Follow the Money, Find Your Heart

BIG Idea: Follow the money, find your heart.

As a teenager, I had an addiction. A secret sin, something that consumed my thoughts and threatened to overtake my life. I was addicted to cheesy Christian music (cue “friends are friends forever” by Michael W. Smith). Back when music was still sold by the album on plastic discs, I bought all that I could get my hands on. I bought music by Petra, Newsboys, Audio Adrenaline, and even a little Christafari.

I soon found that there was a dark side to my CD collection. What I owned began to own me. I no longer possessed the music. It possessed me. Since my collection was so big, I felt internal pressure to keep adding to it, even with bands I didn’t really like. I felt the constant need to listen to a CD, to justify the amount of money I had spent. My CD collection had captured my attention. It had captured my heart.

In Jesus’ famous discourse about money, he gives a simple truth that cuts to the core of our relationship with it. He says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be” (Matthew 6:21). This verse tells us a couple of things. First, it forever puts to rest the idea that money isn’t a spiritual issue. Money is an intrinsically spiritual issue. Why? Because your heart follows your money. Follow the money, find your heart. Your heart follows your pocket book. Don’t believe me? Think about it for yourself: where do you spend most of your discretionary money? Do you spend a lot of money hunting? Maybe on shopping? Perhaps you have a huge car note that you pay monthly. Chances are you’ll find that your thoughts, your attention, your passion, your heart, follows what you spend your money on.

Why is this all important? It’s not because God wants your money. He doesn’t need money (and remember, it’s all His anyways). God doesn’t want your money, he wants your heart. And your heart follows your money. That’s why Christians are told in the Bible to give a portion of their resources to the local church and Kingdom work. Because God wants your heart passionate about what’s important to him. Follow the money, find your heart.

QUESTION: If we followed the way you spent your money, where would we find your heart?