I Thought It Was All About Me

January 31, 2012 by at 9:00 am 4 Discussion

The first weekend my wife Beth and I attended LCBC nine years ago, the topic was money. I started to sink in my chair, left out a grumbling sigh and started to think about what I wanted to eat for lunch.

I grew up going to church and heard plenty of sermons about money, but never had I heard a message like the one I heard that day. Something was different. When I heard money talked about before, I always felt like there was a weight attached to it. The words that came to mind when I heard money were: guilt, should, tight, overdrawn, debt. There was always a negative connotation and I remember feeling like giving was something I should do, rather than what I wanted to do.

I heard something new that day.  I realized that Jesus talked a lot about money in the Bible. In fact, the only thing Jesus talked about more was the Kingdom of God. Jesus didn’t just talk about the object of money, but also about the intention of the heart. What changed for me was not to think about giving money as “should” but instead as an opportunity. The way I heard money talked about that day was freeing and brought peace. We have an opportunity to give to God with thanks and trust that He will take care of us. We have an opportunity to give to others and see lives changed. We have an opportunity to give freely because God has given us all we need. When we trust that God will take care of all our needs, then we can freely give of our time, energy, money and lives to God and others.

Nine years later we do not get tired of hearing about lives changed throughout LCBC. We love hearing about what God is doing in places like Kenya, India, Haiti and the Czech Republic. Thanks for the reminder that it’s not about me, but God and others.

For further study read: Matthew 6 in the Bible.

A great book with some practical steps is The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey.

Check out Financial Peace University at all of our campuses.

About Matt Graybill

Matt is the Community LIFE Pastor at LCBC Church. He's the husband to Beth and the father to two sons. On the side Matt is the Chaplain for the Hershey Bears and is a die hard Philly Sports Fan.
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  • Steve

    I agree, giving breeds giving once we understand, it’s not something we have to do, but rather something we get to do.

    Blessing

    • http://twitter.com/teamgraybill Matt Graybill

      Love that statement- “giving breeds giving once we understand”- thanks for sharing

  • http://twitter.com/Tykrock Matthew Solovey

    I agree. Typical “money” sermons often come across as PBS pledge weeks. Nothing more than a “You know, you really should give more to the church” type thing. But the money messages I’ve heard at LCBC concentrate on the biblical aspects of our money and our giving. It’s principles, not a direct “Hey, how about you cough up more for LCBC?” People typically tune out once they realize it’s a money sermon, but David has repeatedly shown good tact and presentation on an important subject. It always makes me reflect. 

    • http://twitter.com/teamgraybill Matt Graybill

      For sure Matt- I also love that LCBC passes offering baskets before a message dealing with money, and tells people that are new and unconnected to let it pass right by.