Romans 12:2 says “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Well, 2011 is drawing to a close. One of the highlights of my year was getting the chance to talk to all of you each week about what the Bible has to say about money. We looked at things like saving, stewardship, anxiety, giving, success, trust, contentment and living a fruitful life.
I hope you enjoyed the spots each week and found them informative, but more than that, I hope God used them to bring some level of transformation to your life. As we see in Romans, the ultimate purpose of God’s word is not simply to provide information, but to cause transformation. Rather than just being smarter because of it, we are to be different and better.
Without God we all struggle with things like honesty, ego, jealousy, greed, pride, giving, and stewardship. The purpose of our walk, however, is to surrender our lives to him and allow him to work on us from the inside out.
So as we finish up this year and head into next, I’d encourage you to think about some of the financial lessons you’ve learned, as well as those things that you still struggle with. Then invite God to work on those areas in the coming year. If you struggle with coveting, ask him to transform it to contentment. If you struggle with greed, ask him to transform it to generosity. If you struggle with spending, ask him to transform it to good stewardship. Whatever the area, entrust it to God and know that he can make it into something that is “good and acceptable and perfect.”
Thanks for reading. Have a great New Year.
Joe
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
