People all over the world are exhausted and stressed because they are working extremely long hours. Some never stop to spend quality time with their family and friends.

Others health is failing because their work load is taking a physical toll on them as well.

These and many other things are all happening in the pursuit of wealth.

Finally, the day arrives when they have met the level of wealth they strived for and they look around and realize they are all alone and too tired to even enjoy the wealth they have obtained.

Being wealthy is not just calculated by the amount of money in your bank account or the number of investments you have.

There is financial wealth, but there is also spiritual, mental and emotional wealth that should be taken into consideration.

How much time do you invest in your relationships with your spouse or significant other, children, siblings, parents and even close friends?

Do you deposit into their lives or are you the one always making withdrawals?

Are you there for them in their time of need or are you nowhere to be found unless you need something?

Do your kids only see your back as they attempt to communicate with you because they are competing with whatever is on your computer screen?

Does God only hear from you when you are in a bind or faced with negative news? Or do you take the time to just tell Him thank you for being God?

When is the last time you committed to studying His word and actually kept that commitment? Is there a deficit in your prayer time?

Have you ever started a prayer with something other than, “God I need, or God I want?”

Do you walk in faith in God or just trust your personal resources to meet your needs?

When is the last time you exercised or ate something other than fast food? Do you take time to rest and allow your body to rejuvenate? Do you know how to occasionally turn off the cell phones, laptops or ipads and unplug for a mental break?

I know I am personally guilty of almost all of the above.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not suggesting that wealth is a bad thing. However, I am suggesting that if financial wealth is your only goal, you may find yourself financially wealthy yet bankrupt in every other area of your life.

Let’s not wait until it’s too late.

Instead, let’s all make a commitment right now to find balance in our pursuit of wealth.

Don’t let financial gain be the only thing on our radar.

Instead let’s invest in our spiritual, emotional and mental wealth as well.

In the end, those investments will bring forth the greatest returns.

Don’t be misled. No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others–ignoring God–harvests a crop of weeds. All he’ll have to show for his life is weeds. But the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life. Galatians 6:7-8

by Tanya S. Martin-James