The secret of contentment.
Came across this gem while reading "Jesus the King" by Tim Keller, and wanted to share it because it sums up well how Christians should view money and status in the light of their salvation. =D
"Christians are free to take or leave [emphasis mine] money, power, recognition, and status. How? These things at the top of the kingdom of this world don't have to control them the same way anymore. When you understand what Jesus has done for you, it frees you. When you realize that you are made free by His grace and not by your achievement, and that you are loved in Jesus Christ, it changes the way you look at power, money, and status; they don't control you anymore.
If you're trying to save yourself, trying to earn your own self-esteem, trying to prove yourself, you'll either hate money and power too much or love them too much. For example, you may say you don't like money and power and don't like people who have them. Staying away from them makes you feel noble. In that case you're basically a self-saver. Or perhaps instead you desperately need money and status, for that same reason: You're a self-saver. You may despise other kinds of self-salvation more than yours, but you're basically doing the same thing in a different way. But if you know you're a sinner saved by sheer grace, you can take it or leave it. You're free [emphasis mine]. If money or power comes, there's a lot you can do with it. But if it starts to go, you know that's one of the ways the power of God's Kingdom is going to work in your life. The sword is exiting from your life. The compulsion is dissipating. You work but your work does not define you. You work but it's not driving you into the ground. And you're going to be so content, you'll almost look reckless."
[Excerpt from Jesus the King by Tim Keller, p.210-211]
"Christians are free to take or leave [emphasis mine] money, power, recognition, and status. How? These things at the top of the kingdom of this world don't have to control them the same way anymore. When you understand what Jesus has done for you, it frees you. When you realize that you are made free by His grace and not by your achievement, and that you are loved in Jesus Christ, it changes the way you look at power, money, and status; they don't control you anymore.
If you're trying to save yourself, trying to earn your own self-esteem, trying to prove yourself, you'll either hate money and power too much or love them too much. For example, you may say you don't like money and power and don't like people who have them. Staying away from them makes you feel noble. In that case you're basically a self-saver. Or perhaps instead you desperately need money and status, for that same reason: You're a self-saver. You may despise other kinds of self-salvation more than yours, but you're basically doing the same thing in a different way. But if you know you're a sinner saved by sheer grace, you can take it or leave it. You're free [emphasis mine]. If money or power comes, there's a lot you can do with it. But if it starts to go, you know that's one of the ways the power of God's Kingdom is going to work in your life. The sword is exiting from your life. The compulsion is dissipating. You work but your work does not define you. You work but it's not driving you into the ground. And you're going to be so content, you'll almost look reckless."
[Excerpt from Jesus the King by Tim Keller, p.210-211]
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