PROBLEMS OF MARRIAGE 6

Be Content with your Present Level of Income

Luke 3: 14

                                “And the Soldiers likewise demanded of him saying. And what shall we do? And he said unto them. Do violence to no man, neither accuse any one falsely, and be content with your wages.”

John the Baptist said something to the soldiers that I think we should all heed. As he was preaching his dynamic message, the soldiers came and said to him, “what shall we do?” and he replied, “… be content with your wages.”

When you are not content with your wages, you will go borrowing. One major reason why people do not have a right attitude towards their expenditure is because they do not have a clear vision about their financial future and therefore are never satisfied with their level of income. A person with a clear vision knows that with careful and prayerful planning, he can achieve his financial goals irrespective of his present earnings. A vision driven man is not likely to be prone to greed or financial excesses. One reason why people are not content with what they have is that they want to have what others have. But someone with a vision who knows that he will have all he needs in God’s own time will be relaxed. Another reason is that many fail to prioritize their expenditure; they buy just about anything to satisfy their cravings or the expectations of people. Before you know it, they are not able to meet their needs and begin to look for extraneous ways to increase their wages. However, it is common knowledge that no amount of wages can satisfy a man – be content with your present level while trusting God for a promotion.

Where do you intend to be in say 10, 20, 30 years time or more? You must have a vision as to where you are going and you should work towards it. For example, though building a house in Lagos is expensive, if you agree with your wife that you want to build a house in Lagos before you turn 45 and you work in line with your vision you will achieve it. It may seem impossible but our God does impossible things. Remember that the Bible says that whatever you agree here on earth will be sanctioned in heaven.

So, do you have a working plan or a financial plan? Or did I hear you say, I don’t know? Then, talk to people who know so that they can help you to come up with one.

Attitude to Money

If you do not have a right attitude to money then you will experience poverty. In fact, if you do not take hold of your finances, and have it managed properly while invariably growing it, you will have myriads of problems. I see a lot of people who once were living in Lagos move back to their villages because rents had gone up, property and food prices skyrocketed and they were no longer able to make ends meet.

                          Remember the parable of the talents! Jesus said to the one who hid his Lord’s money, “thou wicked and unprofitable servant.” Thereafter, he commanded, “Take that money from him. Give it to those who know how to handle money.” Let’s reason together, does his punishment not amount to poverty? He was reduced to nothing. Finally, Jesus asked them to cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness where there would be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 

        A young ruler came to Jesus and asked him, master, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life” Luke 18:18.  Jesus asked him, “Do you know the ten commandments?” and he answered, “Yes.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and sell everything you have and give it to the poor.” The Bible records that he went away sad because he wanted eternal life but was not ready to part with his money. He also had a wrong attitude towards money.

In another instance, people were giving lands in the early church and so a man named Barnabas sold his land and gave the money to the church. Another couple named Annaias and Sapphira also decided to sell their land and gave part of the returns to the church pretending that they gave all in order to obtain the same blessing that accrued to those who gave everything. What ensued was a calamity. The spirit of God accosted them and the two of them died. They both died because of a wrong attitude towards money.

Then, there was a young man who sold his master for money. His name is Judas. He betrayed Jesus and sold him for thirty pieces of silver. He too died a horrible death. What I am saying invariably, is that, if you do not have the right attitude to money, you will cut your life short in one way or the other. It is either you are unable to feed yourself and you die early or you are ill and you are not able to afford the medical bills.

                           It is not a question of whether you are earning a huge amount or not. As a minister of God, I may not earn as much as some of my counterparts in other ministries, but I have learned to manage and multiply what I have so as not to depend on my salary alone. I adopted this method so that I can also contribute to the growth of the church. It is not how much you earn but how much you set aside for investment.  As a matter of fact, there are those who earn huge amount but lavish it all on unnecessary things. You can surpass them if you know how to engage your money to work for you. Keep your expenses low and invest the rest. I advise that you go for financial training, or what is called financial intelligence; Learn to invest in stocks. I recommend you read my book, “The Way of the Rich”, which gives practical advice on how to multiply money and become wealthy.

                          Femi Imevbore
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