Money is a tool, not a test of your character
A lot of people in my world carry a quiet belief that money and spirituality are at odds. That wanting it is a bit grubby. That having it means you have lost the plot somewhere.
I do not teach that, and I have never seen it help anybody.
Money is a tool. It can shelter, feed, support, create, share and prepare. That is what tools do.
Three things it is not ⚖️
Money is not a reward for healing. Plenty of unhealed people are rich and plenty of deeply good people are struggling. If you believe money tracks spiritual progress, then every hard month becomes evidence against yourself, and that is a cruel way to live.
Having money does not make you selfish. What you do with it might. The money itself is neutral.
Spending on a need is not a failure. You did not break your practice by buying groceries. You used the tool for the job.
What changes when you hold it this way 🔨
You stop making money mean something about you, and you start making decisions about it instead.
A tool gets maintained. It gets put away properly. You notice when it is being wasted, not because waste is sinful but because it is your tool and you would rather have it.
And you can let a tool help you. That part is harder for most people than any of it.
The line I want you to keep 🤍
Money is a useful tool. I can care for it, and I can let it care for me.
Read that second half again. Most of us will accept the responsibility to care for money. Far fewer will accept being cared for by it, and that is usually the piece that has been missing.
Where the belief usually comes from ⛪
For a lot of people it is religious, or half remembered religious. Money is the root of all evil, misquoted, because the actual line is about the love of money.
For others it is family, or a reaction against somebody wealthy who behaved badly. Either way it gets absorbed early and rarely examined, which is what childhood money wounds is about.
What a tool actually needs 🧰
Maintenance. Somewhere to live. Honest use. Someone who notices when it is being wasted.
None of that is greed. You would not feel morally conflicted about keeping a good knife sharp.
Can you be spiritual and want money?
Yes, and pretending otherwise mostly produces people who want it and feel bad about it, which helps nobody.
Does wealth mean somebody is spiritually ahead?
No, and that belief is the same error facing the other way. Money is not a scoreboard in either direction.
What about tithing and giving?
Giving is part of circulation, and I am for it. Giving out of fear or obligation is a different thing and worth looking at honestly.
How do I let money care for me?
By letting some of it stay, which for most people is the harder half. That is the practice.
Is it wrong to spend on myself?
No. A joyful choice is one of the four legitimate reasons money leaves, and I will not have anybody shamed for it.
Pair it with 🔗
If money has been carrying moral weight for you, read abundance mindset next and then go and open your banking app.
Walk the thirty days with me 📕
The Money Trust Journal takes this work day by day for thirty days, through noticing, rethinking, choosing and practising.
Come sit with me on the show 🎙️
I am live on YouTube every Wednesday at 8:00 PM Eastern. Call 515-JAESHOW or text 315-JAESHOW.