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THE FAX OF LIFE

A Weekly Service To The Business Community From SVCC

HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?- Part 1
By Rick Warren

Money tends to dominate our lives. So much of our time is spent either making it, spending it, saving it, investing it, or giving it. The Gallup Poll recently showed that 56% of all divorces are the result of financial tensions and conflicts.

Fortunately, the Bible has a lot of great advice on money management. Over half of Jesus's parables deal with handling material possessions. In fact, Jesus spoke more about money than he did about either heaven or hell. (Probably because more people are interested in money!)

There are two common myths about money:

MYTH #1: Money is evil. Actually money is neither good nor bad. It's neutral. What the Bible actually says is "The LOVE of money is the root of all kinds of evil." (1 Tim. 6:10)
Here's the point: We are to USE things and LOVE people. When we get that reversed we get ourselves into trouble. If we love things, we will end up using people. God says people are always more important than possessions.
Myth #2: Money is the key to happiness. Obviously, that isn't true either. If money guaranteed happiness then those with the most would be the most happy. All you have to do is read the newspaper to explode that idea. Jesus said, "A man's real life is not made up of the things he owns, no matter how rich he may be." (Lk. 12:15)

So how much money can I make without feeling guilty?

God says you may make as much as you can - as long as you observe four important limitations on your "desire to acquire." In my next fax, I'll give you those four qualifiers to "guilt-free" wealth.

In the meantime, think about this: "It is better, much better, to have wisdom and knowledge than silver and gold." Proverbs 16:16

Until next week...
FOL#36

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