Does having more money and owning more property make you feel secure? Do you rely on your education, your skills and abilities to pave the way to more prosperity? Is this not trusting more in yourself and your wealth – in other words – in mammon, than in God? Jesus tells us in Luke 16 that we cannot serve both God and mammon.
What is “Mammon?” It is the god-like term for wealth, riches, and material possessions. Jesus uses the term to personify wealth as a rival master to God. Mammon today is materialism, consumerism, and greed. It has the power to draw us away from God. It is a disease. How do you treat this disease? How can you put mammon in its proper place?
In a word–Generosity. Generosity is the medicine that cures the disease of worldly desire and greed. Giving frees us from being slaves to mammon. Obedience to God’s commands to give of our first fruits is our intentional acknowledgement of His authority in our life. He is entitled to honor and respect. His Divine Lordship over every facet of our life, including our money, is not a threat, but a place of safety and security.
The sugar that helps this medicine go down is gratitude. Be grateful to God for all the gifts He gives you. He is the source and origin of all you are and all you have. He is the one who gives you the ability, the education, and the skills to acquire wealth (Dt. 8:18). Giving expresses our gratitude for all the blessings God gives to us.
Another sweetener to help ease the medicine is to think of money as a tool to bring you closer to Christ. The catechism teaches us this very tenet. In CCC 226 it says that anything that is not God is to be used only insofar as it brings us closer to God.
How can money be that kind of tool? How can money help us to grow closer to God. By giving. Giving to supply the needs of the poor is the manifestation of our trust and faith in God to provide. Almsgiving is an act of praise and worship. This is what gives us a sense of purpose and meaning. It is generosity that brings us the joy and satisfaction we seek for our lives, not another golf club or pair of jeans.
We know that God is to be our master. He is to be first in our lives. We are to seek and serve Him and not mammon. We do that when we give first. So give and gain the peace that you seek in your life.
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