Money and Happiness — Morning Devotions

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Transcript

Is the search for material wealth the key to finding happiness? That’s a question that’s often asked. Let me introduce you this morning to a young man in the US named Sahil Bloom. He’s an author, entrepreneur, investor, and remarkably, as a young man, he was vice president of a company worth $3.5 billion.

He had everything an expensive car, a mansion for himself and his wife Elizabeth. He wrote a very popular book called Five Types of Wealth. The life-changing international bestseller. It was a guide to building a happier, healthier, wealthier life, and he thought that becoming a rich man would be the greatest achievement of his life. He worked 60 to 100 hours a week, never had time to enjoy his wealth.

Then he realised he’d been wrong. He gave up his job and resorted to a simple lifestyle and decided to devote his life to what matters most. Now he says it’s important to realise how brief life really is and to enjoy every moment instead of trying to achieve great wealth. This is what he said in one of his books. “During my time in finance, I looked around me, and there were so many rich, unhappy people. There was a billionaire entrepreneur who had 4 children he didn’t speak to and a multi-millionaire with 3 divorces. Money brings you some happiness, but it’s all about other things. Don’t live your life in disappointment like I did.“

And Sahil now these days spreads that message. All of us are looking for something in life. We’re looking for things of value or treasure of some kind. Most of us don’t reach the dizzying heights of the Sahil blooms of this world. And what plays out in our mind is how we think about wealth, how we think about money and riches. But here’s what the Bible says from 1 Timothy 6:9-10. People who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction, For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, and some people craving money have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

Biblical scholars believe this phrase the love of money was a common one in Jewish wisdom sayings, and was put to good use by the apostle Paul in his writings there, and the writer of the Hebrews echoes those sentiments. To love money means to place it above all else. I want to be clear this morning that money and stuff are not inherently bad. We just can’t use them as a substitute.

For Jesus, true security and lasting joy can only come from a relationship with Jesus. God knows how easy it is for us to fall in love with money and what it can do to us. God knows that for many of us, money might be the one thing that keeps us from really following Him. So Jesus spoke many times about the dangers of putting love of riches ahead of anything else. Here’s the question. How much is enough? Why is it that the most successful billionaires and millionaires can’t seem to stop wanting to make more money. It’s a rare person indeed who takes their wealth and retreats from this grasping culture to live off what they have, to do good and to share it, because it’s never enough. If you love money, it will never be enough. Unfortunately, many of us are brought up thinking money will solve all our problems. One day when I get rich, I can buy an expensive car and impress all my friends.

When I’ve got a big bank balance with great shares, I’ll automatically be happy and satisfied. This is the problem. It’s called success sickness, the disease of always wanting more and never being happy when you get it, the disease of more, more, more, and then never being happy when you do get it. If you feel like your life is meaningless in any way or like chasing after the wind, just make sure that you solve the right problem because so many of us think that money will solve all our problems, but it won’t.

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King Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes chapter 5, Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness. As I said before, there’s nothing wrong with money. It’s God’s gift to us, and one of the best uses of money is to provide for the needs of your family and others. The greatest monetary experiences we often enjoy are the blessings of sharing it with others.

Let’s Pray

Thank you, Heavenly Father, this morning for that lesson that money is not the ultimate. There are people who seem to have lots of money, and yet, Lord, are they really happy? Help me to understand, Lord, that you know what I need and that you will provide my needs. Help me to have faith and not to put my faith in my bank balance. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.