There I was, being a “good girl”, sitting in the front row of the choir.

I can still hear the preacher’s voice proclaiming, “Money is the root of all evil. Rich people are greedy…they worship money…they’re on a path straight to hell.”

Yikes. In my young, little mind I became terrified of ever being rich.

The preacher continued on about “loving thy neighbor as thyself” and “doing things for the love of God”, which wasn’t bad advice…

…but at the end of the sermon, he directed everyone to give generously as the donation basket got passed around from pew to pew.

Wait…what just happened?

I was totally confused.

I just heard the preacher say that we should be good, God-lovin’ people who don’t desire money…but that completely contradicted the notion that we’d HAVE money and give it to the church.

I did what any confused kid would do…

Asked Mom.

Mom didn’t have a good explanation…

…but she did have a tendency to conveniently skirt around conversations about how to make a good living…

…how to speak up and earn my worth…

…how to make time in my life to tend to my money relationship.

So, I stopped asking questions and carried on with conflicting ideas about money.

And then I grew up…

…and started my own business…and that’s when I had to start giving LOTS of attention to my money…

…because I was counting on my money to do big things for me…

…like grow my business…pay my bills…and put food on the table.

But wait…I didn’t want to be an evil person doomed to hell because I was focusing on my money…

…and giving it lots of attention…and lovin’ up on it.

What was a girl to do?

I needed money…wanted money…and I loved what my money was able to do for me- and my biz.

But did loving money make me a “bad girl” like the preacher implied it would??

*Oh, the horror!*

After having this internal battle with myself, I remember sitting down with my journal and the strongest cup of coffee I could brew.

 I got down to business trying to figure out whether loving my money was a virtue to be proud of or if it was a sin that would banish me to a fiery eternity.

I realized that I’d carried that confusing, contradictory money message with me all those years….and it was keeping me from having the kind of relationship with my money I wanted.

I wanted a happy, healthy relationship with my money…but I didn’t want to be a “bad girl”.

If I’d been obsessed with money…doing evil deeds to get it…or stealing money from others, that’d be bad.

…But none of that was loving money…that was STALKING money.

Loving and appreciating my money was a good thing.

You might have heard people you admire and respect talk smack about money too…or say snarky things about people who have money.

And those messages you soaked up in your younger years might make you think you’re a “bad girl” if you love your money.

The next time you feel bad for loving your money, or even liking it, I want you to think this instead: All You Need is Love.

*You can sing along if you want 🙂