Money And Emotions

6/29/2010 -     Money and Emotions

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. - Proverbs 4:23 NIV

    Do you know what a wellspring is?  It is the source of a stream or a spring.  In other words, it’s where the stream or spring gets its supply.  The wellspring has to be in good condition in order to supply the spring or stream with what it really needs.  If the wellspring is corrupted or tainted, everything that gets its supply from it will be the same.  There is no way to get a clean spring from a dirty wellspring.

    When I think about most of the issues we face in life, there is always a source of them.  There is always a place where something comes from.  When I hear someone telling me about decisions they made, they are making them in light of other things they may not articulate at that moment.  No thought, idea or action comes from nowhere.  They all have a source.  And that source is our heart.  Our heart is responsible for being the wellspring of our life.  Everything we do comes from the condition of our heart.  And many times that is scary. 

    Some of the worst financial decisions made come from being in a poor emotional state.  Think about it:  How many times have you self medicated by shopping?  Or taken a trip on your credit card because you “just had to get away!”  Or how many things have you purchased to impress someone else?  Or not paid a bill because you just didn’t want to deal with your finances at that time?  These decisions don’t come from an abyss.  These decisions have a root in your heart.  Unfortunately, we don’t always take stock of what is truly happening in our hearts. Hurts that we have not allowed God to heal.  Issues that we keep avoiding addressing in prayer.  Areas of our life that we are trying to still control. Things in our life that God is too good to let us continue to ignore.  All of these things can manifest themselves in our finances. 

    Guarding our hearts has not only spiritual implications, but practical implications as well.  I firmly believe that if people would allow God to heal their hearts, they would not be in many of the financial predicaments they find themselves in time after time.  Your financial decision making comes from your heart.  The things you refuse to deal with, the things you avoid and even the things you may not yet know about.  Only God can truly reveal what is in ours or anyone else’s heart.  What we see in our lives is the manifestation of what our heart looks like. That may not be pretty.  Perhaps a change in your finances must start with a change in your prayer: “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10 NIV).