Relationships over revenue

From The Pastor’s Pen – By Brian Horrobin

It is the Victoria Day weekend here in Canada and that means it is also the “unofficial” start to barbeque season.

To me, that’s code for spending time with family and friends and making those relationships a priority.

You may have lost a loved one this past winter, a family member or a close friend.

Those losses, though painful and difficult, can also serve as a reminder to put people before material things.

Keynote speaker, James Clear, says this: “Money plays an important role in life, but it can’t be the only filter for how you decide to spend your time. Nobody will ever pay you to go on a date with your spouse or take your kids to the park or grab coffee with your parents.”

This is good advice for us all.

The Bible gives an even sterner warning, as recorded in 1 Timothy 6:9-10: “People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 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.”

Many people that I talk to seem to think this verse says that money is the root of all kinds of evil, but that is not what it says.

It is the love of money that is the problem.

Instead of being consumed with gaining more wealth, and in the process undervaluing the relationships of family and close friends, let’s turn that around and use our money wisely in the enhancement of those same relationships.

Forego buying shares in Ben and Jerry’s and instead take the family out for an ice cream cone.

Enjoy some great time with your family or friends this holiday weekend and don’t regret any missed money-making opportunities.

Those will always come but your family time won’t be forever.

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