Making money and working hard at your job are things that can bring glory to God. In Acts 16, we’re introduced to Lydia, a businesswoman who dealt in textiles. She was one of Paul’s first converts to Christianity and was so successful she owned her own home. It was large enough to become the meeting place for the first church in the history of Europe. Her desire to succeed in business led her closer to God. It’s not wrong for us to want to make money, but if that desire stops us being generous, leads us into debt or causes us to be dissatisfied, then we need to re-evaluate what we’re doing. When God told the Israelites that He was bringing them into a good land, He reminded them to thank Him for what they would experience. ‘If you start thinking to yourselves, “I did all this. And all by myself. I’m rich. It’s all mine!” – well, think again. Remember that God, your God, gave you the strength to produce all this wealth’ (Deuteronomy 8:17-18 MSG). We should be glorifying Him through all we do. ‘So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God’ (1 Corinthians 10:31 NIV). When our desire for financial success is to glorify God and bless others, He will help us to succeed. But when we’re focused on making money for our own benefit, we’re not bringing Him glory. After all, as the Bible warns, ‘You cannot serve both God and money’ (Matthew 6:24 NIV). We need to determine our thoughts behind making money. Are we making it for ourselves, or is our heart to be generous and glorify God by using the skills He’s given us?
