Pastor's Bookshelf

Your Money or Your Life:
Transforming Your Relationship with Money
and Achieving Financial Independance
by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin
Wiles Hill Witness (January-March edition)

Normally, I would not present a review on a book that have not yet finished. Nor would I usually recommend a book about financial independence in a church newsletter. However, as Carrie and I have begun to read this “how to” guide, we have been surprised to realize that it is not only a helpful tool for getting a hold on our finances, it also offers an inspiring new perspective on the nature of money and the power it holds over our lives. As we are heading into the season of Lent and beginning to turn our thoughts to the ways in which our lives are divided from the ways of God, it seems appropriate to offer this book as a tool in our struggle to free ourselves from service to Mammon.

Your Money or Your Life is not a new book. It has been in print for nearly twenty years, and the authors have been sharing the wisdom it holds for much longer among friends and in seminars. On one level, it offers an on-going nine-step process that will help anyone develop an intentional path to financial independence. Yet, unlike the many strategies that pander to our cultural habits of immediate gratification, this process aims at developing sustainable plans that work toward long-term goals and are particular to each individual or family’s particular circumstances.

Beginning with an honest assessment of new-worth and expenses and following a clearly outlined path through an exploration of values and goals around money to an ultimate plan for financial management, the authors offer an understandable and easy to follow step-by-step process leading to financial independence in the traditional sense.

More significant, though, is the philosophy and insight that are at the core of this unique book. At its roots, the process outlined here is based in a paradigm shift that allows us to think about money in an entirely different manner than we have been taught by our society. Rather than addressing itself to our fears about making ends meet or our hopes of finding ways to develop huge reservoirs of wealth, the authors challenge the root assumptions by which we tend to operate (more is better, money is power or freedom or security, and money can buy happiness).

Most of us will readily acknowledge that none of these statements is actually true. Yet, for some reason, we often find that we are living according to one or more of these false axioms. The true gift of Your Money or Your Life is that as we work through its nine steps, we are gently led to find and embrace a new perspective on money that allows us to define the place it will have in our lives. Showing us the habits of unrestrained capitalism by which we live and our addiction to consumption, this book offers us the freedom to understand and use money as a tool in the service of the greater goals of our lives. At its core, this book addresses the challenge of serving only one Lord and, with its refreshing perspective and concrete nine steps, provides an accessible and inviting path for achieving this greatest of all commandments.

Torin

Note: if this review has sparked your interest or resonated with long-held beliefs that you struggle to bring fully into your life, we invite you join the Simple Living Study Circle that will be gathering soon. Talk to Pastor Carrie for more details.