Feeling optimistic or pessimistic these days about your finances? We have encountered a lot of challenges in recent years and but maybe we probably don't feel like we will ever get back to the place of contentment we were in before. Or maybe we never have felt like we have been content with what we have. But shifting our mindset on finances can help us to get out of the constant underlying concerns that can plague us all and help us to have a renewed perspective that blesses us and those around us.
Shift Your Actions
Sometimes the reason we have lost joy is that we have forgotten to be generous. We become so concerned with all of the doomsday concerns of our time and worried about whether or not we will have enough, that we lose perspective and lose our joy and purpose for living. But the biblical principle of giving reminds us that those who give generously will be blessed. And being obedient positions us for God's blessing.
Shift Your View
Understanding that God owns everything anyway, we acknowledge that we are just stewards who must be faithful. Viewing what we own as belonging to God holds us accountable to use our finances for His purposes, not ours. This approach toward finances feels counter to the world's counsel but shifts the conversation in our minds to one that is others-centered and God-centered, rather than being centered on self.
Shift Your Hope
Hoping for temporary outcomes is a setup to be perpetually riding the roller coaster of a cycle of temporary satisfaction followed by disappointment in our provision. Finances were never supposed to be our hope. God is. When we rely on Him and steward well what He has given us, the pressure is off our performance or financial decisions, and on being faithful to trust God as our Provider.
How we view our finances plays a key role in our lives. Being generous with others and not letting our finances have a hold on us frees us to walk in joy as we walk through life with a generous mindset fixed on God's purposes and hope.
Yours for Wise Stewardship,
Jeff Rogers