Establishing Your Financial Foundation, Pt. 3

Good Day,

Please see Pt. 1, and/or Pt. 2 of the Establishing Your Financial Foundation series if you have not already done so.

We left off with asking ourselves, “now that we know who God is, who are we?”. We can’t let the world continue to try to define reality for us. We have to know with all our hearts that our Father in Heaven is exceedingly greater than we can ever imagine, so he wouldn’t have created us as anything other than the good He reflects.

So, who are you, and how do we love like God so that pleasing Him is at the forefront of our lives?

First, God created man in His own image which we read in Genesis 1:27.

“So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” — Genesis 1:27 (NKJV)

Meaning we weren’t created in the image of the world, we were created to each look like Him in our own unique and separate ways. Why this is so vitally important for us to understand throughout this entire series and for the rest of our lives, is because each of us are mini images of God since He created us, so we must walk around and act like it.

You may not think of this as it pertains to God, but you do understand this when you think about your parents. You are a combination of them in every way genetically. Everything that makes up your programming comes from this imprint on your life through your parents genetics. You look back at old photos and see how similar you look to your parents when they were your age, yet they had different parents themselves. And then it’s your grandparents and your great grandparents, and if anyone has any photos of their great great grandparents, cherish and keep those safe because most families don’t get to have that many generations on earth at the same time. But where I’m going with this is that we can continue to trace our lineage back as far as we’d like and will continue to have at least 1 thing that resembles them in our life today and this is by design.

God created everything.

The heavens, the earth, and everything in them. And everything He created, was born from His imagination and infinite creativity. What He spoke, became. What He thought of, formed. What He imagined, was made tangible and comprehensible. And every single thing that He created, because it came from His mouth, imagination, and work, is a product of Him and can be traced back to Him, because it reflects His greatness in some way, shape, or fashion.

So, who are you?

You are a reflection of God. You are an abundant blesser, provider, and protector. You are creative just like He is creative. What you speak and what you think is what you get, just like Him. What you create leads back to you, looks like you, sounds like you, feels like you, and moves like you. God gave us fingerprints as a way for us to touch and leave our imprint everywhere we go, because that is exactly what He does everywhere He goes.

“Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” — Proverbs 4:23 (NKJV)

God’s heart is perfect and pure in every way. Loving like God means to lay down your life for your neighbor and seek their gain, just as Jesus did for us.

So that greatness DNA is in you as it is in me.

The main difference between God and man is sin nature. God is perfect in every way and can only act in a perfect manner. For God, identity and action are the same thing. Who He is and what He does are inseparable and He cannot act against His nature. For man, our identity is greater than our actions. We are made for perfection, but we all fall short of it, and this is exactly why we need Jesus.

If we look up the definition of love, there are many versions but for the most part, the various sources say that “Love is a profound, multifaceted emotion characterized by strong affection, deep attachment, and care for a person, animal, or object.” If you’re like me, because the word love is so ingrained in my being, it’s one of those words that never made it on my “I wonder what the actual definition of this is” list. Because who doesn’t know what love means? We all may say it differently, but we’re all still saying the same thing, and what we’re all saying aligns with the definition above.

But we read in 1 Corinthians 13: “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. ” — 1 Corinthians 13:1-10 (NKJV)

Paul tells us that we can have every gift from God but if we don’t have love, none of them matter. He tells us we can do all the right things but if they don’t have God’s love behind them, they’re worthless. He tells us love is long suffering and that during those times where we go through suffering that love remains kind to everyone else no matter what we’re going through.

Based on the original definition of love, I think it’s missing a few pieces according to what we read in the Bible. Because worldly love tells us that we can love anything and that because we love it, everyone has to respect it. The world compares and says I love you but you’re not loving me. The world tells us that because we love something, we shouldn’t enter into conflicting discussions because that would be disrespectful, and that presenting truth to someone you love is manipulation and unacceptable. But Paul tells us clearly that love isn’t easy and specifically, it’s not going to hurt for a small amount of time, it’s going to hurt for a long time.

That’s hard.

And the reason for this is because this is exactly what God does for us each and every second of every day. So the action of love is how we get to be closest with God. God completely removes the expectation that because He loves us, He should be getting something in return, and this is what separates worldly wisdom from Godly wisdom. He makes it plain to us that we are accountable for our actions regardless of how someone else treats us. We are still expected to love them like He loves us. And this is why we read in 2 John that love isn’t just keeping His commandments, but it’s walking in them.

“This is love, that we walk according to His commandments.” — 2 John 6 (NKJV)

And this is how we love like God – removing ourselves from the equation entirely and understanding that love can only happen to something else as a reflection of how God treats us. So as this pertains to your financial portion, when treating your relationship with it like the love God has for us, think about how you should be using money going forward.

Now we start talking money.

Love and appreciate you, and may God bless you and yours.

EJM