Let's face it - our culture is infatuated with
success, and not just any ordinary success - wild and crazy financial success.
For each person, this may mean something slightly different, but all we have to
do is look at the number of television shows that center on large amounts of
prize money to be reminded of our preoccupation with cash. I can certainly
understand why our culture is obsessed with wealth; we have been taught
repeatedly by media and personal observations that we do not have enough stuff.
So, we go off to accumulate more money to get more stuff.
What do you and your spouse believe to be true
about financial success? Could your beliefs be preventing you from achieving
financial success? How do you define financial success? In the process of
defining and reaching for financial success, do you ignore other key areas of
your life?
While on the surface financial success (i.e.,
having lots of money) seems like it could be great, here are three reasons why
I[RA1] fear it.
1. I won't be
able to manage it. With more money comes more responsibility and more ways
to manage it. When you are just starting out, all you need is a simple checking
account. But as you progress in life, you often get different investment accounts set up. If you
really start accumulating more money, there are trusts and different tax
structures to consider, and for those who have large sums of cash, they start
dealing with multiple businesses, properties and philanthropies. Progressing up
the wealth ladder does not always make life easier; it can actually make things
more complex, because there is more to manage.
2. Financial
success ruins families. The list of actors, singers, athletes, and lottery
winners who have ended up with large amounts of money and then had their family
fall apart is too long to detail here. But I will mention one that I remember
all to well and that is MC Hammer. We have also heard countless stories of
trust fund kids who have blown their families’ wealth. Perhaps you have even
met a few rich people and have seen how they struggled to maintain a healthy
emotional connection while spending their millions (or billions).
3. It will create
a gap in my spiritual life. How often have we heard that money is the root of all evil?
Well, if that was the case, we would all be in trouble! 1 Tim 6:10 actually
says, "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people,
eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many
griefs." This is
one of over 2,000 Biblical verses that address the management of money and resources.
What I have come to understand from my faith is the raw pursuit of money will end
in meaninglessness, frustration, despair and a separation from God.
So, what are we to do
when we fear the implications of living with financial success in our life?
Start with understanding that God owns it all. One example of this comes from
Ecclesiastes 5:19: "As for every man to whom God has
given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his
heritage and rejoice in his labor--this is the gift of God." This is one
of many verses that refer to God's ownership.
The next step is being aware that financial
success has not ruined all families. In reality, there are many who quietly
live with their wealth and merely see it as a tool to facilitate living and
being generous with their time and resources. The reason that we do not know
about these families is that they don’t do anything particularly sensational to
put themselves in the public eye. As a result, we miss the opportunity to acknowledge
that families can live well with wealth, but it is usually because they have built
it up over time and learned how to manage it intentionally. This leads me to my
next fear.
While it is true that there is more to
manage as you accumulate wealth, there are also skills and relationships that
you develop over time as that money comes in. That means the process of
managing the money you have, while certainly still a responsibility, often
brings in the necessary skills and relationships to do it well.
The shift in my thinking about
financial success centers on significance, which means first recognizing that I
don't have to be a millionaire to know that I am richly blessed. More and more,
I think less about getting stuff and instead look for
opportunities to share my resources and to be a blessing to others.
Feel free to give me a call to talk more at 980-275-1627.
Ed Coambs
Edited by Reena Arora of Arora Media, connect on Facebook
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