Heart of Frugality part 2
Picking up where I left off last time:
A second issue relates to the necessity of frugality. Many people who emphasize frugality could doubtless get along just fine without being frugal. For such people the amount of time it takes to scour the racks of thrift stores, to clip coupons, to read the frugal blogs and to search for deals online could be better spent in other more significant pursuits. The fact is that frugality is a significant investment in time and effort. Many of the most frugal people make a hobby (or more!) out of it.
Here’s the thing. A man who brings in millions of dollars a year probably doesn’t need to have his wife work at the local donut store to bring in $300 a month; her time is doubtless better spent in some other pursuit. The same is true for those who don’t absolutely need to be frugal. If God has given great blessing, the time it takes to be very frugal can be spent doing something else. Instead of spending days hunting for the perfect and perfectly cheap cake pan so you can bake a cake and have people over to share the gospel with them, it might be best to just buy it for full price and have the people over a couple of weeks earlier. The finances of some families dictate that great time and care must be given to each dollar, but I am concerned that those with lots of money make a mockery of God’s abundant provision when they pinch every penny. God doesn’t give us money so it can accumulate in bank accounts. He gives it to us so we can give it away and so we can use it to free ourselves up for other, better things.
I Love this: If God has given great blessing, the time it takes to be very frugal can be spent doing something else.
Isn't that great? That is freedom! The Lord is the provider of all things. He knows what we need and when we need it. For whatever reason some of us need to be on a short leash financially. (I will claim the secret things belong to the Lord here Deut.29:29) Others are able to be relaxed in the area of money and can use their blessings to bless others. AND ITS OKAY!!!! We do not all have to look alike and shop alike and save alike and spend alike.......We just have to be faithful with the things He has provided for us. And that includes the use of our time!
Frugality can have its place and for some people is good and necessary. But doing it well takes time and effort; it may be that for some people that time and effort is best used in other pursuits. Again, somewhere between financial self-control and trust in God’s sovereignty is a sweet spot where we spend not too much and not too little, always trusting in the Lord to care for us.
Well said!
One more quick note. As I think about frugality I am always drawn to the biblical concept of gleaning. In the Old Testament God commanded that people who pick crops leave gleanings behind. Rather than picking the fields clean they were to leave portions that had fallen so the impoverished could follow behind and gather them. Of course the wealthy landowners would have wanted to pick these up and increase their profits, but God used gleaning as a way to provide for the poor. This makes me think of wealthy people who often pick through thrift stores or who line up first for the big sales and I wonder if the gleaning principles has something to say to us here. If we can easily afford $10 for a t-shirt, should we really take the last marked-down one on the rack when for another person this might make the difference between being able to afford it and not being able to? I realize I am on slightly shaky ground with this one, but it probably bears thinking about. Somehow all of this frugality can become a form of greed if we are not careful.
I was glad to read this because I had thoughts along the same line. There was a time that I would gladly give away things that I might consider selling now. Our financial situation is just at a different place. (ex. It would be unwise to give away home school books if we need the money from the sale to purchase new ones.) I cannot forget to help others even as we are struggling ourselves. I cannot live consumed with thoughts of our finances in times of plenty nor in times or want. I can easily say that I drift away from the Lord in my times of plenty. I am not so dependent. I am not so needy. For others that is not a problem. They drift away over other issues in their life so the Lord deals with them in that area.
SO:
I guess it comes down to this: money can be as big an idol when you seek not to spend it as it can when you do nothing but spend it. Frugality should not be an end in itself but must be a means to a greater end of bringing glory to God and of serving others. Ever and always it is a matter of the heart.
This article came my way during a time that I needed it most and I pray that it helps someone else the way it did me!
You can read it in its entirety and the comments made here :
Tomorrow I may post on the differences in my shopping frugally now verses the last time I endeavored to be frugal.
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