here's an excerpt from the book i'm reading now by Richard Foster - The Challenge of the Disciplined Life - Christian Reflections on money, sex, and power
"We badly need a conversion in our understanding of ownership. Perhaps we need to stamp everything in our possession with the reminder "Given by God, owned by God, and to be used for the purposes of God." We need to find ways to remind ourselves over and over again that the earth is the Lord's, not ours."
i think personally, this is smthg that I haven't thought about in a longgg time... it's a simple truth, yet i think it's hard to live out...i think of all the things i own (car, clothes, school stuff, money, etc) and really, how often do i consciously remember that it is given by God, owned by God, and to be used for God's purposes? It's hard... i think it definitely brings a different perspective on going shopping as i love to do... and also on the things i own...
it was also very interesting...cuz Richard Foster also said that in order to act upon the biblical call to faithfulness wrt our money, we need to understand with feelings that have shaped our understanding of money. One of these things he mentioned was that "by a conscious act of the will, let us stop denying our wealth."
i like Foster, he's very straight-forward, to the point, and he hits you hard with truths...
he's advised us to stop comparing our own wealth to others like ourselves, so that we can claim comparative poverty, but rather we should become world citizens, looking at ourselves i relation to all humanity..
more from Foster -->
random stat --> those who own a home are among top 95% wealthy people in the world
he goes on to list a bunch of other things, like the fact that altho we have a difficult time balancing our own budgets, we are among the very wealthy..
"but please note that this is not intended to make us feel guilty; it is intended to help us capture an accurate picture of the real situation in the world. We are wealthy. The very fact that we have leisure time to read a book or watch television means that we are wealthy. We do not need to be ashamed of our wealth or try to hide it from ourselves and others. It is only as we admit our wealth and quit trying to run from it that we are in a position to conquer it and use it for God's purposes."
sooo interesting eh? as i typed that quote above, it really brings to light my own personal wealth situation... i'm in my Masters of Accounting, gonna write my UFE in Sept and hopefully get my CA, will be making good money once i graduate... in addition, i remember so many times, especially during the few beginning years of university..i was actually ashamed to bring people to my house because I didn't want people to know of my family's wealth and I didn't want people to view me differently as a "rich, spoiled girl"... little did i realize that in doing so, i was inadvertently trying to hide my wealth... which is exactly what Foster is warning us not to do!
i think today's readings have been a very good reminder to conquer my ashamed attitude towards my wealth and now step forward to use it for God's good purposes.
the past few months, God has been shaping me and challenging me to give more to church, to charities, to friends going away on missions, to my sponsor kids, etc... and i think the missing link that now i've come to grips with is really admitting my wealth. Thanks God =)