Wealthy and Holy?          Money as defined by businessdictionary.com is anything of value that serves as a (1) generally accepted medium of financial exchange, (2) legal tender for repayment of debt,  (3) standard of value (4) unit of accounting measure and (5) means to save or store purchasing power.

          Money as most people define it is a mode of payment. May it be paper bills, coins, credit cards, or cheques. It is something that one should acquire in order to purchase something. In this fast-growing world, it is highly needed in order to survive and keep up with the expensive things that the world has to offer. And yes, it is a symbol of wealth. But have you realized that this wealth is just an earthly one? That it can’t be an entrance fee to heaven; you can’t even take it with you in your death bed.

          On February 17, 2013, The Feast PICC offered the last talk of the Happy, Healthy, Holy Money Talk Series. Bro. Bo Sanchez talked about how we could bring the holy back in the use of money. He stated how money can be neutral. It can be shared or used for selfish purposes.

          Money in its nature is usually considered something used for evil because of temptation. But we have the capacity to resist temptation because Jesus gave us precisely the needed love, grace, and faith to resist temptation. Every single temptation is a fundamental lie. Therefore, know the truth behind that lie. And in order to know the truth, you need to practice the gift of salvation—true wealth that we could take to heaven. To keep it simple, cut out the things that you don’t need, bring in the things that you do need. Because sometimes the things that you need are just mere temptations and the ones that you do really need are those that will bring you salvation.

          “Bringing holy means that you feel the love of God. Holy is not religious, holy is something that mirrors the love of God.” This is a line said by Bro. Bo Sanchez. And true enough, we can say that money is holy when we feel God’s presence on it. Money is holy if the love is the purpose of using it. Take this as an example, when a rich man dies, he dies empty handed—no material things. Because you see, you will leave your money on this world and it is your choice whether to share it or not. And technically—whether you like it or not—it is inevitable that you cannot take your earthly wealth with you. The only money that you keep is the money that you give away. It is a moral obligation to give and be truly rich. It is not bad to engage yourself in work-- in everyday, stress-deliver, and headache-provider tasks. As absurd as it may sound to some, earn as much as you can so that you can give as much as you can.

          Money is also considered holy if the process of making money is love. The process of making money is also making you lovable at the same time. There’s a saying that money is the root of all evil. And I beg to differ. How can you say that money is the root evil when in the first place, money is just a non-living thing? Why would you accuse a poor little thing when in fact, it doesn’t hurt you in the first place? Therefore, the root of all evil in this matter are those people that make money the root of some evil.

          But while in the process of making money, you shall not exploit. Aside from the very obvious way of making money which is through machines, making money is also acquired through building relationships. How? By building a deep relationship with God. For example, you are a working student. For hours and hours, you study while supporting your financial aids through work. In the wee hours of morning, instead of studying or sleeping, you find

yourself working. And on the rest of the day, you battle out the temptation to sleep and to study effectively. Yes, it is our purpose to achieve a dream. But do not forget that the real purpose is to build a relationship between the dreamer and the dream-Giver.

          Bear in mind that you persevere to study because you want to earn money. But in order to study, you also need to earn money. God supports you. He will let you fail but He will encourage you. It will take a long time but God is with you the whole time.

          Come to think of it, God can actually give us all that we want in an instant. Well, He’s powerful enough to do that. But He believes that everything has a right time. A thing acquired in an instant does not show the real essence of time.

          God knows problems more than you do. And as He knows your problems, He also knows your solutions. You are truly rich not because of the wealth you have, but because of the love you receive. But then again be reminded that the money we have is just borrowed from God. Money will do you harm if you use it for evil so use it for God’s purpose instead. Get ready for financial freedom. Bring the holy back.