Money Matters - Introduction

Today I read about four hundred young girls that were rescued from the sex trade. What shocked me most were their ages - age two to age fifteen! Immediately after reading this I went into my two year old daughter’s bedroom and watched her sleeping peacefully. It was impossible to imagine her not being tucked up safely in her bed sleeping as peacefully as she was. I could not imagine what sort of person would want to have her for their sexual pleasure! Turning a blind eye to this information and all sorts of other awful stories from around the globe was no longer justifiable. Saying that there was nothing that I can do about it at that point in time no longer worked as a reasonable excuse as I knew ‘one day’ would never come.

Today is that day. Today is ‘one’ day. Today is that day that I stop justifying my passivity and start making a plan to do something about it. I will be plagued by the thought of this two year old in the sex trade forever if I don’t do something about it right now. There is always something that can be done, no matter how small the contribution, it can make a difference, especially if everybody did something small together. 

This book is not about the sex trade or world poverty, this book is about why money matters! It was a generous donation that set up the organisation that was able to rescue these four hundred girls from the sex trade. Without that money the little two year old would still be out there having who knows what done to her! Bottom line – all the good intentions in the world can’t rescue people who are suffering – IT TAKES MONEY!

I hope that by reading this book you too will see what I saw today. You will see that we have a responsibility to get our finances in order, to generate money and to get busy either financially supporting organisations that are making a difference in the world or actually getting our hands dirty and getting involved in the physical world.

God never made money, man did. The Bible is full of direction for us in the proper use of money, how we should rule it and not have it rule us. I have failed to find any verse in the Bible yet, that shows abundant life and money together, or happiness and money together. I really believe that God wants us to live an abundant life whether we have loads of money or very little money. My motivation for wanting Christians to prosper financially is because there is so much that we can do if we have money. Sadly, the problem today, is that money has most Christians. They are in bondage, in debt and under materialism without even realising it. 

My conviction is so strong that God never intended for money to rule us the way it does. If we have money, it rules us – how do we use it wisely? If we don’t have money, it rules us – how do we get it? Even those who don’t lust after money seem to be ruled by it – how do we live without it and still be happy? The point is, no matter how good or bad we are at having this idol in or out of our life, we still seem to be so focused on it. My challenge to those of you who want to read this book is; read this book, get God’s perspective, and get out of debt and then move on and don’t look back. No matter where you find yourself at the end of this book, let one decision remain. I will no longer let money be a focus in my life anymore! Lord, renew my mind, create a new heart within me and let me be free.

Take your time and read these words slowly and allow God to place His heart in yours to gain wisdom and understanding about the realm that God intended us to live in the first place - in Him we live and move and have our being.

Read more about 'Money Matters' here.