we can live with a lot less than we think

I think the word "need" has gotten out of it's proper use box and multiplied like streptococcus bacteria. Exponentially so. With the same effect as strep throat on our lives. We "need" a new ipod. We "need" a new cell phone. We "need" a well-paying job straight out of college. We "need" to start saving for retirement as soon as possible. A Roth IRA is the way to go.

None of these things are inherently bad in themselves, but they are bad when the become a priority in front of the Holy and Mighty Living God. I am know myself as more guilty than anyone when it comes to these things and this mentality. So many of my prior and even current motivations are based on a misconstrued notion that I need this or that. They consume my thoughts and time, which is time spent where I could be praying, serving someone else, or singing to the Lord as an offering of worship to Him.

One thing the Lord has taught me from my time in Argentina, which I knew intellectually before, but have had more actual "on the ground" living experience to back it up, is that I don't need that much to live a life that is richly joyful in Christ. Less things, more of Christ. Financially, I'm not raking them in here. I make 1600 pesos a month, or 503 dollars, and my expenses are in pesos. That would be equivalent to earning 1600 dollars a month, or 19,200 a year if I were working in the US (considering expenses are roughly equivalent here in pesos, the 3 to 1 exchange makes buying plane tickets a challenge). That would be on the low end of things in the US. I'm confident I'd thrive just as well as here. With all that said, I'll say again that my life has been very rich here. It's not coincidence that there's not a big salary in the picture. Once again, not a bad thing if it is there. I think the Lord encourages one to be a good financial steward of the resources that are entrusted to him, but at the end of the day, all of it is His and for His Kingdom. It could be summed up in these three steps: 1. Work as hard as you can. 2. Make as much as you can. 3. Give as much as you can away.

It made me think. When we budget, for those of us who do budget, we normally do it like this: we start with our income, then figure out how much to tithe, how much rent/car/gas/savings/food will cost us a month, and then detail our budget accordingly. What if we turned that around?

What if we started with how much we can live with per month with a somewhat minimalist mentality? I'm not advocating not paying for health insurance and eating Raman noodles every meal. Go out to eat once or twice a week. Budget in a movie or movie rental per week. I believe God also created those things for our enjoyment. If we are sure to accurately budget our expenses first and not plan in opulent and excessive living, but a style of living that is more focused on living out a faith-filled life rather than making the almighty dollar...then how much would we be left with per month to give to worthwhile earthly Kingdom building projects? I think we'd be surprised, and I'm fairly certain that it would pass the "10%" figure that most people have in their minds.

Where is our treasure truly found? Remember, our actions speak much louder than words. What do we really spend our time doing?