6 (scroll down to Parallel Commentaries for several good ones), says, "So, if a man have the life of God in his soul, and just a sufficiency of food and raiment to preserve and not burden life, he has what God calls great gain, an abundant portion."
     I am not an expert at being contented but sometimes when I walk through a store I find myself overwhelmed with gratitude that I don't need anything in it.

Today I am thankful for curly fries.  They're cute as pigs' tails and fun to eat and they taste good. I'm also thankful I don't need them.

No comments:

Post a Comment