Friday Fight 77 - Financial Wealth and Spiritual Health

Every Friday, when I wake and pray, God places something on my heart to help me fight darkness beginning in our minds. Today is FF77.

I have recently overheard conversations about financial debt followed by various opinionated solutions. These random discussions have included paying off credit cards, not carrying balances, and many being concerned about their future finances. So many of us spend time guarding our financial lives, but how well are we protecting our spiritual lives?

Financial Wealth and Spiritual Health:

I have witnessed discussions about finances, debt, investing, and possible solutions to reducing one's financial burden. People were generally discussing reward cards, suitable investments, and financial plans with excitement. Yet others are hyper-focused on financial obligations and watch every penny spent given our current economy. However, when an unexpected expense arises, and we need to use our credit card, our mind goes to either being overwhelmed or focusing on how quickly we can pay off this debt.

Now let's parallel financial debt and spiritual debt solely for awareness purposes. Is spiritual debt a real thing? Well, it's a parallel. Spiritual debt is the shame that burdens us, our sins, and the time spent investing in hatred, bitterness, chaos, and unforgiveness. Unfortunately, we tend to focus heavily on our financial wealth and sometimes overlook our spiritual health.  

Once we settle into the quietness of God's mercy, we can ask ourselves this question. Are we as concerned with our spiritual health as our financial wealth? 

This post will need the benefit of self-reflection along with prayer. What sins are we struggling with, and how quickly do we surrender to those sins? We all received the precious gift of eternal life through the blood of Jesus on the cross. Since Christ was our sacrifice and paid our debt, perhaps we need to apply this with a perspective of the debt we are still creating when we sin. 

When we carry financial debt for a while, the interest can be damaging; in fact, it is the reason some people are never relieved of their obligation. Repeating the same sin or denying our sin works like carrying a high credit card balance. Over time, it prevents us from moving forward because the more we sin, the more desensitized we become to it. We essentially become trapped either way. 

The enemy is pleased when our financial obligations become our primary focus, and we greet each day with worry and fear. Darkness doesn't want us to check the status of our hearts and invest in spending more time with God; he wants the opposite. Instead, Satan wants us to remain fearful and fixated on our worldly hurt, pain, and hatred, in other words, spiritual debt.

Take this week to reflect on a sound financial plan (an admirable goal is 10/10/80) and your spiritual agenda. Try to incorporate changes in both areas. Financial planning and talking to investors are necessary for determining the wealth of our worldly life and securing our future. But spiritual planning, tithing, and talking to God will ensure our only true wealth, our eternal life. Until then, our lives are made whole by our investment in spending time with God. 

Matthew 11:28-30

Pastor Shannon