Christ Is Relevant to Finances

In Desperate Dependency: Finding Christ Relevant to Every Area of Life, chapter 1, we presented this scenario:

The ladder of success possessed a mesmerizing appeal for Howard. His definition of success was having enough money. Enough to buy the cars he wanted. Enough to live in a house in a prestigious neighborhood. Enough to enable his children to attend the most elite schools. Enough to purchase the clothes that identified his family as upper class. Enough to be able to do what he wanted when he wanted. Enough to make people stand in awe and be jealous of what he attained. Enough.

Howard followed one promising proposal after another. His computer continuously relayed more enticing opportunities. He was proficient in every investment strategy. Pages were added to his portfolio daily. But even with all he attained, it was never enough. Anxiety plagued him. Discouragement hounded him. Lust continuously tempted him.

In the Insight Journal we suggested that you consider how each person in the examples of chapter 1 used

people to search for satisfaction,
positions to seek fulfillment, and
possessions to produce significance.

In our assessment of Howard we can note that he was looking to his possessions to produce significance. The lust for more empowered his life with the opinions of people stimulating his significance.

The culminations of the counterfeit Fruit of the Spirit adequately describe Howard: emptiness, futility, turmoil, frustration, anger, inadequacy, anxiety, alienation, and discouragement. Through his own power he sought to fill the voids in his heart.

Galatians 5:16-25 (NLT) offers the solution.

So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.

When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.

Apart from a relevant relationship with Jesus Christ, the best we can attain are the culminations of the counterfeit Fruit of the Spirit. Only by being empowered by the Holy Spirit can we enjoy authentic Fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
The complete Fruit Chart with evidences of fruit, counterfeits, culminations, and action verses is available for download on our website http://www.desperatedependency.com under the “Evaluation” tab.

What empowers your life?