“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal…” -Matthew 6: 19-20
Through His prophets, God has specified the worthy reasons to seek prosperity. These include to build the kingdom, achieve eternal happiness, and to serve others. As Franklin D. Richards summed up, “…let us dispense the means which the Lord has given us to enrich the lives of others who are less fortunate than we are and to build the kingdom of God, that we may make of our life a good gift to God…”
These three ideals should be the foundation of the LDS financial plan — the starting point, rather than a future goal. Prosperity is not an appropriate end — it is simply a tool that can be used to help us achieve the end of eternal life, and to help others do the same. When prosperity becomes our end — however subtly and to any degree — the chances of us becoming prideful and selfish and straying from the gospel are significantly increased.
The world is swarming with advice on how to become wealthy. We’re bombarded with images and stories of the “good life” complete with extravagant homes, glittering cars, and lavish lifestyles. Especially in America, “fine-twined linen” in all its forms is readily available to those who seek it.
None of these things have intrinsic value; they are not good or bad in and of themselves.
However, would they be our primary focus if we were grounded in God’s true financial ideals? Would we seek them directly? Would we use the “law of attraction” to envision them consistently? Would we selfishly hoard material goods after gaining them? Would they become a source of pride, or a means of service? Would we value worldly profit over eternal progression?
These three ideals provide the context and standard for making all financial decisions, down to the most minute, most practical details.
Consider life insurance, for example. If a providing father dies without life insurance, what happens to his family and the productivity (which represents service) he could have created had he lived? Not only does his service in this world stop, but also the service efforts of his wife and children will be inhibited, since they will have to work to replace his income.
What about something as basic as budgeting? If we cannot manage our home finances properly, how can we build the kingdom effectively? If our small portion of the Lord’s vineyard is mismanaged, how does that impact the vineyard as a whole?
Money that services debt interest could be used instead to serve people. The more dependent we are, the less we can impact others for good. Money lost in risky schemes is money that could have been used to build temples and send youth on missions.
Viewing our personal finances in this light helps us understand the gravity of our daily decisions and actions. It directly connects our dollars and cents to the principles, ordinances, and covenants of the gospel.
“May God bless us,” Brigham Young entreated, “that we may always have enough, and know what to do with what we have, and how to use it for the good of all, for I would not give much for property unless I did know what to do with it.”
Action Items
Think
Answer the following questions:
- Why do I want to prosper?
- If I had $1 million, what would I do with it?
- Am I fully living the law of consecration? How can I live it better?
- If the United Order were to be instituted today, would I accept it, or struggle with it?
- Do my daily thoughts, words, and acts reflect eternal, or temporal, priorities?
- Do my financial habits contribute to, or detract from, building the kingdom?
- How can I better serve others and become more selfless?
- Who do I know that is struggling, and how can I help them?
Plan
- Create a plan to help someone in need.
- Create a long-term plan of how you will use your talents and material blessings to build the kingdom of God (i.e. serve a full-time service mission, grow a community garden, build a non-profit, etc.).
Read
- “United in Building the Kingdom of God” by L. Tom Perry
- “Beware Lest Thou Forget the Lord” by Dean L. Larsen
- The Use and Abuse of Blessings by Brigham Young
- Helaman Chapter 12
Do
- Pay an honest tithe and generous fast offerings.
- Help an individual or family struggling financially to become more self-reliant and prosperous.
- Volunteer to serve when opportunities present themselves, particularly in your Ward.
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Image Credit: Mie Hultengren
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I love the question you pose, “If the United Order were to be instituted today, would I accept it, or struggle with it?”
I have pondered over this question often. At first I think–no problem–I could do it. But then I feel a slight hesitation inside. Then I realize, I need to work on removing my attachment to temporal possessions.
Thomas Dyches’s last blog post..Silver Certificates
Also, I love that you are addressing life insurance. It really got me interested in the chapter, and then really interested when I saw the moth and rust doth not corrupt scripture at the top, but I wished you had addressed that more. I have really had questions regarding savings, life insurance and other forms of insurance and their relation to such scriptures as you mentioned and “consider the lilies of the field”. Gandhi and Mother Teresa were such great examples of faith in God and total dependence on His gifts and mercy, i.e. faith. Gandhi talks about not getting insurance as an act of faith, yet the church teaches preparation. I would love it if you would more thoroughly cover this subject.
I can see, to an extent, why we should have life ins., etc. If it is important to prepare, then it is important to do it well. Just as with any commandment there is the potential to look beyond the mark. To try, in this case, to put more time and effort into creating material security than spiritual foundation. That is for each individual or couple and family to reconcile for themselves based on the scriptures, counsel from church leaders (as you are helping to share and reference here), wisdom and personal revelation. I look forward to any more references and thoughts you guys have regarding this subject.
Marie Palmer’s last blog post..Motherhouse 2009 Booklist
I appreciate how you bring the concepts of how our temporal decisions in finance affect our spiritual lives, and should therefore be aligned. If we are to be congruent in our beliefs, we ought to be living by principle with our finances the same as we would with any other area of belief. For example, why do so many invest in 401(k)’s and IRA’s but claim they believe gambling is a violation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? How does that also violate the Law of the Harvest?
Also, thank you for referencing Brigham Young’s speech “The Use and Abuse of Blessings.” That speech changed the way I look at how I am to be a steward and consecrate my financial and human resources.
Marie, great points. We’ll be discussing insurance and other forms of protection/preparation in the coming weeks. It’s interesting to think of how the emphasis on being prepared jibes with the whole “consider the lilies of the field” concept in the Sermon on the Mount.
I think you’re right — there’s a danger of taking material security out of context. This is why the Prophetic Model is so critical; it places all financial counsel into the proper context. It helps us see that the point of preparedness is to increase our ability to serve others, not to selfishly hoard stuff for our own use.
Chris, thanks for the comment. Excellent point about the 401(k). It can definitely be a destructive “sacred cow,” even among those who should know better.
Stephen Palmer’s last blog post..A Small Sample of This Week’s Harvest