"The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings."
OBSERVATION
Jesus here points out that people in the world are willing to take more risks and loss than the people of the light in order to keep relationships healthy. They use their wealth to build bridges, not walls. Jesus implies that our money should be used to strengthen relationships. Generosity has the power to unite people and we should be looking into ways to use money to gain friends.
APPLICATION
A very practical way to use our money is to build and maintain relationships. Very often we scheme about how to keep more money for ourselves, but Jesus encourages us to scheme and find ways to share more resources with others. Healthy relationships have a price, and very often that price is monetary. Generosity will open doors and it will create credibility, especially if our intent is not self-centered. I've seen this principle working in our ministry in India. Our generosity there has opened doors for us in so many ways. We are using some of the money God gives us to help others and our influence grows among them. We should look into other ways we can use monetary resources to build and nurture new healthy friendships.
PRAYER
Dear heavenly father, thank you so much for your faithfulness and provision. Give us wisdom about how and where we should share our blessings so we can build strong alliances for the kingdom of God. Keep our hearts pure so we build friendships without selfish motives. Amen!
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