Money Is A Very Useful Servant

My guess is that you don’t need me to tell you that money is a very useful servant. You use it daily to satisfy several of your desires. What may be new to you is that money is a terrible master. Unfortunately for most of us, we submit ourselves to money because we love it so much. That way, we make money our master and then it takes over our lives as the evil master that it is.

The process of becoming a slave of money is so subtle that we may not appreciate that we are slaves. No doubt, even in believers from former generations, this process of selling themselves into slavery lived in their blind spot. This problem must have prompted the Apostle Paul to try and create awareness with a telling question. “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey?”

At that point, no longer is money a very useful servant, it has taken over as your master. It can make you do things that you would not ordinarily do. Particularly because, in every society, money answers all things, but perhaps more so in developed nations.

Because It Answers All Things, Money Is A Very Useful Servant

In such nations, all services have been monetized. So, if you want your neighbor (once you are sure he is not a weirdo) to watch your child, it will cost you. A short ride to the local grocers will cost you. The only commodity that will not cost you is air. And that is only because the technology has not been invented for bottling it and therefore controlling its flow!

Even then, one who develops any kind of lung disease usually ends up paying for breathing air or oxygen. Yes, money is a very useful servant, particularly in healthcare. For instance, the Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) start by advertising that you are in the center of all their decisions. Until you suspect that you have cancer and pay a visit to their nearest branch.

The minute they discover that you do not have money in the form of healthcare insurance, you are shown the door. Perhaps, as the door slams behind you, you are clutching a pain-relief prescription – if the attending physician is in a good mood. Please note that we are not picking on the CTCA, which is certainly not alone in demanding that it sees your money before treatment. All healthcare facilities do that because after all, money answers all things.

Cancer is just such a heart-rending example of a disease for which you need that very useful servant. Your money is a very useful servant for most disease conditions, not just cancer. Without a doubt, you know, if you live in a nation with a healthcare insurance system, money is a very useful servant. It will open the doctor’s doors for you, get you your medication and secure a follow-up visit.

Money Is A Terrible Master.

All of this would suggest that it is prudent to go in search of a bit of money, perhaps more than a bit. The problem arises when, in your search, you surrender your life to money. Before you know it, it has taken over, making you do what you would consider inappropriate. The first sign that money is becoming a master is that you transition from frugal to cheap.

A good sign of that transition is that you never offer to drive when you and your friends go out. Or it may be that you stop going out altogether. Stop now that you still have a chance to put the halt to money becoming your master.  Anything beyond that point and money becomes your master.

You discover that while money is a very useful servant, it is an evil master. It controls your every waking thought and a few in your sleep! As a master, money makes you do things that will cause your mother to blush. And it is not limited to stealing. Prostitution is a manifestation that money is controlling and manipulating both your mind and your body.

Whenever money becomes the master, you hear that a pastor has been stealing from the church coffers. Or it could be the very gentle lady who serves as church treasurer who is caught with her hand in the church cookie-jar. Instead of experiencing that money is a very useful servant, these believers start to serve money.

Money Is A Very Useful Servant If You Learn Self-Control

In my view, the key to financial self-control is right in the bible. The relevant verse talks about the root of all evil. That should scare anyone from making money their master, ever. It should cue you to the need to ensure that money remains a servant. You want nothing to do with a scenario that is the root of all kinds of evil – all, mind you, not some.

Consider the pastor in one of our bigger cities. He recently committed suicide after murdering his entire family and setting his house on fire. We shall not even talk of where he is going to spend eternity – too gruesome. But why such a drastic and dastardly act, you may wonder. He was in over his head financially. He lacked financial self-control.

We are speaking here of course, about the love of money. You may love God; you may love others; in an extreme case, you may even love yourself. But to love money? No. Because as soon as you fall in love with money (and all that it can get you), you submit to it. It becomes your master and you know already some of the terrible outcomes of that scenario.

The key to making sure that money is a very useful servant in your life is to not fall in love with it; never. By constantly reminding yourself that the love of money is the root of all evil, you are safe. You are very likely to learn financial self-control. Keep in mind, this requires a constant reminder, as in daily or hourly. That is the only way to ensure that money is a very useful servant.

Maranatha!