Why I Stopped Pursuing Financial Independence

Back in 2018, my husband and I got married, we bought our first rental property a few months later, and a couple months after that I started my blog. 

I was consumed by the concept of FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early). Many of my first blog articles are written on this topic of financial independence, as I was convinced that it was THE THING that everyone needed to learn about. Especially Christians, who are notorious for not being great with their money. 

Never heard of it before? Here are a few of the definitions I compiled in one of my very first blog articles: 

1. The ability to live off of the income of your own personal resources.
2. Not needing to work for income because you have passive income that exceeds your expenses.
3. The freedom to do what you want, when you want, where you want with whomever you want!

Reading these for the first or maybe 100th time, you may be thinking these sound awesome. And truly they are awesome! Who doesn’t want the freedom to do whatever you want!? 

I was determined to share this idea with everyone I knew so they could join me on my quest to become financially independent. In the process, I also wanted to prove that financial independence was perfectly aligned with the gospel and that God desired for us to pursue it.

I used this as an excuse to dive deeper into what the Bible said about money so I could reveal the truth that financial independence was meant for Christians. But the more I studied, the more my heart changed in the other direction. 

What became very clear to me was that my underlying motivation was to be able to stop working, retire early, and do whatever I wanted with my time. 

Why is this so bad? Because, at the center of this passion to achieve financial independence, what my heart really wanted was to be 100% self-sufficient, totally secure in my own abilities and assets. 

And that’s when it dawned on me, that by saying I wanted to rely 100% on myself, I was also denying my need to rely on God. I was becoming a slave to the one thing I swore I was not a slave to… money. 

This should have been evident to me from the beginning… Living independently from God is not an option for Christians. 

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
John 15:5

After coming to this realization, I really struggle internally. God gives so many warning signs throughout his Word about how the love of money can lead us to many other sins (1 Timothy 6:10). I personally believe that this is why God talks about money sooo often in the Bible. It is so easy to be seduced by it, that we need all of the warnings we can get! 

The next big question on my mind was, how do we say no to the temptation to love our money? How do we release this undeniable belief that so many of us are captive to, that our money will give us a greater sense of security than God can?

-Katie Jones

P.s. Did this devo strike a cord inside of you? I’d love to continue the conversation with you. This month, I am opening the doors to the RYF Collective. This is a private membership for Christians who deeply desire to glorify God with the way they use their money. Join us in live discussions on topics just like this. Learn more about the RYF Collective and join today for 50% off.