Let me make this very clear, making money is important. It is the duty of godly men to strive to take care of their families. Each family will do this differently though. Some men will be the sole provider, others will work alongside their wives, and still, others will work at home. I know my opinions on this are not popular. It is believed by the conservative side of life that men have to be the sole financial provider or the main provider.
While I do believe that this is the case for the majority of families, there are some that can break away from this. The main point I want to focus on is that this is not a primary theological one. This idea of providing will not condemn someone or save someone. That means that this is a secondary or even a tertiary idea. This means that we can disagree and still live in the body of Christ, the church. With that said, let us break down the difference between focusing on money and focusing on making a difference.
The main difference between these two ideas is the focus. Masculine Peak (MP) claims that focusing on making money will make a man happy. I disagree. When we live with our main focus on making money we will never be satisfied. There is always another dollar to be made, a better position to achieve, or a higher position to earn. Focusing on money creates a monster who is never satisfied. Families will be sacrificed, friends will be sacrificed, God will be sacrificed, and in the end, happiness will be sacrificed. 1 Timothy 6:10 talks about the LOVE of money as the root of all evil. Earning money is not bad, lusting after money is.
We should focus on people. Instead of focusing on money, we should focus on how we can love people with that money. We should focus on our family, our friends, our community, God, and our neighbors. This actually produces fulfillment. Remember, the two greatest commandments are to love GOD, then love our neighbors. We have to know God to fulfill the second part. But we will love our neighbors if we have the first part.
When we are discussing happiness and fulfillment we need to be very clear. Money can make me happy…temporarily. Making connections and loving people has always left me satisfied. Serving those around me has always been one of the most rewarding things in my life. I don’t know about you, but I usually leave a job tired and just wanting to sit down. The only exception is after a good day of teaching, but those days are rarer. When I receive my paycheck I have never felt overwhelming excitement. Usually, I open it up and think to myself, “wow, that’s it?” This is why when “men” encourage other men to only focus on jobs and earning money it feels so shallow. Because it is. Money is only an object or a tool to be used.
That best thing a person can do in this life is love a person. Growing a friendship is beautiful. Serving a brother or sister is amazing. Nothing in life will ever beat that. Serving God will always be the highest goal of mankind. Hopefully we are serving the right god. I will end with the lyrics of a song that my wife introduced me to.
Never made time for the family
coin
But he is the richest man in the cemetery
Only made time for the company
But he is the richest man in the cemetery
He is the richest man in the cemetery
But he is the richest man in the cemetery
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