let’s not forget what’s truly important: community, generosity and love. 

We need each other.

It’s not God’s will for us to live our lives alone or withdrawn.

Don’t get so absorbed in building large barns (Luke 12:15-21), that you forget to open your door to someone else or open your heart to God.

 Don’t get so blinded by the opportunities in front of you to profit and expand (Isaiah 5:8), that you create an island for yourself.

Jesus closely identified with the poor (Matthew 25:35-40).

Don’t let greed stop you from having compassion (1 Timothy 6:9).

 Don’t let your desire for security, 

comfort or even plenty (1 Timothy 6:11) distract you from seeing the needs of others.

Don’t let the glitter of wealth and abundance trick you into believing you cannot share (1 Timothy 6:18).

We’re here to love God and love others.

These are the two greatest commandments.

Don’t let your most diligent work go toward your investment account(s).

Money and material things are possessive,and so is God.

We cannot give our undivided attention to both (Matthew 6:24).

Don’t yield to money and the opportunities it may bring.

Because one day, when the choice is between the opportunity to make more money and the opportunity to be available to a friend in need, you will end up choosing money.

And the time, gift and love you could have given to your friend in need. 

May have been the only form of Jesus they’d ever see.

So, choose life. Eternal life. By investing in God's Kingdom. Because if God and His Son, Jesus Christ our Savior, had two options to invest:

(1) investing in money, real estate or their 401(k) and 2) investing in you… They’d choose you.

Greed “Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed.

Life is not measured by how much you own.” Luke 12:15 Don’t ever let anyone tell you that being frugal is your problem.

 Oftentimes, we take the words “frugal” and “stingy” to mean the same thing.

But let’s look up the definition of each one.

Frugal: characterized by or reflecting economy in the use of resources.

Stingy:

Not generous or liberal; sparing or scant in using, giving, or spending.

That’s according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary. Being frugal means to be mindful in the spending of the resources you have.

Like, not spending more than you should on produce at the grocery store, buying clothes at stores that aren’t as costly, not wasting food, choosing between wants and needs.

But being stingy means to be unwilling to spend where, maybe, you can or should.

And being unwilling to give or spend on others.

Why are we unwilling to give? Is it because we want to keep more?

Is it because we don’t feel comfortable with the thought of not having enough?

Is it because we’re only concerned with ourselves?

Stinginess is oftentimes the symptom of greediness.

So, it’s not our frugality that’s the problem.

It’s our greed. Sodom was destroyed because its people were blessed with abundance, but they chose not to help the poor and the needy (Ezekiel 16:49).

 They had all the food and riches they could ask for, but their possessions could not save them.

Rather, the security they found in their possessions was the very thing that condemned them.

The Lord is so gracious. He only requires us to give 10% of what He has given to us.

If we had the same power that God has with us. If we were truly the stewards of our own money, we’d probably require 99.9% or we would want it all back.

But God knows our heart. Those who sow sparingly shall reap sparingly.

But those who sow generously shall reap generously (2 Corinthians 9:6).