GOING FOR YOUR ANNUAL CHECKUP
Every year, I have a doctor’s appointment for a physical,
blood work, tests; and a dentist appointment where my teeth are cleaned and
x-rays are taken. In fact, today Steve’s and my house had a checkup of the
heating system! Annual checkups are nothing new for most of us (even if we
don’t look forward to them).
Have you considered annual spiritual checkups? How about a
spiritual checkup related to your finances? Money is actually part of your
spiritual life, and can affect, positively or negatively, your spiritual life
and your faith.
Checking up your relationship with money is a good and
important way to make sure that is a positive issue. Questions that I came
across related to this include:
- 1.
Do you ever worry about having enough or
keeping what you have? Yes or no
- 2.
Do you ever envy what others have or have been
able to do because of what they have and you don’t? Yes or no
- 3.
Do you get anxious about inflation and how it
affects your savings and what you have set aside for retirement? Yes or no
- 4.
Does your assessment of your personal value focus
on what you earn? Yes or no
- 5.
Does paying bills bring you stress? Yes or
no
- 6.
Has money been the focus of or source of an argument
with a loved one? Yes or no
- 7.
Do you spend more time during the day thinking
about money then you do in prayer? Yes or no
Be honest when you answer these questions. Don’t answer
them the way you wish they could be, but answer them the way they are. When
your doctor asks you questions during your physical like “do you exercise”, “do
you smoke”, “how much do you drink”, “do you add salt to your food”? You’re
supposed to answer the questions in truth, not in what you wish the answers
were, or what the answers should be so your doctor isn’t mad at you. See, no matter
was you answer, the tests the doctor performs during your physical will show
the truth.
These questions can function the same way as the tests that
the doctor performs on you, if you’re honest.
- ·
If your blood pressure is high at the doctor’s
office, then the doctor can guess that you are going out to eat too much or are
adding salt to your food.
- ·
If the doctor listens to your lungs or does an
x-ray and it shows something, then the doctor can guess that you are smoking.
- ·
If your sugar level is too high at the doctor’s
office, then the doctor can guess that you might have a couple of drinks.
- ·
If your weight has gone up since the last time
you were there, then the doctor can guess that you aren’t exercising.
If you answer yes to any of these financial spiritual
questions, then your relationship with money may be toxic and may need some
work. Maybe you need to work on budgeting, or getting out of debt, or talk to a
financial advisor, or do some financial classes.
Treating the issues that the doctor finds during your physical
ensures that your health remains good and that you have a healthy life.
Treating the issues that a spiritual checkup of your finances
means that your relationship with money doesn’t interfere with your relationship
with God.
Be honest; answer the questions; and then plan to make some
changes, if needed.
And do a checkup every year, because things change all the time!
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