Misconceptions and Money

 

This was an eye-opening week of study.  I was asked to reflect on my attitude toward money.  Unfortunately, this is a weakness that has had some real consequences in my life.  I think my biggest thinking error is that I am “misjudging how the present affects the future.”  I get caught up in an instant gratification attitude, catering to impulses and appetites.  There seems to be a disconnect between the spending in the moment, and the consequences that follow.  Another thinking error that I’ve grown up believing is that to be righteous I have to be to be poor. After all, “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." However, Brigham Young taught: "...if we are the people of God, we are to be the richest people on the earth...I am ashamed to see the poverty that exists among the Latter-day Saints. They ought to be worth millions and millions." I think rather than focusing on being rich, it’s important to strive for self-reliance.

In the article, “Attitude on Money” by Stephen W. Gibson gives us seven rules to live by if we want to be prosperous.  First, seek the Lord and have hope in him.  I have and will say this over and over again, I believe that if we align our lives with Gods will for us, we will be blessed beyond anything we could have imagined.  I know this because I have experienced it several times in my life. The second rule goes hand in hand with the first.  Keep the commandments, both spiritual and temporal.  3^rd, plan to be self-reliant.  Self-reliance means providing for your self and not depending on others.  I think relying on credit to make ends meet would be considered a violation of this rule. Number 4, get an education.  It’s taken me 40 years to appreciate the importance of this rule.  I never imagined going back to school would be this enjoyable and life changing. Five, “learn laws on which wealth are predicated.” This is a concept that I have shied away from because I find it confusing and I was of the opinion that seeking wealth was bad.  And the last law is service.  Never send away a person in need.