Happy Saturday church. I hope that you had a great week, that you were productive in all that you did, and, most of all, that you sought to glorify the Lord in all ways.
I read an article a while back that caught my attention. A woman and her nephew were the apparent winners of a contest in Nova Scotia. The prize is the equivalent of $ 900,000 US dollars. You would think that would be terrific news. That is a lot of money. However, even at the press conference they were fighting with one another. The aunt claims that she gave the money to the nephew to purchase the tickets and had him put his name on the tickets only for good luck. I guess the good luck ended as soon as they were notified that “they” had won. She says she has no intention of splitting “her” money with him. It was reported that they barely made it through getting their picture taken with the oversized check when they started fighting about the money in front of the reporters that were gathered there. She says that she is never going to talk with her nephew again – not in this life or the one to come. I guess she isn’t planning on going to heaven, you know, that place where we are like Jesus. The place of forgiveness, no more sorrow, no tears, restoration, etc. I have no idea what her beliefs are, but just the brief information gleaned from the article reveals she isn’t exactly following the teachings of Christ so well. This really is a sad story. I would guess that $ 450,000 a piece would be a sufficient amount to help them each out financially. Unfortunately, the aunt wants it all. Well, most of it anyway. She is willing to take it to court, even if it costs a lot to get her money. Obviously, she is going to allow the money to destroy whatever relationship she had with her nephew. More than likely, it will ruin the rest of her relationships and possibly her life as well.
There is a lot of money at stake in this situation. We can easily speculate on what they should do. However, we should probably consider what we would do. Yeah, I know, you would never be on that situation since games of chance are gambling. BTW, the stock market, cryptocurrencies, real state speculation and other so-called investments are not too far from that any more. Anyway, would that much money be enough that we would choose it over our relationships? Sadly, there are times when we allow things that are much smaller in monetary value to damage or ruin our relationships. It could be over some money that was loaned and never repaid. It could be some words that were exchanged or a comment that was made. Maybe an invitation that never came or something of the sort. A look, a perceived attitude, a text message, an overheard comment – all of these have the potential to begin the process if you will allow it. More often than not, it is the little things that hinder us in our relationship with others.
Pride, greed, selfishness, bitterness, envy, impatience.
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Guess which list will enable you to have the kind of relationships that God desires? That is why we are instructed in the Bible to walk in the Spirit.
Do your best to not let anything come between you and the others God allows in your life. In all things and in all ways demonstrate what it looks like to be a fully devoted follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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