This really helped me to remember to put things in perspective!

How To Survive A Bad Economy by Randy Robison:

There's a lot of talk about the economy these days. The stock market is taking a beating, homes are being foreclosed and the dollar is losing value. The news is full of doom and gloom, so people are worried. Accusations of thievery and mismanagement abound. But when the blame is set aside and the financial intricacies are stripped away, what is the core issue?  

Mark Punzo, a friend of the ministry who works at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, recently asked me, "What is something worth?"  It didn't take me long to reply, "Whatever somebody will pay for it."  "So what are you worth?" he asked. I admit my first thought went to life insurance actuary tables. My salary times x number of years before I retire... But I knew that wasn't what he was driving at, so I guessed, "Whatever someone will pay me?" "Whatever someone will pay for you," he corrected. Then he asked a question that really bent my mind. "What did God pay for you?" Now I got it. God paid for me with His only Son's blood. It certainly wasn't the first time I'd heard that principle, but it was the first time I had heard it put that way. It struck me hard. Is that really the value God places on me? Am I worth the sacrifice of Jesus Christ? Why don't I act like it?  “When God spoke that to me," Mark continued, "He then said, 'Look at all the people around you. That's what they are worth to Me, too.'" What incredible value! You, your loved ones, your acquaintances and even the people you don't know are by far the most valuable things ever created, worth more than any company's stock, assets or investments.  

So why is it that we seem to be more concerned about our retirement plans than our relatives? Why do we react to an economic crisis with more urgency than a spiritual crisis? Do we really see the value in ourselves and in other people that God sees?  

I confess that I take people for granted. If I spotted a $20 bill in the gutter, I'd stop to pick it up. But I have passed right by a person lying in the gutter without any second thoughts. I think perhaps my sense of value is askew. As a "responsible" husband and father, I spend time laying up treasure on earth for medical bills, college and (hopefully, some day) retirement. But those things will all pass away. My daughter's car will eventually break down and rust, but her spirit is eternal. My son's braces will give him a nice smile for a while, but what kind of man will he be when his teeth are falling out and his looks don't matter any more?

I have decided to not worry about the economy. Good or bad, God is in control. I can only have one response if I want to hold on to anything of value: invest in the things in which God has invested.
You are worth what God paid for you. So is your spouse, your child and your neighbor. If you want to be rich, don't look to your bank account. It will fail you. Look to the people in your life and invest in them. Then you will be truly prosperous, no matter what the economy does. And unlike the wealth of this world, you can take it with you forever.  

This Week
Don't worry about the economy; just make good investments. Deposit your time and love into someone's life.

Prayer
"Father, forgive me for focusing on the temporal things of this earth. Help me to see the value in people that You see and lay up treasure in heaven by investing in them."

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)