Greed, money, and security

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CreedIsChrist

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Ever since this recession I have been a worry rat as far as money goes. Investments are way down. Always planning investment strategies and thinking how I can make the best of the recession and come out on top, sometimes till the hours of the early morning.

Point is I don't know if I'm committing the sin of Greed, or simply from the fear of losing security. I myself in my soul have a great hatred for money, because of how reliant we are on it to survive,, but at the same time I long for the security and protection that money gives. The constant thought of losing your house or not being able to afford necessary things is something that plagues my mind in worry and depression. I really hope this recession ends soon..
 

ShannonMcCatholic

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The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.

We do what we know to reasonably do, we do what it is in our power to do to be good stewards---but we don't worry. Fear is not of the Lord...and we are called neither to store up grain in our storehouses, nor to worry about tomorrow. Scripture is pretty clear that the Lord will provide for us, but it's a matter of allowing our expectations of "need" to be malleable.

I hate to break it to you--but that security is an illusion. Even with no recession, you could lose it all--with a catastrophic illness, or accident, or some other awful happening. Stuff is just stuff, none of it really brings happiness. Money is a great gift--because we can do much good, and it enables us to serve others. There is nothing wrong with providing a home and opportunities for your family--nor doing a reasonable amount of work to make those things happen. Work is an inherent part of our lives, and an important one. But like St. Paul we need to be okay whether we have little or we have much--and we must always remember that our wealth and material goods are at our service, and the we do not become slaves unto them. (LOL! I now feel really motivated to do a great big all-house purge!!!)
 
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Anygma

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even peoples with millions in accumulated wealth can lose everything overnight. safety in money can be an illusion. it is very tempting to want to rely on our self for our safety but we are called to rely on God for all things.

sometimes i worry but i find that things happens whether i worry or not, so what good does it serve me to worry? i'm an anxious person by nature but just like Love is more then just a feeling, Trust and Faith is more then feelings too. and i think that it's exactly when our feeling betray us that our act of Faith has more merits.

Lord Jesus, i do not feel trust when i worry but i will trust you regardless. i have faith that you care and look after me, i trust in your Divine Providence. I offer you my feeling of fear and anxiety, i do not want to be those feeling, help me Trust in You with my whole life...

this is just an example of a prayer of trust on the fly. there should be better written ones out there and you can use your own words.

i just found a blog article that look interesting. Mother A. on Trust Word Incarnate
i think i'll read it tonight when i can sit down and relax, because i should be making lunch right now.
 
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CreedIsChrist

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even peoples with millions in accumulated wealth can lose everything overnight. safety in money can be an illusion. it is very tempting to want to rely on our self for our safety but we are called to rely on God for all things.

sometimes i worry but i find that things happens whether i worry or not, so what good does it serve me to worry? i'm an anxious person by nature but just like Love is more then just a feeling, Trust and Faith is more then feelings too. and i think that it's exactly when our feeling betray us that our act of Faith has more merits.

.


Yes, but there are people who want money simply because of luxurious things, and then there are others who worry about money because they simply want to keep a roof over their families head and food on the table.

There is also the issue of free will. We are not Calvinists. And yet the Lord may let us fall because he doesn't want to inhibit our free will and the culpability of our choices. The light shines on both good and evil

Illness and accident doesn't scare me as much. Because then I am much closer to God and his eternal reward
 
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Maggie893

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The money isn't yours to begin with and that is where you really need to start. It's all God's, always was and always will be. He is the one who provides it and His expectation is not that you will hoard it but that you will put it to His work. If you put it to His work, you will never fear for your security.

The idea that we are to save up money to protect ourselves is not of God. I understand exactly where you are coming from. I was there myself. It was when I started doing some studying about finances in Scripture that I realized that my ideas were wrong.

A couple of resources to help you would be:

The first I'd recommend is Andy Stanley's program called Balance. There is a small fee of 1 dollar per session download or you can buy the cd's. There are 6 downloads though so $6.00. Andy Stanley is a pastor at Northpoint Church in Atlanta. Yes he's protestant but this is really well done and I believe it best addresses your struggles.

The other would be here http://www.generouslife.info/book.pdf This is a free PDF. Brian Kluth is also a protestant but he does an excellent job. His site is really poorly done though so I'd stick with the pdf for starters. It's a 40 day journey to a more generous life. It does a decent job of building a knowledge of biblical financial management.

Kluth's biblical statistics are pretty amazing actually. Now these are likely taken from a protestant bible so who knows what the Catholic numbers would be but according to this guy:

"the Bible contains 30 verses on baptism, 225 on prayer, 300 on faith, and 700 on love, but at least 2,350 on money, finances, and material possessions."

I didn't check his counts but having read the scriptures, I'd say he's about right.

I really recommend that you take a spiritual assessment of your financial mindset. Surprisingly enough, changing the way you think about money will make more of a spiritual difference in your life than nearly any other spiritual discipline. You will be amazed. I do hope you find peace and I truly believe that it is in trusting God that we find it, not in coming up with a better way to manipulate our dollars.

Prayers for you.
 
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Fantine

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Great post, Maggie.

Balance is important in every aspect of our lives--how we manage our time and our priorities, how we balance our diets, how we budget our money.

And one thing I have noticed is that when we are out of balance in one area it affects all the other areas of our lives, too.

Is it coincidental that people who are anxious sometimes overeat, or overspend, or drink to excess? The anxiety in one area of our lives creates a ripple effect that throws our whole lives into imbalance.

Similarly, if we work to achieve a good balance in every area of our lives, leaving time for God, work, leisure, our families, etc. we are able to control those feelings of anxiety.

Do you know that the Serenity Prayer is longer than the Serenity Prayer we commonly hear? (I just learned that a few months ago.)

God,

Grant me the serenity
to accept
the things I cannot change,
the courage to change
the things I can, and the
wisdom to know the difference,
Living one day at a time,
enjoying one moment at a time,
accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
taking this sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it,
Trusting that you will make all things
right if I surrender to your will,
so that I may be reasonably happy
in this life, and supremely happy
with you forever in the next.
AMEN!

Lots of wisdom there.

May you be blessed with peace of mind.
 
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JimR-OCDS

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Poverty of spirit, is the key.

Don't attach yourself to the material things of this world, but rather, attach yourself to the will of God.

Follow the way of St. Francis of Assisi, and embrace "Lady Poverty."
Don't confuse this with being destitute.

Instead, learn to live a humble simple life, where your only dependence is on God.

Fr Thomas Dubey has an excellent book, Happy Are the Poor: The Simple Life and Spiritual Freedom.



Jim
 
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Fantine

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Another good book, by Christian composer and lay Franciscan community member John Michael Talbot, is "Blessings: Reflections on the Beatitudes."

From Library Journal
This book, by a popular Christian musician, presents Christian spirituality in the Beatitudes as "the way of revolution" because "it changes our whole way of life from the inside out," beginning with attitudes and culminating with actions. These Beatitudes lead both to social action and to mystical search because they cannot be fully embodied in this life. This way of spiritual poverty, mourning, and humility reorders our lives and orients us toward God's peace and love, an orientation that brings courage and ultimately transformation during suffering.

Talbot's community, Little Portion Hermitage, was struck by fire last year. They suffered severe losses.

To see courage in the face of adversity, see this You Tube video.

www.[B]youtube[/B].com/watch?v=E5lUDM0QC2I
 
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magdiel

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Ever since this recession I have been a worry rat as far as money goes. Investments are way down. Always planning investment strategies and thinking how I can make the best of the recession and come out on top, sometimes till the hours of the early morning.

Point is I don't know if I'm committing the sin of Greed, or simply from the fear of losing security. I myself in my soul have a great hatred for money, because of how reliant we are on it to survive,, but at the same time I long for the security and protection that money gives. The constant thought of losing your house or not being able to afford necessary things is something that plagues my mind in worry and depression. I really hope this recession ends soon..
I don't worry about money since I don't much of it anyways ;)

I always have enough for my needs though and a treat when I want one.
Praise God.

I am blessed I think because when I was young and single I had quite a bit to spend however I wanted. All I did was waste it and spend it on things that did me no good.
 
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isabella1

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I don't worry about money since I don't much of it anyways ;)
^_^ Me too! No fear of me loosing what I don't have. I think life is easier that way. And I am finding I have much more peace now about having less.

I was forced to scale down to about 1/4 of what I had. Boy was that painful. But I learned real good lessons in the process. It was not easy though. Changing my way of thinking and living, was easier said than done.
 
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MoNiCa4316

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Ever since this recession I have been a worry rat as far as money goes. Investments are way down. Always planning investment strategies and thinking how I can make the best of the recession and come out on top, sometimes till the hours of the early morning.

Point is I don't know if I'm committing the sin of Greed, or simply from the fear of losing security. I myself in my soul have a great hatred for money, because of how reliant we are on it to survive,, but at the same time I long for the security and protection that money gives. The constant thought of losing your house or not being able to afford necessary things is something that plagues my mind in worry and depression. I really hope this recession ends soon..

Do you think that this is distrust/too little faith, rather than greed? Hope that doesn't sound judgemental.. this is a big problem I have too. I worry way too much. Pray the Our Father, see how it says "give us this day our daily bread"... not tomorrow's bread. Remember each day has worries of its own. God bless.

:hug:
 
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magdiel

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^_^ Me too! No fear of me loosing what I don't have. I think life is easier that way. And I am finding I have much more peace now about having less.

I was forced to scale down to about 1/4 of what I had. Boy was that painful. But I learned real good lessons in the process. It was not easy though. Changing my way of thinking and living, was easier said than done.
^_^
Many lessons we learn can be painful. They need to be learned just like we need to go to the dentist, both unpleasant (for me torture) and can be painful. :o


If I had to scale down to a 1/4, I would need to sell a kidney and auction off a few of my kids.

Just kidding :D
 
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magdiel

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Do you think that this is distrust/too little faith, rather than greed? Hope that doesn't sound judgemental.. this is a big problem I have too. I worry way too much. Pray the Our Father, see how it says "give us this day our daily bread"... not tomorrow's bread. Remember each day has worries of its own. God bless.

:hug:
Wonderful post Monica.
 
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CreedIsChrist

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Do you think that this is distrust/too little faith, rather than greed? Hope that doesn't sound judgemental.. this is a big problem I have too. I worry way too much. Pray the Our Father, see how it says "give us this day our daily bread"... not tomorrow's bread. Remember each day has worries of its own. God bless.

:hug:


I personally do not know, thats why I posted this OP. Most of the fear comes from thinking my family to be without a home and homeless. Though it seems far from it right now, it still causes me worry because of the unpredictable world.
 
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isabella1

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Trusting in God's providence is difficult for everyone. I personally only know of two people who have even come close total trust.

I have two friends that are hermit nuns, and in their 70's. They live in their own hermitage and have lived in God's providence since their order started. Even though they are the most holy two women I know, very devout, and close to our Lord, from time to time they even panic about not being able to pay a bill.

I don't think we ever can reach the point of perfection in any area of our walk while here. There is only perfection in Heaven. We can only do, trust, love, and live the best we know how at that given moment, and learn how to do it better next time by our liefs lessons.
 
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CreedIsChrist

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Trusting in God's providence is difficult for everyone. I personally only know of two people who have even come close total trust.

I have two friends that are hermit nuns, and in their 70's. They live in their own hermitage and have lived in God's providence since their order started. Even though they are the most holy two women I know, very devout, and close to our Lord, from time to time they even panic about not being able to pay a bill.

I don't think we ever can reach the point of perfection in any area of our walk while here. There is only perfection in Heaven. We can only do, trust, love, and live the best we know how at that given moment, and learn how to do it better next time by our liefs lessons.



Yea that is true. I sometimes think for people with families that its harder because it would break your heart to see your family suffer because of a financial crisis. There is definitely no doubt that money does give a great amount of worldly security to people, and people do go broke and horrible things happen.

I remember hearing one saying heard where it says that no one gets to goto heaven in a feather bed. I'm starting to feel this is quite true. Even our Lord himself left his worldly body in a horrible painful manner and even asked to not have to drink of this cup.

At the same time God gives us free will and we do experience the consequences of our choices. Are my investment choices ok in this recession? I pray they are. Does my worrying about money show distrust in God? I fear that is not true. But it is possible that God may let me fall, like we see in the book of Job? We see in the book of Job how Job almost lost all faith and hope due to his downfall. Suicides are at an alarming rate right now and there is much desperation because of this recession, even the big CEOs are committing suicide like what happened at Freddie Mae. When people become desperate they sometimes lose all hope. I just pray this recession will end soon; it really is an awful feeling not being able to feed your family like you normally could.


Dogs and cats are so lucky I think, they don't have to worry about anything. lol.. Its interesting to see how animals live much more free, less-worrisome lives. Well, domesticated animals that is, lol.
 
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