Does your behavior change based on your financial situation? For example, are you more generous when you feel you have an abundance? How about the opposite? Are you stingy when you feel things are tight with your finances? Most of us are usually not “always” generous or “always” stingy (I said most), we typically change based on our financial situation, don’t we?
In her blog post on Money Crashers, Jacqueline Curtis writes:
Going from rags to riches is essentially the American Dream. Whether it happens by way of a better-paying job or winning the lottery, some studies suggest that money can change your behavior—and not always for the better. Of course, there are plenty of charitable, helpful, and giving wealthy people. However, results from some studies have proven that they may be the exception, rather than the rule.
Your thoughts, behavior, and actions are all linked to your psychology, which is composed of a host of factors ranging from your genetic makeup to the way you were raised. While money doesn’t exactly shape your belief system, it can influence the way you think and act toward others. Gaining a better understanding of the sway that money—or the lack of it—may have on your behavior can make you more aware of when it might be pulling your strings and, hopefully, help you learn to stop it.
Aren’t you glad we serve a God who does not, cannot, and will not change? Malachi 3:6 says “For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.” God owns it all; there is no “shadow of turning” from his revealed purpose or truth. We can count on Him to be and do exactly what He promises in His Word.
While our behavior may change based on our financial situation, our faith in Christ should never ever waver because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow (Hebrews 13:8).
