Money Matters

Money is so tangible and so usable that it attracts the greed and lust of a man like a massive magnet. In its attraction, many times man has to go against his logic and conscience as he is blinded by its lure. Money makes man cares for it and attracted whoever would fall prey to its lure. This is no exception even among believers in God today.

Recently, I had a bitter taste of what money can do to people. Having said this, I look to the Lord for grace so that I should not fall prey to the lure of money. I must use them righteously with what the Lord has given to me and should not greed for more beyond what the Lord has allotted to me. Handling money is a big matter and one who can handle it well has grown a little more mature.

I have done my best, by the Lord's mercy, not to be a debtor to anyone. I made sure that whatever I owe to others I must pay it back on time. I had been a recipient of a friend's cow milk for almost a year. I made sure that at the beginning of every month I pay my the due for the previous month and cleared all dues. If allowed I would prefer an advanced payment too which I did but had to revert back as the recipient also would not receive in advance. Now that the milk supply has stopped, I was happy to clear the bill for the previous supply of milk and close the account, once and for all.

The love of money has been in the blood of the fallen human race. In my dealing with some of the local people here in Gurugram, I discovered this tendency of people loving money too much and even to the point that their conscience and inner senses were all shut up. Recently I had an experience with four Hindi-speaking people with whom I had to deal with money matters. 

To a cobbler, out of pity, I gave money in advance for buying shoe polish, a brush, and other items for shoe care. Though I gave extra, he tried not to return the balance owed to me. In fact, I had already given an extra amount for what I actually ordered, but my advance payment became an issue with him and he was not willing to return the excess amount. The love of money just gripped him.

In the past weeks, we had an incessant downpour of rain in the city which led to the leakage of the house we live in. My neighbor's house has water dripping from the ceiling which source is the leakage in the rooftop from the cracks of the building. Since my house owner asked for help, I consulted some known people and fixed the problem. Meanwhile, I also discovered some other problems and fixed all of those too. What I had paid for first should rightfully be paid back by the house owner. But I would not insist that he pay it. I would rather prefer that he ask and pay for it and not wait for me to tell him to pay. Since the work was done on his request for another tenant, I only help in finding a solution to the issue, the owner should responsibly ask and clear the bill. But I would not even tell this to the owner for him to pay. Even when I have the right I would rather be silent and deal with money matters myself and through this others may learn to deal with money matters in a righteous way.

Lord, save me from the love of money and give me the wisdom to use it wisely.