That's why we fall short, isn't it? Most Christians who are in debt are there because they spend too much on their wants. Most of those who haven't gotten around to setting aside money for that emergency fund or IRA/401k account have failed for the same reason. And ditto for those who are relatively miserly toward the Lord in their giving. Same problem. Christians, like everyone else, have a tendency to "gratify the desires of the sinful nature."

I'm not saying that the things we spend money on are necessarily sinful in themselves. I'm saying that the impulse to elevate spending on our wants above paying our creditors what we owe, saving for the future, and giving to help others in Christ's name, comes from a drive to satisfy our fleshly desires. That drive, unfortunately, is often stronger than our desire to obey God and please Him with our stewardship. We need to take control of our appetites, or inevitably our appetites take control of us.

How do we do this? We can't. But God's Holy Spirit, who lives within every Christian, can. He is the one who strengthens and empowers. When we put ourselves under His direction and control, He builds the fruit of His life (one of which is self-control) into us Galatians 5:22-23). If we will ask Him, if we will let Him, He is the one who can make us the kind of people He wants us to be ... will make us as good as we wish we could be.

That's why Paul says, "Live by the Spirit!" It's the indispensable stewardship verse, the one that makes following all the other stewardship passages possible.

© Sound Mind Investing

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