What is the purpose of money?
And why does it matter how we answer this question?
John Cortines says that there are three basic ways we can view the purpose of money.
“There’s three things you can do with money. You can spend it. You can save it up, and you can serve others with it. Those are three mindsets of money, and you can build your life around any one of those three.”
How do we know if we are saver, spender, or giver? John suggests a one-question quiz anyone can take to get the answer.
“If you think about your paycheck and then tomorrow, your boss says, Hey, great news. You’ve been doing a good job. Here’s an extra paycheck. You just get a lump of money and it falls in your pocket. The question is, what’s your first thought?”
If your first thought is to buy a 65-inch TV, you might be a spender. However, if your first thought is to save the money and put it towards student loans, you might be a saver. But what’s the right answer to the question?
While there isn’t a right or wrong answer, what would happen if our first thought was, “how can I bless someone with this extra paycheck.”
“I may have some needs for provision in my life, but I’m going to pray and I’m going to praise God that he’s done this for me. I’m going to think about how I can be generous and use this provision in my life.”
Perhaps the most common money mindset is the spender. But why do we like to spend?
“When we’re chasing shiny things, it’s not inherently sinful to be doing that, but it actually just chokes us out. We become unfruitful because we’re always chasing the next experience or the next possession thinking that happiness lies on the other side of a purchase.”
John Cortines has recently decided to advance the biblical message of generosity full-time, joining the leadership team of Generous Giving.
The Bible and money
