Introduction
Various people have written about the importance of wealth in our lives. Some of what we read is motivational or inspiring; for example, we read of individuals who make specific decisions that help them acquire significant wealth, which they use to do much good in the world. On the other hand, we also read of individuals who give up everything they have, including family and friends, to search for wealth; they think wealth will bring them happiness, but they work in vain to achieve a goal that they can never truly reach. We read of still others who keep their priorities in order and find wealth—both the true wealth that leads to life eternal and the temporal wealth that allows them to serve their families and fellowmen. With so many different possible outcomes, we must ask ourselves, how important is wealth?
Heavenly Father stands ready to bless us, if we will let Him. But we must remember that He blesses us in His time frame and in ways that best fit His plan for us. And while some blessings may be given in the form of abundant personal finances, any blessing we receive is based on a spiritual foundation of obedience to God’s commandments.
And so the question remains: how important is wealth? Wealth may be important if it allows us to better serve our families, friends, and fellowmen. On the other hand, wealth may be a curse if we allow it to alter our spiritual priorities, change our perspective of what’s eternally important, or diminish our testimony of Jesus Christ. To avoid falling into this trap and losing our way through life, we must learn to master basic principles for understanding and using wealth wisely.
There are three objectives from this section that you should remember.
- Understand the importance of “another” perspective.
- Understand the key principles for understanding and using wealth wisely.
- Understand other basic principles about wealth.
Deciding now about important aspects of your individual behavior and understanding the key principles of using wealth wisely will provide another perspective on the important topic of personal finance.
