With Greater Abundance Comes Greater Responsibility

With greater abundance, comes greater responsibility. You’ve heard it expressed as “to whom much is given, much is required”, or the ever so eloquent “mo money, mo problems”; but the sentiment remains the same—the more you get, the more you’re expected to give back.

Often times we ask for greater abundance to be sent into our lives, but we fail to take into account how much more will be expected of us when we receive it. We ask for a business, a home, a man, a promotion, a raise, etc…and then we move on. But we don’t stop to try and grasp how different our lives will look when we receive these things. Consider:

- What happens when you are able to start that business, but have to pay the elevated costs of health insurance on your own?

- How stressed will you become when you have to pay out that first month’s mortgage and watch your bank account dwindle further than it ever has?

- What do you cut out of your schedule in order to spend more quality time building a relationship with the man you asked to be sent into your life?

- How does the extra time spent at work due to that promotion affect your husband and/or your children? Are you going to miss homework time or activities? Will you be able to make it home for dinner?

- Now that you’ve gotten your raise, you’re in a higher tax bracket and still don’t bring home quite what you’d expected. How does this affect your budget?

None of these are issues without solutions; it’s just that we often fail to think of them ahead of time, and then find ourselves stressed out under the pressure of dealing with multiple things at once. And this is not to deter you from asking for more—you should always aim to be your best self and live your best life—but instead to remind you to be clear about what you’re asking for, and what will be expected of you when you have received it. So often we receive and receive and we’re so grateful…at first; but we complain when we’re asked to give in return.

Many of the things worth having in life require challenge and sacrifice. Don’t stop giving thanks when the challenge begins—meet it head on with the understanding that with an increased level of abundance in our lives, there comes an increased amount of responsibility; they are yin and yang--one does not exist without the other.

The great news is that the more you accomplish, the more you can handle.