“Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.” (Matthew 25:28b-29 NLT)
What keeps us from investing our lives? What keeps us from moving to financial freedom? I’ll tell you what it is: fear.
In the Bible there are financial principles that God guarantees. God promises that if you do them, you will be blessed. But they require faith, and that scares a lot of people. They are afraid of doing it God’s way.
There are many kinds of fears that can hold you back. One of them is self-doubt. You’ve failed in the past, so you’re never going to try again. But just because you fail doesn’t mean you give up. Everybody fails. It’s the only way you learn what works! God uses ordinary people who just keep on going instead of giving up.
There were two disciples who denied Jesus at the cross — Judas and Peter. They committed the same sin, but the difference was the way they reacted to their failure. Judas had a pity party, got depressed, and took his life.
Peter, however, realized what he did was wrong, so he prayed and repented and asked God for forgiveness. Then, Jesus chose Peter to preach on Pentecost, and 3,000 people were saved the first day. Jesus chose the biggest failure in the bunch to build the Church on.
What a God! He didn’t choose the superstar. He chose the guy who had blown it the most.
You may have really messed up financially in the past. But it doesn’t matter where you’ve been. What matters is the direction your feet are going right now.
In the parable of the talents in Matthew 25, a rich man entrusted his money to his servants before he left for a long trip. When he returned, he asked for an account from the servants. Of the three, two of them doubled the master’s money, but the third was afraid and hid his portion instead of working and investing it. His fear disappointed and angered his master, who said, “Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver” (Matthew 25:28b NLT). The master took away everything the servant had.
Fear is always attached to this desire to do it God’s way. Satan’s going to try to get you to not follow God’s principles for money management by making you afraid of failure or making you doubt your ability to be a good steward of God’s money.
But if you’re going to be successful in life, you must move against your fears. You have to do the very thing that you fear the most!
When you do move forward in faith and follow God’s guidelines for financial peace, you will experience God’s blessing and even more resources and responsibility.
“To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away” (Matthew 25:29).
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Talk It Over
- What financial failure from your past has kept you from moving forward with God’s financial principles for your life?
- Do you pray for God to give you more financial responsibility as a steward of his money? Why or why not?
- What is it about God’s way of handling money that makes you afraid to be obedient? Talk to God about those fears today.
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