Shownotes
Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy
Welcome to Day 61 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom.
It’s Only Money (Part 4)
Thank you for joining us for our 7 day a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 61 of our Trek, and today we will discover the wisdom tools needed as we acquire money and wealth of any type. Let us trek together as we learn to build your living legacy each day.
We are recording our podcast from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. Each day seems to bring new challenges and opportunities to learn. I do admit that sometimes those challenges can be well, challenging. I realize that you also go through “learning opportunities,” and as we share together each day, we can assist and help one another in a meaningful way.
We are continuing today on our “It’s Only Money” Trek. Each day we will explore a different trail on our Trek to true wealth. Today we will see what part wisdom plays on the “Acquisition of Money” trail.
On the first three days on our Money Trek, we looked at the Book of Proverbs as we focused on a proper attitude toward money. Now we will concentrate on what Proverbs making about the making and spending of money. Today is filled with bullet points from Proverbs as we gather many wisdom nuggets along the trail.
Wisdom and the Acquisition of Money
It matters a great deal how money is obtained. Proverbs reminds us that God is intimately concerned with the way you earn a living. God is not indifferent to the way you obtain money.
Proverbs 16:11, “The Lord demands accurate scales and balances; he sets the standards for fairness.”
Proverbs 22:22-23, “Don’t rob the poor just because you can, or exploit the needy in court. For the Lord is their defender. He will ruin anyone who ruins them.”
Money which is gained in an ungodly way will not bring us any lasting benefit; instead, it will bring about our own misery.
Proverbs 10:2, “Tainted wealth has no lasting value, but right living can save your life.”
Proverbs 11:18,“Evil people get rich for the moment, but the reward of the godly will last.”
Proverbs 20:17, “Stolen bread tastes sweet, but it turns to gravel in the mouth.”
Proverbs 21:6, “Wealth created by a lying tongue is a vanishing mist and a deadly trap.”
Some people make money by questionable, if not illegal, means, and then attempt to salve their consciences by giving a portion to the church or charity. In their minds, benevolence is the end that justifies their corrupt means.The tragedy is that there are all too many churches and organizations that are eager to relieve the guilt of unprincipled men by taking their money, helping them feel good about their dishonesty.
Proverbs tells us that no sacrifice is pleasing to God that is wrongly gained.
Proverbs 21:3, “The Lord is more pleased when we do what is right and just
than when we offer him sacrifices.”
Proverbs 21:27, “The sacrifice of an evil person is detestable, especially when it is offered with wrong motives.”
These principles sum up the teaching of Proverbs on how we should acquire money. Let me share this wisdom with a brief word of explanation on each.
1. Money should not be pursued without a cost to us.
You might call this the principle of toil and time. The fall of Adam in the Garden of Eden took place many centuries before Proverbs was written. The curse which God placed on man is found in.
Genesis 3:17, “And to the man he said, ‘Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.'”
There is an underpinning of this principle of toil and time.
- Money should not be sought without toil or hard work,
- Money should not be sought without an investment of our time.
- Money obtained too easily or quickly will soon be gone.
Proverbs 10:4, “Lazy people are soon poor; hard workers get rich.”
Proverbs 12:11, “A hard worker has plenty of food, but a person who chases fantasies has no sense.”
Proverbs 14:23, “Work brings profit, but mere talk leads to poverty!”
Proverbs 20:13, “If you love sleep, you will end in poverty. Keep your eyes open, and there will be plenty to eat!”
Proverbs 20:21, “An inheritance obtained too early in life is not a blessing in the end.”
The opposite of diligence and hard work is laziness. The lazy seek to avoid work altogether. Since they must make money to live, they turn toward schemes and get-rich-quick offers. Proverbs teaches us that these alternatives to work will not succeed.
2. Money should not be gained at the price of principle.
Proverbs 10:2 calls money acquired at the expense of principle “tainted wealth.” Other proverbs are more specific as to the principles which we dare not violate in the pursuit of an income. The following five principles are those that we ought never to violate in the making of money.
3. Money should not be gained at the expense of truth.
Proverbs 20:17, “Stolen bread tastes sweet, but it turns to gravel in the mouth.”
Proverbs 21:6, “Wealth created by a lying tongue is a vanishing mist and a deadly trap.”
5. Money should not be gained at the expense of justice.
Proverbs 16:8, “Better to have little, with godliness, than to be rich and dishonest.”
Proverbs 13:11, “Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows over time.”
Proverbs 29:4, “A just king gives stability to his nation, but one who demands bribes destroys it.”
6. Money should not be gained at the expense of others.
Proverbs 22:22, “Don’t rob the poor just because you can, or exploit the needy in court.”
Proverbs 28:24, “Anyone who steals from his father and mother and says, ‘What’s wrong with that?’ is no better than a murderer.”
Proverbs 28:8, “Income from charging high interest rates, will end up in the pocket of someone who is kind to the poor.”
7. Money should not be gained at the expense of right living.
Proverbs 10:2, “Tainted wealth has no lasting value, but right living can save your life.”
Proverbs 11:18, “Evil people get rich for the moment, but the reward of the godly will last.”
8. Money should not be acquired at the expense of priorities.
We can agree, I believe, that we should never do anything that is illegal wicked or immoral in order to gain wealth. Proverbs carries this principle even further, we should not sacrifice any biblical priority or compromise our integrity to earn money either.
Since there are many things in life more important than money, our efforts to earn money should never rearrange these priorities. For example, this week we leare already learned that a happy home is more important than a prosperous one
Proverbs 15:17, “A bowl of vegetables with someone you love is better than steak with someone you hate.”
Proverbs 17:1, “Better a dry crust eaten in peace than a house filled with feasting — and conflict.”
The pursuit of money should never take a toll on your home, life, truth, justice, relationship with others, or personal integrity.
Well, that will finish our podcast for today. If you missed any of our previous podcasts, please check out Wisdom-Trek on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud or Wisdom-Trek.com. Tomorrow we will consider the topic “It’s Only Money” Part 5 and focusing on what to avoid so that you do not to lose money once you have obtained it.
So, please join us at our “camp” tomorrow for another day on our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.
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Thank you!
The journal from this podcast can be found at Wisdom-Trek.com, where we also have pictures, tweetable quotes, wisdom nuggets, and free resources.
Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.
As we take this Trek together, let us always:
- Live Abundantly (Fully)
- Love Unconditionally
- Listen Intentionally
- Learn Continuously
- Lend Generously
- Lead with Integrity
- Leave a Living Legacy Each Day
This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy the Journey, and Create a Great Day! See you tomorrow!