For centuries, spiritual seekers and professionals alike have wrestled with a painful paradox:
Is the pursuit of money wrong?
Luke 16:13 reminds us,
“No one can serve two masters… You cannot serve both God and money.”
Many interpret this as a rejection of wealth itself — a command to forsake material ambition in favour of spiritual purity. But a closer reading, especially through the lens of holistic life planning, reveals something subtler and far more empowering.
This verse isn’t about rejecting money. It’s about mastery of intention.
Money is not evil. Misplaced devotion is.
1. Money as Servant, Not Master
To “serve God” is to serve purpose, love, and meaning.
To “serve money” is to let the pursuit of wealth dictate one’s direction, even at the cost of well-being or integrity.
In the GAME Plan framework, this distinction is foundational:
- Goals and Actions define the Ministry — the life we are here to live.
- Means represent Money — the financial architecture that sustains the life plan.
- Execution brings the plan into the world.
The hierarchy is clear: Ministry leads, Money follows.
When that order is reversed — when we plan the money before the ministry — we enter what the GAME Plan calls the exhaustive cycle: a pattern of chasing surplus, status, or accumulation without alignment to meaning. The result is exhaustion, not fulfilment.
When money serves ministry, we enter the productive cycle, where every resource is infused with purpose. Finance becomes an act of service — a structure of support for life itself.
2. The Oxygen Mask Principle — Reframed
It’s often said, “Put your own oxygen mask on first before helping others.” Some interpret this as selfishness; others as self-preservation. In truth, it is stewardship.
The oxygen mask principle and Luke 16 are not at odds.
They simply operate at different levels of consciousness.
- The oxygen mask teaches means — sustain yourself so that you can serve sustainably.
- Luke 16 teaches motive — ensure that what you serve is love, not greed.
Within the GAME Plan, both coexist beautifully:
You cultivate Means (wealth, health, and energy) not to worship them, but so that your Ministry can breathe and thrive.
Put simply:
“We put on our own oxygen mask first — not to idolise air, but to breathe life into others.”
3. Ministry First, Money Second
At the Academy of Life Planning, we often meet clients who say:
“I’ll plan my life; you plan the money.”
But this division misses the point entirely. Until we know the Life Plan, we cannot know the Lifetime Liabilities, nor can we design suitable Asset Strategies. To plan the money without understanding the life is not just ineffective — it’s unsuitable, even unethical.
The order matters.
Your Life Plan defines what “enough” looks like.
Your Financial Plan defines how to sustain it.
Money should never exceed the Life Plan — only support it.
This is what we mean by financial architecture:
a purpose-built design of resources that sustains your mission without inflating beyond it.
4. Enough Is Not Small
Many say, “I just need enough.”
But enough is not a static figure — it’s a function of your ministry.
If your ministry is vast — a calling to educate, heal, or transform communities — then your “enough” may need to be vast too.
If your ministry is local and intimate — focused on family, art, or personal contribution — your “enough” may be beautifully modest.
Either way, the pursuit of sufficient means is not greed. It’s faith in action.
It’s the responsible alignment of material resources with spiritual purpose.
When we condemn money, we often unconsciously condemn the very means by which good work can flourish. The goal is not poverty of possessions but purity of purpose.
5. Stewardship and Trustworthiness
Luke 16:11 deepens the lesson:
“If you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?”
Money is a test of stewardship.
It asks whether we can manage the tangible before we’re entrusted with the intangible — wisdom, influence, love, and peace.
Handled with transparency and alignment, money becomes a tool of grace.
Mishandled, it becomes a mirror reflecting where our loyalties lie.
Thus, the pursuit of money — when led by ministry — becomes sacred. It teaches responsibility, trust, and discipline. It transforms financial capital into human, emotional, and spiritual capital.
6. The Corrected Belief
The pursuit of money is not wrong.
The misalignment of money is.
In truth:
- Money is energy.
- Purpose is direction.
- Alignment is peace.
When we anchor money within ministry, we redeem its purpose.
When we detach ministry from money, we exhaust ourselves chasing shadows of success.
The task, then, is not to reject money but to reintegrate it — to restore its rightful place as servant to our higher calling.
7. The Reflective Question
Each of us must ask, honestly and courageously:
“What is my ministry — and what means must I pursue to fulfil it?”
This question reframes financial planning as a moral and spiritual act.
It demands integration: of soul and system, purpose and plan.
When the Ministry leads and the Money follows, the pursuit of wealth becomes worship in motion — an act of devotion to life itself.
That is the sacred pursuit of enough.
Final Reflection
When we master this relationship — when we live for ministry with money, not for money — we create harmony between spirit and structure.
We become trustworthy stewards of both worlds.
Money ceases to be a god we serve and becomes a garden we tend.
And in tending it wisely, we cultivate the true riches of life: peace, purpose, and prosperity — all in perfect proportion.
Call to Action
If you’re ready to explore your ministry and design the financial architecture to sustain it, begin your journey with the GAME Plan Report™ — a self-guided Notion template that helps you plan your life before your money.
🌀 Start your GAME Plan Report™ today at the Academy of Life Planning
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