Hetty Green had money problems.
She would wear the same black dress till it was worn out. Her daughter was sent
to a convent to be raised and provided by nuns and her son lost his leg because
of the cost of treating an infection. She separated from her husband because he
spent too much and he eventually died bankrupt. She ate cold oatmeal, onions,
and eggs since she hadn’t paid for fuel to heat it. She sold newspapers she had
read to others for half price for extra cash. She used a ragtag trunk as a desk
and set on the floor rather than have proper office furniture.
You may be tempted
to feel sorry for a woman so broke, but don’t. She wasn’t broke. Heddy Green
was the daughter of a shipping magnate that had inherited 10 million dollars. When
she died in 1916, she had over 100 million dollars. She had money, she just didn’t
ever use it.
Maybe we should feel sorry for her to have
such a warped perceptive on what money was good for.
We may not have that
much money but I bet we may have some of the same skewed viewpoints. Churches sometimes get so caught up on having money
that they forget it is a tool we are to use to grow the kingdom. In our desire to not be wasteful, we do
nothing. As Christians, we give only to maintain not to grow. We would rather be ‘well off’ in an earthy bank
than a heavenly one.
"Therefore if you have
not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true
riches to you?
Luke 16:11
You can waste money without ever spending it
if we don’t use it to do good and further the kingdom of God.
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