Listening to our world, most see how wasteful and possessive Christians are viewed today. Around the globe, American Christians are perceived as materialistic, overly possessive, and incredibly wasteful in their personal and collective habits. It's shameful and is the opposing expression of God's love and expectancy of Jesus. Jesus said, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." Jesus' words open the door to transforming bad habits into God's trait of resourcefulness—a divine quality that introduces Christians to Christ's happiness where Christian Character Counts.
Ask Christians today if they love God; emphatically, they respond with "Absolutely!" However, looking at their actions of wasting valuable things such as time, money, and energy, their faith breaks down and identifies where first love resides. In 2019, a survey by Ladder and OnePoll revealed that an average American spends an average of $18,000 per year on non-essential items, including streaming services and lattes, impulse Amazon finds, and unnecessary cosmetics and clothes. Some Christians might say that's not true, but I challenge them to compare their debt-to-income ratio and realize most are spending more than 9% of their monthly income on debt payments, identifying where God's loving principle of giving resides in their truth.
The wonderful thing about God's love is it forgives everyone who falls into careless and reckless living. However, what will never happen is trust will never be created based on God's principles to be more like Jesus, where fulfillment stands and God's happiness dominates. Recall God's love is free, but trust is built through developing Christ-like character traits in who you are and what you do (John 14:21). The invitation to repent is always open. Jesus said, "Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand." This command is not just for conversion but also for changing bad habits into Christ-like ones that set people free, causing holiness to grow in the soul (Matthew 4:17).
Resourceful people function better daily, and things can be done to integrate this remarkable trait into personality. The first thing, ask, seek, and knock on God's door to gain a divine perspective of giving. Pray and show your love and trust by giving to Jesus' Cause first through your home church and then to other things (Malachi 3:10 | Acts 2). Next, ask for help and learn how to spend wisely from others like Dave Ramsey and the folks at Financial Peace University. One last thing you can do to be resourceful is be curious. Open up and see how resourceful people live in the hope of Jesus. If you do, hidden treasures await!
I promise if you connect with the trait of resourcefulness and stop chaotic living, sunny days are ahead beyond the storm of chaos. Go ahead, decide to be resourceful before good intentions are lost, and hell continues to be your path like most others. Let's choose to welcome and induct Christ's power into our lives where Christian Character Counts.