Question about business and goals

[JoeJoe83]

Hello everyone. I firstly want to thank The LORD for this opportunity.

I also want to thank you all for posting here and answering questions. I truly love you all.

I was born into a Catholic family and attended a Catholic grade school. Because of some mental confusion and other issues I haven’t followed the Catholic guidelines or gone to mass in a while but recently it has interested me to come back. Thank The LORD for that.

But I have a question about owning a business, money, and motivation.

I own a small business (internet related) and in my business are many opportunities to provide for myself and others.

I want to know, is it a sin to work hard at your business for the purpose of making money?

Although my end goal is not to get rich. My end goal is to provide for myself and my family and also to allow myself to have the freedom to spend as much time as possible with them. Unfortunately money is the tool that will get me that. I find working for a company too restrictive for my personality. I’m not great at working at a carnal job. I never did well in school and I do not like formal instruction.

I occasionally watch a few short motivational clips on YouTube which motivate me to work hard and I will admit, I do like to look at pictures of nice houses and cars to motivate me.

However, I believe The LORD wants my love for others to be my motivation.

I have the potential to make literally tens of millions of dollars in a few short years if I’m successful. But my goal is just to provide. For the ones I love and my family. I don’t know how my family is going to retire, they’re too broke. And I keep in my head a list of people (mostly friends) whom I love dearly who I plan to give large amounts of money to if I become very successful. I just want their lives to be easier. The idea of giving to others is motivating too. I feel like these people and even people I don’t know need me and I need to make this money to be there for them.

Am I wrong to bust my hump to make this money?

I know life isn’t about money. I try not to jeapardize my relationships with others for work.

I will admit, I know that I may tempted to own a nice house or drive a nice car if I make it. May The LORD forgive me if I do that.

But I don’t need those things. I just want to be there for the ones I love.

Thank The LORD.

And thank you for reading.

 

[JoeJoe83]

I also want to say I love the Catholic Church dearly and my heart is always open to them. Being with The LORD is my main goal in life.

Nothing else on this earth matters or compares.

 

[jwder09]

Good day Joe,

Saint Thomas Moore is an example of a successful, and wealthy, Catholic man. Having been martyred, he demonstrated that the Lord remained his top priority; so, material wealth in itself is not a sin. Try this for motivation: ask yourself how the wealth you gain can be used to serve God. Does your Church need repairs? For that matter, does your parish need a bigger Church? Your success could be the soluton! Is there a local charity in need? With success, you wouldn’t have to say “if only I had a few extra bucks”.

 

[Coemgenus_O]

Money is a means to an end. As long as you’re not making it an end in itself, then you’re fine. Just be careful that you don’t sacrifice time with your family now in order to have the means to possibly spend time with them in the future. And if a certain amount money could be a near occasion of sin for you, then you could donate extra to the point that you wouldn’t have that temptation any more.

 

[JRKH]

JoeJoe,
I think you have a very healthy outlook and desires and goals.

The trick in this is to keep these things healthy - that is to not become infected with “consumerism” which is a form of gluttony.

The best advice I can give you is to keep as close to God as you possibly can. Pray, get to mass, spend time in adoration if possible, and include spiritual reading as part of your daily regimen.

In addition, while you are still “poor” …Make a list of what you consider to be your needs…Things like food shelter (a small house is as good as a big house) a car (a Chevy is as good as a Lexus for getting you around)…things like that…
Then consider these “desires to provide”…college funds, helping other individuals you know, specific charities that you wish to support and so forth.
In short, spell out the things you mention in your opening post, so that later, when you are filthy rich D) you can consult the plan you and God have already put in place.

Last - but certainly not least…dedicate everything you have, are and hope to become, to God. His will be done and not yours.

Hope you have many blessings in your life…God has given you a great gift which may well benefit many people…But watch out for the constant temptations that are attendant to this gift.

Peace
James

 

[Catholic1954]

It is not a sin to work hard and make money or to be rich. The sin is when you prefer the money over God.

 

[JRKH]

It is not a sin to work hard and make money or to be rich. The sin is when you prefer the money over God.

I do not wish to negate what you say here, but we need to be careful in how we approach this. What you say is technically correct, but the ramifications of it can lead to certain questions…
If one loves God over money then one wishes to please God and pleasing God means loving our neighbor as our selves, which means feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, housing the homeless, caring for the sick and so forth…Making a lot of money gives us the tool (the money being that tool) to accomplish these things.
So the question can become, at what point does one decide (or recognize), “I have all that I need and the rest needs to go to God’s work?”

Naturally the way in which God’s work is accomplished can take many forms. Direct giving to charity is one way and the person who chooses this will unlikely to ever be classified as (monetarily) “rich”. The other main route is to use the money for the purpose of providing jobs. By this route one might be classified as “rich” even if they themselves live modestly.

The key in this (to my mind) would be the idea of living modestly ones self. By living modestly we do not fall prey to the temptations of greed, envy, gluttony etc…that are the “bane” of those who acquire a lot of money.

Just some thoughts…

Peace
James