America’s Free Fall

In a May 2022 Gallup poll on Values and Beliefs, over 50% of Americans rated the overall state of moral values in the U.S. as poor and 37% as fair. That left only 13% of Americans with a rating of good, and 1% as excellent. This is Gallup’s worst rating ever on American Values and Beliefs!

Ethics, Honesty, Integrity, Respect: as illuminated in four incandescent light bulbs
Ethics, Honesty, Integrity, Respect

Proverbs 10:4 says, “Idle hands make one poor, but diligent hands bring riches.” God has designed us to work. Everything belongs to God, including the money we make. It doesn’t matter who you are, where you’re from, what you do for a living…Psalm 24:1 reminds us that “The earth and everything in it, the world and its inhabitants, belongs to the Lord.” Everything the Lord makes is good. It’s not about how much we have, it’s how well we serve God and others with it.

There’s a story told by Jesus Christ, the Parable of the Talents, in Matthew 25:14-30. This Parable serves as the backbone of the Stewardship Foundation and our guiding principle. It says that those who are entrusted with much, whether it be money, assets or non-financial riches, much is expected! Christ instructs us to “do something” with the riches we have — invest it, or share it – but never bury it.

As younger Americans stray from biblical truth to “find themselves” and older Americans reject the traditional biblical values that have defined Americans since our founding, they join a general population that no longer attends church services and is greatly influenced by what is seen and heard on the screens of millions of mobile devices. 

As the culture around us breaks down, our traditional moral values formerly based on the Word of God or moral tradition are ignored. Deciding that belief in God is not required to be a moral person, we become restless, self-centered, angry, immune to violence, and generally feel less safe.

Can we turn this loss of morality around? God made us, thus we are a reflection of our Creator. People can behave morally and not believe in God; we humans seem to know what’s good and want to do good things. This alone is because God does exist. 

Ranked #1 as the “most important problem with the state of moral values in the country today” was lack of consideration of others. However, personal accountability ranked near the bottom. An interesting, if not revealing, juxtaposition. 

As always, if we can provide guidance or advice to help you make make wise, moral decisions about your money, please give us a call at (614) 800-7985.