Over the past three mini-studies on wealth, we have discussed the value of being guided by biblical proverbs when it comes to accumulating, sustaining, and distributing wealth. We talked about how wealth relates to our salvation and how important it is to honor God with our wealth. And, we discovered some of the limits of wealth.
Let’s take what we have learned and go deeper into what it means to use biblical wisdom for guidance as to how we should spend wealth.
How much wealth is too much?
You might think this is a silly question: Is there such a thing as having too much money? Various surveys have been conducted on how satisfied people are with the amount of money they have coming in. Whether you make $10,000 a year or $1,000,00 the answer is almost always the same. Most people are convinced that if they had just $10,000 more coming in they would feel secure and content. How odd that no matter how much you make there is always a sense you need just a little bit more—or should we properly say we constantly want just a little bit more.
God is aware of every need you have
God is aware of our needs and cares for our necessities (Lk 12:29-30). Truth be told, the LORD actually supplies us with more than we need. If we, who are imperfect, are able to give good gifts to our children, then isn’t’ it reasonable to assume that our Heavenly Father, who is perfect, will give us much more than what our earthly parents offer (Mt 7:11)? Yes, it is. However, we will give an account to the Lord for what we have done with what we have been given (Jer 17:10, Rom 14:12). It’s important that we steward God’s good gifts to us in ways that pleases him.
God gives to each of us what he or she can handle primarily based on one moral attribute. That primary moral attribute is humility. One very important act we all must do before God is humble ourselves (Jm 4:10). Humility is part of the process of success. Humility isn’t a popular quality today. It has never been. The ancient Greek philosophers despised the idea of humility. In their minds, a humble person was weak and worthless. It was Jesus who raised humility to a quality that was to be cherished and valued. He described himself as a humble man (Mt 11:29). Moses, one of the greatest leaders in history, was best known for one primary characteristic. In God’s eyes, he was the humblest man who ever lived (Num 12:3). And yet, like Jesus, through his humility he was raised up to become a great leader.
The amount of wealth divinely distributed is based on what your humility can support. “Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God'” (Mt 4:4 NIV). Laying behind this statement is the idea of dependence. It takes a humble person to claim they rely on Jesus and his teachings as their source of security and contentment. Whether a person is rich or poor, humility will define how they spend money. Living extravagantly or being miserly both suffer from a lack of humility. One flaunts wealth while the other hoards it. Both practices signal that a fear of loss and a lack of faith in God’s faithfulness are guiding their spending decisions.
Jesus didn’t make up the proverb on living on bread alone. He was quoting an Old Testament saying. “He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you
with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD” (Deut 8:3-4 NIV). Jesus was referring to God supplying manna to the Hebrew as they wandered in the desert. The context of God supplying daily manna was to learn to humbly rely on God for what is needed each day.
Jesus also used this image of bread to teach his disciples how to pray properly about their needs. When asked how to pray Jesus told his followers to pray: “give us today our daily bread (Mt 6:11).
How much bread should we ask for in prayer?
This leads us to a second question: “How much bread are we to ask for?” Proverbs answers this question using divine wisdom. “Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.” Prov 30:8-9 NIV
Both riches and poverty have their temptations. The rich are tempted to think they can live independently from God and even ignore him and his moral laws. The poor person thinks likewise. He believes to survive he too must live independent from God, ignore him, and break his moral laws by stealing to be satisfied. The Bible consistently connects riches and poverty (wealth and the lack of wealth) to one important element. It is the relationship a person has with God. And this relationship spills over into how we spend our wealth to help others.
The greatest treasure is found in a relationship
The golden egg of wealth is found in two relationships. First, never forget that the greatest treasure you have is your relationship to Jesus Christ the bread of heaven. The ideas of how much wealth you actually need as opposed to the amount of wealth you want and the image that Jesus used of bread being the sustaining substance for daily living were united when Jesus claimed himself to be the “living bread that came down from heaven.”
“I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (Jn 6:47-51 NIV).
Second, the key to guarding your heart against money and possessions becoming dictatorial idols is to learn how to use your wealth for the benefit of others. Amazingly, it’s not the amount of money you give that matters. It’s the passion and concern in which you give to others that counts. The second important relationship related to wealth is establishing friendships with those who can benefit from your generosity. Whether you are very wealthy, middle class, or struggling to make ends meet, you can possess the golden eggs of wealth as you acknowledge that a relationship with Jesus as Lord is essential to life and that giving to someone less fortunate than yourself is doing the will of God.
Jesus taught: “Give , and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Luke 6:38 NIV).
Photograph of Moses By Carol Highsmith, Library of Congress Exhibits, Public Domain, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26381750
Pictures from various photographers Freerangestock.com, Stockfree.com, and Pexels.com
