Life Experience

I had the privilege to sit among three couples who are in full time ministry. It was a forum for married students in seminary to dialogue with a church planter, pastor, and professor and their wives. They were asked all kinds of questions like, "What does a pastors wife do? What are your boundaries? How do you keep you marriage vibrant? How do you keep a budget? Plus lots more.

The one thing that stood out to me was the way they lived their lives in regard to budgeting. The prof with his doctorate said till he came to GCTS his family of 6 never lived on more then $18,000 a year. They were very creative in ways they made and saved money. They emphasized that you don't need much to live on. You don't have to have what everybody else has. You made the most with what you have and you will get by and be happy.

I was amazed. They all said the same thing in different ways and they were all happy and content.

Today's culture is the extreme opposite of that kind of lifestyle. Today's culture is so invested in material possessions that happiness is not an option but an illusion.

I think living within your means, not your dreams is HAPPINESS.

The apostle Paul was a man who had a lot, power, fame, and wealth, but in comparison to knowing Jesus, He counted it all a lost.

May we live like Paul to invest our lives in knowing Christ, not material things that have no eternal value!