Making Changes for Good // How to Be Money Wise, Part 4

<p>Many a man, many a woman has a heart that’s divided – torn between wealth and God. It’s deep, it’s devastating. We don’t think too much about it, let alone talk about it.  But it’s there.  And it hurts.  How do we deal with that?  How do we make a change for the good?</p> <p> </p> <h4><span style="color: #ff9900;"><strong>How much Should I Give?</strong></span></h4> <p>Over these last few weeks we have been chatting about money matters. Trying, I guess, to take a Kingdom view; a Kingdom of God perspective on this whole issue of money. God talks so much in His Word about money and the influence it has over us – the fact that it can drag it away from Him as we chase so hard after the riches of this world. First Timothy chapter 6, verse 10, says that:</p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em>The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from their faith and pierced themselves with many pains.</em></p> <p>We are so eager in our love of money, at least we can be, that we wander away from our faith in God, little by little, and before we know it, we have pierced ourselves with many, many pains.</p> <p>I was in a lift, an elevator in a large shopping centre, the other day and stood next to a young woman with a young child in a pram and she had cut marks all down her arms – self mutilation; cutting that had left scars. Horrible! And you wonder, "Why does she do that?" It’s the same with the love of money, we pierce ourselves with many pains, it leaves scars.</p> <p>And you have to ask yourself, ‘Why do we do that?’ Because it’s the most natural thing in the world for a person to do, to chase after wealth. The problem is it only brings pain. And what we are seeing over these last few weeks together is that God offers us a solution, a very simple solution, to give into His work – generously, sacrificially. That’s what sets us free from the pain, the devastating impact of the love of money, which is the root of all kinds of evil.</p> <p>One of the things that p