Thanks for joining us for a weekly message from DuBois Light & Life Church. Today you will hear encouraging words, worship, and a message. Our goal is that you would find Hope, Healing, and Purpose in Jesus Christ.

Live from DuBois Light and Life Church.

128 S 8th Street,

DuBois PA 15801

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Never Be Owned by What You Own

This week’s message in our Guardrails series focused on a powerful truth: money and possessions are not just practical parts of life – they reveal the devotion of our hearts.

Why does God talk so much about money?

It’s not because He needs it or wants to take it from us. Money itself isn’t the issue.

What is the issue? Our devotion.

Jesus taught that money is God’s #1 competition for our hearts – not the devil. We often trust in what we own instead of the One who owns everything.

Who is your master?

Matthew 6:24 says:

“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.”

We may say God is our Master, but our choices often reveal that money and possessions rule us instead. We put our trust in wealth over God, forgetting that He alone provides what we truly need.

Two dangerous ditches:

The message described two ways we go off track:

Consuming – spending everything that comes our way on ourselves.

Hoarding – keeping everything tightly to ourselves out of fear.

Both of these are fueled by greed. Jesus defined greed simply:

The assumption that everything that comes to me is for me.

When we live like this, we act as if there is no God, except for when life gets hard. Then suddenly, God becomes our backup plan, and we cry out – but often, we’re really just asking for more money or stuff, not for Him.

Do you treat God like your backup plan?

The truth is, God wants to be more than just our helper when we’re in trouble. He wants to be our Ruler, Master, and Provider every single day. Yet often, we only turn to Him when our finances are threatened. We freak out when we lose money because our peace and joy were rooted in money and possessions instead of in God.

Choose your master wisely

We can only be servants in one house. We must choose who we will serve:

Money and stuff, which promise everything but can only give us “never lasting,”

Or God, who offers everlasting peace, joy, hope, resources, blessings, and favor that this world can never match.

If our ultimate dependence and reliance is on our income, finances, and stuff, then greed is fueling us. And if greed fuels us, we’re essentially living like God doesn’t exist… until a problem comes up.

Final encouragement:

God doesn’t want to just help you get by.

He wants to be your first plan – your Master, your Provider, your peace.

Let us never be owned by what we own, but instead devote our hearts fully to the One who owns it all.