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"The Psychology of Money" by Morgan Housel explores the complex relationship between our emotions, behaviors, and financial decision-making. Through insightful anecdotes and research-backed analysis, the author delves into the factors that influence our money mindset and offers practical advice on how to achieve long-term financial success.

Hannah More

Hannah More Beyond any doubt, Hannah More was the most influential female member of the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the African Slave Trade. She was educated at Bristol, an important slave-trading town, and began to publish her writing in the 1760s, while she was still a teenager. Her first play, The Inflexible Captive, was staged at Bath in 1775. Later in the 1770s, and for much of the 1780s, she spent time in London and made the acquaintance of many important political and society figures, including Samuel Johnson, Edmund Burke, and Elizabeth Montagu. Her play Percy was produced by David Garrick in 1777, and Fatal Falsehood was staged in 1779, but she came to regard the theatre as morally wrong, especially after the death of her mentors; Garrick and Johnson. She turned to religious writing, beginning with her Sacred Dramas in 1782. In 1784-5, she 'discovered' Ann Yearsley, the so-called 'poetical milkmaid of Bristol', whose poems More helped to publish, although the two later fell out. In the 1780s, More widened her circle to include religious and philanthropic figures, including John Newton, Beilby Porteus and William Wilberforce. In the summer of 1786, she spent time with Sir Charles and Lady Margaret Middleton at the their home in Teston in Kent. Among their guests were the local vicar James Ramsay and a young Thomas Clarkson, both of whom were central to the early abolition campaign. More and Clarkson met again in Bristol in 1787, while he was on his fact-finding mission to the city, but they did not become close. However, in the same year More met Wilberforce, and their friendship was to become a deep and lasting one. More contributed much to the running of the newly-founded Abolition Society including, in February 1788, her publication of Slavery, a Poem which has been recognised as one of the more important slavery poems of the abolition period. Her relationship with members of the society, especially Wilberforce, was close. For example, she spent the summer of 1789 holidaying with Wilberforce in the Peak District - planning for the abolition campaign, at that time at its height, formed a great deal of their conversation. By the mid-1790s, More had become closely involved with the 'Clapham Sect' of evangelical Christians, many of whom were involved in the abolition campaign. The group centred on Henry Thornton's home in Clapham and included Wilberforce, James Stephen, and Zachary Macaulay, among others. Throughout the 1790s, she wrote a number of religious tracts, known as the Cheap Repository Tracts, that eventually led to the formation of the Religious Tracts Society. Several of the Tracts oppose slavery and the slave trade, in particular, the poem The Sorrows of Yamba; or, The Negro Woman's Lamentation, which appeared in November 1795 and which was co-authored with Eaglesfield Smith. However, the tracts have also been noted for their encouragement of social quietism in an age of revolution. She continued to oppose slavery throughout her life, but at the time of the Abolition Bill of 1807, her health did not permit her to take as active a role in the movement as she had done in the late 1780s, although she maintained a correspondence with Wilberforce and others. In her later life, she dedicated much time to religious writing. Nevertheless, her most popular work was a novel, Coelebs in Search of a Wife, which appeared in two volumes in 1809 (and which ran to nine editions in 1809 alone). In the 1820s she grew gradually less well, and decreased - but did not entirely halt - the amount of writing she produced. On her death in 1833, she left more than £30,000 to charities and religious societies (equivalent to about £2,000,000 or $3,000,000 in 2004). © Brycchan Carey 2004

the lost art of gratitude

We all need friends who not only will share in our daily joys, but also speak truth into our lives as fellow disciples of Christ. If you have the privilege of discipling a younger sister in the faith, there are, of course, the essential spiritual disciplines of Bible reading, prayer for others and yourself, Scripture memory, and meditation. But how often do we neglect to incorporate an element of gratitude into our daily routine as well? Posture of Purposeful Gratitude Biblical gratitude is much more than quickly “counting your blessings” or a task to check off the to-do list. Rightly focused gratitude can transform how we view God and his world, and spill over in how we appreciate others. Gratitude has been called a  parent virtue  for a reason. When we train ourselves to look for ways to be grateful each day, we see other virtues mature as well. How nice that we can become more patient and joyful as we become more grateful! As you disciple women, you can point them to any number of biblical passages that admonish gratitude. The meaning is hard to miss. Paul instructs Christians plainly, As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. (Colossians 2:6–7) The fact that we too have received Christ Jesus the Lord changes everything. Our calling is to walk in him. The best way to do that is to daily read God’s infallible word and then carry it out to the best of our ability down the path set forth specifically for us. Clearly, some believers have much rougher paths than others, but our Lord will equip us to walk boldly. Paul reminds the Colossians of the privilege they have to be “rooted and built up in him and established in the faith.” He states earlier, in Colossians 1:7, that he is aware of how they have learned from Epaphras, a “beloved fellow servant” and presumed minister in the church there. What a joy to be rooted in the faith! Ask your women if they have had that experience. Are some of their earliest memories hearing Bible stories from their parents? Can they still picture the layout of the Sunday school classrooms and the dedicated teachers who were there week by week? If so, there’s another reason for gratitude. If not, let’s be encouraged that the children we teach both at home and in the church are even now being rooted in the faith. Our Lord is hiding his word in their hearts — and we get to be a part of that process. What a privilege! Overflowing Gratitude Further, Paul says they were “built up . . . and established.” Their immature faith grew to a mature faith as they were taught and diligently learned. We certainly hope to follow suit. Unlike the church at Colosse, we have the entire canon of Scripture available to us. We can read it in our study Bibles or on our smartphones. We can listen to learned, godly preachers expound on the truths found therein. We can read books carefully written by sound Bible teachers. We can seek to be lifelong learners who are ever seeking to be firmly established in the faith, as Paul writes later in Colossians 1, “if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister” (Colossians 1:23). And what happens when we do all of that? We abound with thanksgiving. Paul doesn’t suggest we give thanks as a way to finish up this topic and move on to the next one. No, he says we are to abound — or overflow — with gratitude. How can we not? It should be a natural response to the fact that we belong to Christ Jesus the Lord. Pray God’s Word into Their Hearts Do you encourage your friend to pray Scripture as a part of her prayer life? It’s uplifting to pray the Psalms, but it’s also profitable to pray prayers found in both the Old and New Testaments. In Paul’s prayer in Colossians 1, he prays for the spiritual wisdom of the people but includes gratitude as one beautiful aspect of wisdom. We have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy;  giving thanks  to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:9–14) Paul says he prays this for the people of Colosse. We should be encouraging those we disciple to pray prayers like this for themselves and for others. This prayer is so rich in theology. God the Father has  qualified ,  delivered , and  transferred  us through  redemption  and  forgiveness  in Christ alone. What else can we do but give thanks? Gracious and Natural Gratitude As women of God, let’s not only thank God for what he gives. Let’s also thank him for who he is. These are two distinct acts. We should be intentional about daily thanking him for both his character and his provisions for us. As we make this part of our mind-set, it will become second nature. What some may see as a lost art will be manifest in us. This attitude of gratitude towards our great God will spill over into our encounters with others — both believers and unbelievers. Remember, we are to abound in gratitude, so it’s not a small part of who we are. Model and teach those whom God has placed under your influence how you work hard to express gratitude for matters big and small. Realize that your simple expression of thanks accompanied by eye contact and a smile may be a bright spot of the day to many who feel overworked and underappreciated. I have never thanked anyone who said in return, “Please, stop. I am always hearing words like that, and it’s really unnecessary.” Contentment Slays Entitlement As you mentor women, be sure that they are aware of the prevailing entitlement mentality that is so rampant today. Gently remind them again of how we deserve divine condemnation — but thanks be to God, we have been redeemed. We should eagerly run up against the argument that life is all about our being happy in this world and grabbing the best things we can here. We have been bought with a price — the very life of our precious Savior Jesus Christ. Our countenance should reflect that as we strive to show the world how our gratitude is grounded in Christ and overflows in all we do. They should look at us and wonder how we can act this way. They may be puzzled by us at first, but should God give us opportunity, may we show by our lives that we are different because we have indeed been delivered, “that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). And they can be as well by trusting in Christ alone. Enjoy the privilege of discipling whomever God places in your sphere of influence for this season of life. Be sure she knows of your humility as you too are “one beggar trying to tell another beggar where to find bread,” as the missionary D.T. Niles once said. Be sure she knows that you seek to live out what you are teaching her. Be sure she sees the joy of the Lord in your grateful heart. Be encouraged that God may choose to use your efforts invested in her to multiply as she in turn invests in others to his glory.

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