Are You a Slave?

It’s easy to become a slave to money without ever realizing it.

Are you a slave to money? Are you sure?

The answer to this question may seem obvious, but take a second to think about it. Not all slaves wear chains. And if you’re like me, there’s a good chance that you have become a slave to money, without even realizing it.

Financial slavery is sneaky, stealthy and downright insidious. It’s a kind of slavery that slowly captures your heart and mind and can control you all through your life if you don’t break free. Learn to recognize the signs, and you’ll begin to see it everywhere — all around us, people have become slaves to money.

“Some people are greedy and ambitious, but not me,” you might be thinking. “I have nothing in my wallet right now except for the singles I keep in there for decoration. I’m really not motivated by money. Some people might be slaves to money, but not me.”
Freedom is all about what's in your heart. tweet this!
That’s a common response I hear when I talk to people about financial slavery. But the problem is that slavery doesn’t have anything to do with how much or how little money you have. Freedom is all about what’s in your heart.

A while back, I discovered something profound that Jesus said in Matthew 6:24:

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

I’ve read this passage before without paying it much attention. But for some reason, when I read the passage again, God opened my eyes to something new: Money can make slaves of us. And if we’re not careful, the chains it clasps around our ankles can hold us back from loving and serving God like we should.

Are You a Slave to Money?

I realized that morning on my couch that there are all sorts of ways money sneaks into to our lives to enslave us. It’s kind of a scary notion. Even more terrifying to me was the revelation that there were several places in my own life where money had made a slave of me.
Money can make slaves of us and hold us back from loving and serving God like we should. tweet this!
Over the next few days, I made a list of all of the different ways money slips shackles around our hearts. Greed may be at the top of the list, but it’s accompanied by things like debt, poverty, envy, stinginess, discontentment and a host of other heart issues that crop up in our lives all too easily — even in the lives of Christians.

In upcoming articles, we’ll explore the ways that we fall  into these bad habits and bad attitudes. We’ll learn what God says about how to break free from bondage to money and find out how to make our finances work for us, and more importantly, for Him.

Financial freedom is a journey that starts in the heart. I hope you’ll join me on that road.