I’ve said in the past that you need to “fix your relationship with God before you fix your relationship with money.”

I don’t believe that anymore. Here’s why…

I watched the movie Fireproof (by accident). A friend told me that it had fire, an explosion, trains and Kirk Cameron. I was a HUGE Kirk Cameron fan in the 1980s when he starred on Growing Pains and was curious to see what the child star was up to now. Plus, fire and trains and explosions. Can’t go wrong.

I was tricked into watching a chick flick. Not my favourite genre of movie, but after watching the movie, I can say that I learned something.

Love saves every relationship…

In the movie, Kirk Cameron plays a man who is having marital problems. He and his movie wife can’t communicate and she’s in the early stages of an affair with a co-worker.

Kirk complains to his movie dad and the latter hands him a diary. The dairy details the small acts of kindness Kirk has to do for his wife over the next 30-days. Kirk is reluctant, but agrees to follow the tips in diary each day.

At first, his wife is suspicious (at times, downright rude) about his motives for wanting to fix her coffee or buy her flowers. Despite her attitude and his own desire to give up, Kirk keeps pressing on, following the instructions in the diary each day. Finally, by day 30, he and his wife reconcile and the marriage is saved.

At the root of Kirk’s action is love…

Jesus said that love is the greatest commandment of all (Matthew 22:36-40). When all else fails, random acts of kindness rooted in love is what saves a relationship. Love repairs the couple’s once salty relationship in Fireproof.

If we try to fix our relationship with money using love, we will not be blessed.

According to dictionary.com, love means “an intense emotion of affection, warmth, fondness, and regard towards a person or thing.” This intense emotion shows up in our relationships and that’s a good thing.

But the Bible is very clear about loving money. It states that the LOVE of money is the root of all evil (1 Timothy 6:10). And if you’re trying to have a healthy relationship with money using the world’s method, you will fail. You cannot say that you’re faith-driven or kingdom-focused and also love money. The two cannot co-exist.

If love is at the root of healthy relationships, yet the love of money is the root of all evil, we can’t do both.

I’ll share in a follow-up blog post what type of connection we should create with money so we start to see it for what it is.