Tag Archives: frugallivingnw

And on a more serious note, consider the way He spent His time and His energies (because as we saw in the FrugalLiving article, how we spend our time and energy is just as important as how we spend our money):

• He knew when to hold back. Jesus is an excellent example of boundaries.  When ministry was busy, He often went alone to a secluded place to pray.  Jesus knew when to give and when to get alone.  That is giving wisely.  In the midst of our busy schedules and bargain hunting, we must know when the wisest thing is to shut the computer, forget the deal, and get alone with God.
• He didn’t waste. A tricky exhortation is Matthew 7:6 where Jesus tells us not to throw pearls to pigs.  In other words, don’t invest your time and energy in people or endeavors which will be fruitless.  Now this is tricky, of course, because we don’t always know. But the principle is helpful, and as we ask Jesus for wisdom, He will help us to discern when what we’re spending our time, money, and energy on, is in fact a worthwhile investment or or when it’s a foolish waste of our precious resources.  Sometimes for me all it takes is a step back, a quick prayer for wisdom, and a dose of perspective to see whether all the time spent bargain-shopping is really worth the time and energy. Life is short. Let’s not waste a minute of it.
• He fulfilled His civic duties in light of His spiritual duties. Jesus paid his taxes (Matthew 22:21). However, He calls us to something far greater than simply handing over our income tax.  He asks for our whole life, given over to Him.  We are image-bearers of God, so we are His.  When we spend our lives wisely for His glory, we simply fulfill what we were created to do.
• He got ticked when religion was corrupted by commercialism (Matthew 21:12). This is a serious warning for today’s church.  If we reduce Christianity to the buying and selling of religious goods and services, using spirituality for one’s own material gain, we are certainly not spending wisely, and reducing God’s house to a den of robbers.  This is probably another topic altogether, but worth noting.

Bottom line?  Spending wisely is using all that we have for the glory of God.  It means stretching our food so we can do more with what He’s given us. And what is the more that He’s calling us to do? More on that Thursday as we look at how Jesus models giving generously.

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*How has the life of Christ inspired your spending habits?  How do you make every cent count?  I’d love to hear.

*Visit FrugalLivingNW for today’s cooresponding post.

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We’ve been looking at contentment for some time now. We were Camping on Contentment for a week or so, and now here we are, digging around again for this elusive quality we all seek but cannot seem to really grasp.  Thankfully, Jesus sums it all up for us and turns our world upside down.

I admit it seems odd to think of Jesus as an example of contentment.  I mean, if I was God I’d probably be content too, right?  Most of the things that drive me crazy have to do with not being in control, not knowing what’s going on, or not being able to juggle all the crazy busy things in my life all at once.  So, things like omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence would really come in handy.  I’d be able to turn a glass of water on my nightstand into a Frappucino, know where that missing library book went, and go grocery shopping without ever leaving the house.  Seems to me that under those conditions contentment wouldn’t be so tough.

But in all seriousness, the secret to true contentment comes from The One Who is contentment, who is peace, who is joy.  In fact, He summed it up for us in a sentence.  A mere 67 characters–nothing more than a tweet.  Here I’ve been blithering for weeks and Jesus puts an end to it all and simply says,

“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”  Matthew 10:39

See, here’s the problem.  We’re all seeking the wrong thing, and it’s painfully counterproductive. We’re all seeking contentment.  We’re all seeking life. And specifically, we’re all seeking our best life now.

Now yes, our discontentment often stems from what we discussed in the FrugalLivingNW article: commercials and advertisements, glossy magazine pages, emails alerting us to deals. But what’s at the root of those things? Why are we so tempted by them? Why do they make us long and yearn for what they sell? Why do their advertising gimmicks work so stinkin’ well?

Because we’re seeking our best life now.  And as long as we seek our life, our best life now, Jesus says we will lose it. We’ll lose contentment, lose our peace, lose our joy.

The problem is not the magazines, the emails, the billboards, the TV ads. The problem is in our hearts.

Because deep in our hearts we’ve bought the lie that this is what really matters. That this home, this body, this face, this career, this time and place is what really matters.  So we’ve given our lives to pursue the perfection of those things, and in the process we’ve forfeited our souls (Matthew 8:36).  We’ve forfeited our peace. We’ve forfeited our contentment.

“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”  Matthew 10:39

Then what would it look like to lose our lives?  Jesus gave us an example.  He left his home in heaven, his perfect communion with the Father, his glory and honor, his rights and divine privileges. He left his comfort, his reputation, his praise. He left perfection to enter our imperfection.  In short, He left everything.  He didn’t come to earth to seek His life, He came to lose it, that we might find life in Him.

So how are we to lose our lives? Just aimlessly begin giving up stuff and denying ourselves in order to derive some sick pleasure?  Religious masochists, is that right?  Not at all. The key, again, Jesus sums up in three little words.

For my sake.

Our goal isn’t finding life. Our goal isn’t simply losing life. Our goal isn’t merely contentment.  Our goal is Christ.  We lose our lives and find them hidden in Christ (Colossians 3:3).  That is where life is found.  That is where contentment is found.  That is where peace and joy and abundance are found.  A new pair of peep-toes are a pitiful substitution for the infinite pleasures of the Savior. As CS Lewis said,

If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling around with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in the slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by an offer of a holiday at sea. We are far to easily pleased.

Contentment isn’t about not wanting stuff. It’s about wanting infinitely more than any earthly store could ever offer. It isn’t about aimlessly denying ourselves, it’s about letting go of life in a joyful pursuit of something greater. It’s seeking true life, found in Christ.  The temptations are rendered powerless because a greater desire trumps them all.  On the drive to my favorite Thai restaurant I would never be tempted to stop off and eat a donut from the 7-11.  Something far greater is in store.

And something far greater is in store.  Not just in eternity, but today.  We rise above the earthly lure of wealth and material possessions by living for something greater than our best life now.  Christ’s fame, Christ’s mission, Christ’s Kingdom.  We seek contentment to glorify God.  We save our nickels and dimes so we can spend them wisely, on that which really matters.

More on that tomorrow. Today, remember Jesus’ tweet:

“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”  Matthew 10:39