A key resource you should consider walking through with individuals is Stuff and Soul by Dr. Wesley Willmer. Here is a highlight of this book, and if you want a free copy, click here and let me know.
Top three principles from Stuff and Soul: Mastering the Critical Connection:
1. Most of our lives are spent swimming in temporal stuff / material resources (you could say we are “stuffocated”) and God is very concerned about how we deal with stuff as there are more verses in the bible on possessions than any other topic.
2. There is a critical connection between our earthly (temporal) stuff/possession and our eternal soul that God entrusts to us as stewards and God cares deeply about our faithfulness.
3. We will all be held accountable to God for how faithful we are with our stuff and God wants to provide rewards to His children for work well done as they make a priority of being rich toward God.
Quotes from the book:
One of the greatest challenges a Christian disciple faces in today’s culture is how the use of possessions impact us spiritually. As John Stott notes: “A preoccupation with material things can smother our spiritual life.”
“This concise, well-written, and theologically sound book offers.…a holistic approach to how we use our stuff in the shaping of our soul.” David Dockery, Ph.D.
This book is to help you master the connection between temporal stuff and the eternal soul in the middle of a materialistic culture.
“The object of life is breathtakingly simple: Be rich toward God.” John Ortberg
When Jesus said that our heart is where our treasure is (Matt.6:21), he showed the vital connection between our stuff and our soul.
God wants to provide rewards for His children for work well done…because He is a loving father.