HOW MUCH MONEY IS TOO MUCH

How high a level of financial abundance does God want you to achieve? The Bible teaches that God will carry a person as far as he or she dares to go, subject to certain conditions. In other words, it's not your level of wealth with which God is concerned, but rather it is your attitude about your wealth that concerns Him.

Financial questions to ask yourself:

Has your spiritual growth kept pace with your financial growth? If your spiritual growth does not keep pace with your financial growth, prosperity can ruin you. Obsession with wealth, and the trappings that go with it, can replace the hunger for God in your life. When this occurs, you are setting yourself up for ultimate failure.

Have you maintained a giving heart? Not have you continued to give, but is your heart in your giving? Do you give cheerfully, to be a blessing to others, and look forward to the opportunity to give generously?

Have you let the pursuit of wealth cause other key areas of your life to suffer? When your eyes are solely on gaining wealth, it is too easy to neglect other areas of your life. Are your marriage, family, relationships strong? Do you have quality friendships and multiple hobbies or interests? If you are discontent and are looking to material things to fulfill you, you are vulnerable to falling away from the Lord as you obtain a greater level of financial abundance.

Are you content? Contentment means that you have the joy of the Lord and maintain His lordship over your lifestyle, in spite of your circumstances. Contentment doesn't imply that you lack desire to improve your lot in life, but that your commitment to, and your love for Jesus, are not dependent on your circumstances.

What dominates your thought life? Understand that a love for money is not the sole domain of the rich. Many poor people lust after money as well. The problem is not dependent on how much wealth one possesses, but on what dominates your desires.

Do you have dreams? God wants you to have enough wealth to fulfill the dreams He has given you. Often He will place in your heart dreams bigger than you think you can accomplish. They are. You will have to have God working with you to achieve these dreams. Many of these visions will take a certain level of finances to achieve. God may use others to underwrite some of these, but most you will likely finance.

Are you willing to pay the price? God will bless you financially to the extent you are willing to pay the price. Success does not come cheap. A price must be paid to achieve success in any area of life: parents pay a price to raise godly children, astronauts paid a price to walk on the moon, Jesus paid a heavy price to save us.

Do you and your spouse agree? Be in agreement with your spouse concerning your goals and the cost of achieving them. Determine together if the cost is reasonable in light of the likely reward.

Are you accountable? Establish accountability with another Christian you respect. Allow him/her to help you maintain your sense of objectivity. Sometimes when you are focused on an activity or goal, your perspective can become warped, and it is easy to lose sight of what is important in your life. Remain open to that person's counsel.

Scott Kays, CFP, is president and founder of Kays Financial Advisory Corp., which manages more than $55 million for more than 200 clients. He hosts investment seminars for major organizations such as IBM, BellSouth, AT&T, and Cox Enterprises. He authors the KFAC Market Newsletter on the economy and financial markets. Scott is also an ordained minister and has been an associate pastor for five years. He lives in Atlanta with his wife and four children.

From Achieving Your Financial Potential by Scott Kays, copyright (c) 1999. Used by permission of Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, N.Y. For online information about other Random House, Inc. books and authors, see Internet Web Site at http://www.randomhouse.com.

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