Keep The Change
Keep The Change
“But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
1 Timothy 6:9-10
My grandmother would tell my grandfather when we ran out of milk, eggs or bread. My grandfather used it as an opportunity to take my brother and I up to the Farm Stores.
For those of you that don’t know, this was a drive around, drive-through convenient store. They carried a lot of household grocery items and you never had to leave your car to purchase them.
My grandfather would drive up, run over the rubber house with air in it that made a “ding, ding” sound and when the attendant came out he’d ask for a gallon of milk. The attendant would walk to the back, get the milk, bring it to my grandfather and tell him the cost. My grandfather would pay and say “keep the change”.
As we drove home I would think, wow that guy is so lucky, my grandfather just gave him his leftover change. I wondered how many other people did that.
It was a very common expression back then. People would do it at full service gas stations and restaurants. It appeared that back then people were more concerned about what they gave, not what they received.
Money has become an object of desire and portrayed as something to fix every problem. Those that have the most money usually have the most power, to men. When in fact, loving money, as the verse says above, is the root of all evil.
My grandparents were not wealthy. My grandfather drove just over twenty miles to work one way and worked over thirty years for a utility company and my grandmother sold Tupperware full time. They raised three children together and two grand children.
My grandparents attempted to instill good manners and values to us. One thing I always remember is that my grandparents helped other people - all the time. They were good stewards. They helped the elderly Swedish couple across the street. My grandfather mowed the next door neighbors yard, even though they rarely talked. And they would always leave their extra change for someone else.
The values didn’t revolve around what they received in return, it instead focused on what they could do for someone else.
I used to covet what I earned and I worked to buy things for myself. The verse above talks about me specifically. It created hurtful lusts and became the root of all evil in my life. It definitely created other problems for me as well.
Nowadays I see the importance of being smart with your money, investing in the wellness of others, providing for others when they can’t and allowing someone else to “keep the change”.
Share the gospel of Jesus Christ with someone. It might be the change in their life they need. Don’t build your fortune at the expense of someone else. I’m referring to your salvation here. It’s great that you have your salvation, now share it with someone else so they can also live in the richness of Jesus Christ.
Thanks for reading this today.