I think from the beginning God knew how large a role money and material things would play in our lives. I formed this belief simply because of the sheer number of mentions of money and possessions in the Bible.  There are 500 verses in the Bible on prayer and faith. Yet there are 2350 verses on money and possessions!

Do you find that interesting? I do. In fact, out of the 38 parables that Jesus told, 16 of them deal with money and possessions. There are more verses dealing with money in scripture than there are about heaven and hell combined! Does it intrigue you that the Bible talks so much about money? Well it does me.  So much so that I wrote and taught a 12 week bible based spiritual equipping study titled “God, Money and Me”. The first 6 weeks addressed the mindset around money and the second six weeks taught the spiritual laws around wealth.

C.S. Lewis in the classic book, Mere Christianity wrote,

“The devil always sends error into the world in pairs of opposites, and he always encourages us to spend a lot of time thinking about which is the worst. He relies on your extra dislike of the one error to draw you gradually into the opposite one. But do not let us be fooled. We have to keep our eyes on the goal, and go straight through between the two errors. We have no concern with either one of them.”

It has been my experience that when it comes to money, we tend to fall into one of two polar extremes. I have spent a lot of time in both of these extremes during the course of my life so I understand them all too well! One camp is a mindset of poverty and lack, including instant gratification and hoarding as a way of compensating for this sense of lack. The other camp is a mindset influenced by pride, and an “I deserve it” attitude as well as insatiable desires, often even addiction(s). Advertising plays on these extremes and many of us have stepped right into line following its prompts.

The interesting thing about these extremes is that they are merely symptoms of deeper issues.  It is only when we address and pull out by the roots those deeper issues including our sense of identity, purpose and understanding of who or what is our source can we ever truly be free to enjoy our Divine inheritance.  How about you?  Do you find yourself in one of these extremes?

Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.

Posted by Success Coach Brenda Byers-Im, who has discovered for herself and helped countless others discover how to prosper in ALL areas of life! Look for her free training and join her Prosper in All Things network today at https://brendabyers.com.