Quotes about Priorities

If economic catastrophe does come, will it be a time that draws Christians together to share every resource we have, or will it drive us apart to hide in our own basements or mountain retreats, guarding at gunpoint our private stores from others? If we faithfully use our assets for his kingdom now, rather than hoarding them, can't we trust our faithful God to provide for us then?

Each day every man comes closer to the day of his death. Those who lay up their treasures in Thuros spend each day moving away from them. Those who lay up their treasures in Charis spend each day moving toward them.

Giving up everything must mean giving over everything to kingdom purposes, surrendering everything to further the one central cause, loosening our grip on everything. For some of us, this may mean ridding ourselves of most of our possessions. But for all of us it should mean dedicating everything we retain to further the kingdom. (For true disciples, however, it cannot mean hoarding or using kingdom assets self-indulgently.)

God created us to love people and use things, but materialists love things and use people.

We are more concerned about looking stupid (fear of people) than we are about acting sinfully (fear of the Lord)." —Edward T. Welch

You can't take it with you— but you can send it on ahead.

The single greatest contributor to our inability to see money and possessions in their true light—and our tendency to ignore the law of rewards—is our persistent failure to see our present lives through the lens of eternity.

countless people step into financial bondage because they spend money they don't have in order to underwrite a "once in a lifetime opportunity." God is not behind every good deal! Self-control means turning down most good deals on things we want because God may have other and better plans for his money.

How we spend our time verifies what we value most: TV, the Internet, or God's Word?

Ever seen that bumper sticker "He who dies with the most toys wins"? Millions of people act as if it were true. The more accurate saying is "He who dies with the most toys still dies—and never takes his toys with him." When we die after devoting our lives to acquiring things, we don't win—we lose. We move into eternity, but our toys stay behind, filling junkyards. The bumper sticker couldn't be more wrong.

The average American shops six hours a week while spending forty minutes playing with his children.

Jesus Christ said more about money than about any other single thing because, when it comes to a man's real nature, money is of first importance. Money is an exact index to a man's true character. All through Scripture there is an intimate correlation between the development of a man's character and how he handles his money. RICHARD HALVERSON