Money, is it the root of Evil?

Money is the root of all evil is the saying that I have always been told. Is that really true? Do you and your mate agree with that statement? We sat in our small group today at church and had a discussion on what do we think about our money. Is it a thorn that divides our families, or it is an avenue for us to use to better our lives and others around us?

I think it is both. Being a thorn is what it becomes more often than not. I think we have bigger eyes that what our purses have money in them which in turn causes us to build a debt that is hard to come out of. When you get into that cycle, it is hard to recover. I remember sitting in bed one night many years ago talking to Gregg about our finances. We were in the biggest debt we had ever been in and I didn't see any way to get out of the debt quickly or painless. My reaction is to tighten the belts, cut all expenses in every area and live off of peanut butter and jelly until it was paid off. Gregg's approach was to look at our investments and try to rearrange them to take care of the debt. This was not a debt that grew overnight but it was accumulating over a few years due to Gregg's job of traveling and our love to travel with him. At that point I had to let Gregg take care of it. It is not natural to me to let go so that is hard, but I had to let go and trust that Gregg knew what he was doing. With in the year we were debt free minus our home and 1 car payment. That was a listen I had to learn. I had to trust my mate and let him take care of it. I could have fought him the whole way and it would become a thorn in our marriage but i realized we were on the same team and we needed to defeat the debt together.

Money can also be an avenue to serve others with. This is something that you and your spouse have to be passionate about. If you love the City Arts and your husband doesn't, don't you think he would not understand or like it if you donated money to them? Or maybe he is huge with the wildlife refuge. Would you like it if he donated a large sum of money to them for their squirrel rescue project with out talking to you first? Having extra money to give to people and organizations is an awesome place to be in your marriage but you both have to be on the same page or have an designated amount that each can give out. You both need to be on the same page.

Gregg and I have a strong desire to invest our time and money as we get older in a small town in Honduras where we have wonderful friends and we see the need of money and service there. That is our goal is to one day spend long periods of time there. That is goal we are working toward.

Don't let not having money tear your marriage apart and don't let having money tear your marriage apart. Don't help the say, money is the root of all evil, continue to prove to be right.