“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23). To paraphrase a quote from Winston Churchill, “Capitalism is the worst form of economic distribution, apart from all of the others.” It seems inevitable in our interactions with each other in this life to always be thinking in terms of dollars and cents. Is this or that activity worth my time? Can I afford this? Do I deserve that? It isn't wrong or bad to have a capitalistic mindset when we are pretty much stuck living in a capitalistic world, but we have to realize that clinging to a transactional framework outside of its necessary context is not appropriate, particularly in our relationships with our Savior Jesus Christ and His Church. The Economy of God's Kingdom is not based on capitalism. There are no wages in Heaven, only gifts. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is a gift, freely given. It is not possible to earn or to buy Christ's grace. It is a gift that we can choose to receive or reject. Similarly, the sacrifices that we offer to God must be gifts, freely given. If we only view our sacrifices as some kind of leverage or bargaining chip for future rewards, then are we really making a sacrifice? Once we allow ourselves to get caught up in what we deserve or are owed, then we have traded the gift-based economy of Heaven for the wages of sin. We don't want to end up like the unrighteous servant who was forgiven a debt of ten thousand talents only to go forth and try to shakedown our brother for a hundred pence. Let us just learn to give and give and give with no thought for reward or recompense and at the same time to receive and receive and receive the gifts that our Heavenly Father has prepared for us with no thought for whether or not these gifts put us in someone else's debt. There is no paying back in the Celestial Economy, only paying forward.
