What Personal Wealth Means to Me
Do you feel wealthy?
Odds are the answer’s no. We seem to spend our whole lives chasing wealth… but never “having wealth.”
But perspective is everything. And finances can be touchy.
Since March of 2020, I’ve done a bit of a deep dive into financial topics like paying off debt, investing money, saving for the future, creating emergency funds, etc. My interest ignited when I read Total Money Makeover and my husband and I decided to fully pay off all of our debt in order to open up more options for ourselves and our future. Living paycheck to paycheck was (and is) emotionally exhausting.
But then I got to thinking about wealth and when I would “arrive” there. We’re on track to be debt free by the end of this year… will I be wealthy then? Am I only wealthy when I stop thinking about money? But I bet billionaires still think about money… So when will I arrive?
Building wealth as a Christian
That question goes even deeper for me when I think about my faith in relation to wealth. Questions like: do Christianity and money exist in tension with each other? Is it right to grow wealth as a Christian?
Here’s what the Bible says about it:
No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. - Luke 16:13
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. - 1 Timothy 6:10
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. - Matthew 6:19-21
Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness.Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle. - Proverbs 23:4-5
Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless. - Ecclesiastes 5:10
Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. - 1 Timothy 6:17
..if riches increase, do not set your heart on them. - Psalm 62:10
A few ongoing themes about money/wealth in scripture:
Money and “getting rich” demands your attention and devotion
Having more wealth can make it more difficult to give up what you have
No earthly treasures follow you when you die
Loving money leads to harm and grief
But money itself is neither good or bad. It’s just a currency that allows us to gain or lose things by… it’s the love of it, the obsession with it, and the posture of serving it that’s not only unwise, but abusive.
God designed us to love Him, not an ever-shifting yard stick. But even with all that said, money is necessary to live. It’s necessary for food and shelter and clothing. So where does building wealth come in? I think it’s like this: we can have something without loving it; we can own something without the fear of losing it; we can use wealth to give more than we take; we can use wealth to build systems of safety for ourselves and others… I don’t think it’s a black and white answer. I think it’s a continual heart check, a continual process of surrendering what we have and remembering that God (not jobs or investments or assets) provides for us, like Deuteronomy 8:18 says, “but remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth…”
Celebrating milestones
With all that said, reaching certain personal finance milestones still feels worth celebrating.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my relationship with Jesus it’s that he desires to set us free. Debt is almost certainly the opposite of “free" — it limits your options by lowering your cash flow and depriving you of your biggest wealth building tool: your income (but I won’t get on my Dave-Ramsey-inspired-soap-box… yet…)
To really celebrate wealth goals and cultivate a heart of gratitude around money, I was inspired by a podcast recently to write out my specific, personal wealth goals. The goals don’t have to be big. I think it’s better when they’re just big enough to be beyond your reach without sounding unattainable.
Here are a few of mine (and I hope this inspires you to create your own list!)
Personally, I will feel wealthy when I:
Go to Trader Joe’s and fill out an entire grocery chart of groceries
Cash flow my next vehicle
Buy an article of clothing as soon as I notice that I need it
Source my meat from local butchers and my produce from farmer’s markets
Furnish a room in my house exactly as I designed it on Pinterest
Book massages as a weekly or bi-weekly self-care ritual
Stop postponing medical care because of out-of-pocket cost
Help put my future kids through their education institution of choice
Go to a fancy restaurant for weekly date night
Fix any dent, scratch, or issue with my car as soon as it happens
Have an emergency fund with 4-6 months of expenses
Give 15% of our income to retirement regularly
Spoil loved ones on their birthdays and Christmas
Gift to those in need without pause or hesitation
I feel incredibly selfish writing these out… because I know how much I have compared to the vast majority of the world. But this list both humbles and excites me. Some items seem daunting while others feel right within my reach.
I think defining your vision of a “wealthy life” is incredibly, incredibly important. Otherwise, we sit around wanting more without knowing what that more is. It also makes me think about how far I’ve come and the fact that I am living someone else’s dream right now.
Somebody out there just wants a job, a house, enough money to buy food without going hungry, access to health insurance, a car of their own, a new phone that doesn’t drop their calls, a pet that they can squish and love, an education that grows and challenges them…
It’s humbling and gratifying to realize all that I have and all that I have the potential to walk into. I hope this inspires you to write your own list and realize how close you are to stepping into it.
