Does motive matter?

Does our motive for wanting to learn and apply principles from God's economy really matter?

For years I have been working with fellow Christians to help them understand and apply principles from God's economy. Most of them seem very eager to learn the principles. But they do not appear to all have the same motive. They come from two very distinctive and different groups.

The first group is the one that includes people that want to learn these principles because of the "Get me out of this financial mess" motive. They may be upside down in their mortgage, have excessive credit card debt or simply living paycheck to paycheck and are sinking deeper into financial disaster week by week.

There is nothing wrong with this motive because God is a very loving and gracious God that does not want us to struggle with our finances. If you recall, we just looked at the fact that God uses money to draw us closer to Himself. And to be quite frank with you, following God's economy will most likely result in a life that will be free of the financial mess these folks are trying to escape.

But far too often the people from this group end up like the seed that sprang up quickly and withered that is referred to in the Parable of the Sower (Mark 4:1-12). They come to the (incorrect) conclusion that applying the principles are more painful than the financial disaster they are currently trying to escape.

But there is another group of folks that want to learn about God's economy. These are the ones that realize that how a Believer handles his money is not just a financial issue; it is a far more important spiritual issue. They understand what Luke 12:34 means when it says "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also".

Although I have absolutely no statistics to back up this perception, I do believe it is true. The perception is that the average person that listens to these principles (or attends a Crown seminar) is in the lower haIf of per capita income in the US. If this is true, it is sad. If God has blessed us with financial resources we have a greater responsibility to understand God's economy and apply the principles in our lives (Luke 12:48).

Over the last few posts we have been looking at ways that God uses money in the Christian's life. In a quick review, here they are:

Demonstrates His faithfulness –Lamentations 3:22-23

Gives us direction in our lives - Galatians 6:9 and Philippians 4:19

Unifies the Body of Christ – 2 Corinthians 8:13-15

Draws us to Himself – Philippians 4:4-7, Matthew 7:7,8

Brings us to the realization of our need for Him – Galatians 5:19-21

In reality this is just the tip of the iceberg. We could look at passages that indicate that God uses money to develop our trustworthiness (Luke 16:11); cultivate self-control (Galatians 5:22-23) and develop spiritual maturity (James 1:2-12) and probably a host of other ways that God uses money in our lives. These are all part of God's economy.

If our motive for understanding God's economy is simply to "Get us out of this financial mess", we miss the greatest purpose of money. That purpose is to bring us to a closer relationship with Jesus Christ. Yes, motive does matter.