If Christians agree spending all our time chasing the almighty dollar is sinful, how can spending all our time chasing a mediocre dollar be okay?
Rich Abba, Holy Abba
Author: richabbaholyabba
A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.
Proverbs 24:33-34
Is laziness a sin?
I have, of course, heard Proverbs 24:33-34 bandied about in modern Christendom many times over the years. Pastors don’t necessarily devote entire sermons to this proverb but I have certainly heard it mentioned as a preacher’s side-note as well as in Christian conversation.
The gist of the message is generally, ‘Don’t be lazy! If you don’t work, you won’t eat.’
No argument from me on that count. A good work ethic is a worthy virtue just as sure its opposing vices — sloth and laziness — are destructive character flaws that will lead to a lifetime of financial struggle.
However, this passage goes beyond the question, ‘Is laziness a sin?’
The proverb actually starts at verse 30 — and to simply focus on the final two verses of the whole passage loses some of the impact and context inherent in the message. Yes, one point of this proverb is to highlight the fact that, if we do not work, then we can expect to go hungry…
But when we read the full passage, it becomes clear that the writer is referring to a very specific type of work and, by extension, a very specific type of laziness. Furthermore, laziness is only one of the accusations levelled at the field’s owner. The second is not that he is lazy but that he has no sense.
I went past the field of a sluggard, past the vineyard of someone who has no sense; thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins. I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw: A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest — and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.
Proverbs 24:30-34
Is Laziness a Sin?
When Solomon penned this proverb, it wasn’t because he saw a lazy person kicking his feet up. What he observed was a field and / or vineyard. And it was from the state of that field that Solomon inferred that the owner was a sluggard — or, at the very least, someone who had no sense.
It is easy to read the last two verses in isolation and surmise that laziness leads to poverty. However, I believe it is equally important to note where the sluggard was lazy in his life.
For instance, I know a man who competes in triathlons. To that end, he trains eight hours a day. In this respect, he is one of the most diligent and motivated people I know. However, it is fair to say that he earned substantially less than the rest of his peers.
I recall time when his employer demanded some extra shifts from him. For my friend, the athlete, this was a road too far. ‘I can’t do this,’ he moaned. ‘My boss wants me to work sixteen hours a week!’
When you consider that most hard-working folk spend between forty and fifty hours a week at the office not to mention the ten to fifteen hours spent on their commute, I can understand why many might consider my friend’s grievance as something bordering on laziness. But this is simply not the case.
Is laziness a sin in my friends life? Absolutely not! He simply prioritized his physical training over his career.
However, hypothetically, what if he had ever found himself in a place where his money ran out and he was unable to pay his rent or put food on the table? Then one might argue that such a harsh stance on the number of hours he was prepared to work made no sense.
Turning back to Proverbs 24:30-34, the field’s owner had acquired an asset either through outright purchase or, more likely, as an inheritance from his father. This inheritance was a piece of land that he could tend and on which he could sow seeds or plant vines. More importantly, it was from this land that the owner would reap a bountiful harvest each year to feed his family.
However, instead of tending his field and vineyard, the man allowed them to fall into neglect. The net result? Poverty came upon him like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.
Is laziness a sin in this man’s life? Not necessarily. It is possible that this man simply had no sense, as the writer asserts.
What is a man to do in such circumstances? Having allowed his means of support to come to ruin, such man might be forced to seek full-time employment in order to put food on the table. Ironically, he would probably end up doing this work in another man’s field. And adding insult to injury the sluggard would have to work just as hard — only for far less money — on a neighbor’s field as he might on his own.
However, what choice would he have? Since he had not diligently maintained his own asset, he has no choice but to tend someone else’s asset instead. The up-side is instant gratification; every day this man goes out to work on someone else’s land, he gets paid a day’s wage. Conversely, the person for whom he works will not receive their reward until the next harvest — but then they will receive it in bucket-loads. Thirty, sixty or one-hundred-fold, as the Bible says. In other words, the field’s owner will earn back all the money he spent on laborers, seed and equipment three to ten times over.
The sluggard, meanwhile will have to eke out a living for the rest of his days, grabbing work when he finds it, surviving from paycheck to paycheck. His only alternative is to starve. All because he lacked the good sense to maintain his own field or vineyard.
So it is with many believers in the modern economy. All too often hard-working believers do the daily commute to the office. There they do the daily grind for eight to ten hours, followed by another grueling hour’s commute back home.
All they want to do when they get home is kick their feet up and relax in front of the television for a few hours before bed. The last thing they want to do is ‘tend their field or vineyard’, so to speak. By field or vineyard, I mean the assets in which they invest their time and money in order to reap a future harvest.
Is laziness a sin in this context? Not to my mind.
However, there is really no way of getting around this. Anyone stuck in this rut is, by omission, neglecting their own field or vineyard . What would Solomon say if he observed that person’s field?
I went past the field of a sluggard, past the vineyard of someone who has no sense. Sadly, this is the only conclusion he could draw from his observation. And his conclusion brings with it a frightening truth; poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.
This is a hard message to hear, especially if you are a hard-working believer who diligently heads into the office each and every day. The problem is that job to which you devote the vast bulk of your waking hours is little more than someone else’s vineyard. It is not your own.
And anyone who neglects their own vineyard is someone who has no sense, according to Proverbs 24:30
However there is a way out of the predicament. Tend your fields and vineyards. When you do you will reap the reward come the harvest.
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
1 Timothy 6:10
With the deepest respect to those who devote their lives to teaching and equipping the church to share the good news — how is it that pastors struggling financially themselves still see fit to offer advice to their congregations on the subject?
The Richest Man in Babylon, by George S. Clason, tells the story of a man who makes a bad investment. In trying to grow his fortune, he invests all his money with a brickmaker who plans to buy jewels in a far-away land and sell them locally at great profit.
This man’s mentor points out his folly when he says, ‘But why trust the knowledge of a brickmaker about jewels?
‘… he who takes advice about his savings from one who is inexperienced… will pay with his savings for proving the falsity of their opinions.’
By way of example, I shared a brief story in this post about pastors offering financial advice. Frankly, I find this type of preaching all too common in sermons about money. Pastors struggling financially themselves need to discern between their personal opinions and what the Bible is saying on the subject.
Unfortunately the church sees many pastors struggling financially, just like the rest of us. Statistically, the majority of pastors have zero savings, feel that they are underpaid, and have experienced financial struggle in their lives. Who among us has not felt this at various points?
Furthermore, what most pastors know about managing money boils down to the following:
- The love of money is the root of all evil
- The Bible instructs us to give generously to God’s Kingdom and the poor
Both of the above messages are 100% true and both offer invaluable spiritual advice. However, this does not, by extension, amount to financial advice. Neither of these messages teach us how to manage our finances wisely on a day-to-day basis. Taken in isolation, the logical conclusion, when reading these scriptures, is that every believer should simply sell everything they have and give to the poor.
… and then what?
I have heard pastors speak out against the love of money and the pursuit of wealth many times but I have seldom heard them offer any sound advice on how we should really go about managing the finances with which God has already blessed us.
Instead, I have heard them offer a lot of bad advice on the subject. This happens when pastors offer middle/working-class opinions about handling money and cloak those opinions in Bible verses that appear to support their preconceived ideas.
Pastors usually lead with the fact that the love of money is the root of all evil. While this is true, it doesn’t help those families who are battling to make ends meet. What many pastors fail to communicate is that the love of money and the acquisition of wealth are not necessarily the same thing. Every time we — or our pastors, for that matter — cash our paychecks, we acquire wealth. If that is a sin, then we are all in deep trouble, pastors included.
The silent message in most of these sermons is that it is a sin to chase after riches. Again, true! A healthy bank balance could indicate the love of money in a person’s heart. But this is equally true of an unhealthy bank balance.
Messages Preached by Pastors Struggling Financially Themselves
Messages preached from the pulpit, often by pastors struggling financially themselves, are quick to point out the evils of extravagant lifestyles that seek private jets and luxury yachts. They are less quick to point out the inherent evils of spending all our time chasing after the next paycheck in order to pay for the $20,000 car we bought on credit last year.
This is a pity because the love of money has led far more people into consumer-debt and relative poverty in this world than it has ever led to wealth.
There are, of course, countless verses in the Bible that offer immense wisdom on the subject of financial management. I included a handful of those verses in this article I posted some time back… and another one here.
Sadly, I have never heard any of these verses taught from the pulpit. Either our church pastors have never read them or they have simply skipped past them — possibly on the basis that these verses offer little spiritual or eternal value for their sermon material.
However, I would point out that God still saw fit to include these verses the in Bible, and their truths could improve the lives of countless believers all over the world, pastors included.
As such, I generally don’t accept pseudo-financial advice offered from the pulpit any more than I would accept pseudo-spiritual advice from the countless financial self-help authors out there.
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
Philippians 4:12
Recently, my church pastor began a series on Biblical contentment— and this is the verse he led with. His first sermon was both informative and challenging. Let’s face it, when it comes to money, contentment is seldom our natural human response. He spoke really well on the subject and left me with much to think about over the subsequent week. That said, I believe he fell into a common trap — pastors offering financial advice.
It happened so quickly. A simple, off-the-cuff, remark that felt a little off, to my mind. I went home and processed this to figure out why his comment had bothered me. And I offer my conclusions below.
To set the scene, my pastor quoted an article that asserted the following; in order to be considered wealthy, you need to have a net worth of $1,900,000. The article’s assertion was based on the premise that the annual interest earned on this amount would be substantially higher than the average wage in the USA today.
I did a quick calculation; a 4% yield on $1,900,000 would earn circa $6,300/month, as compared with the median USA salary of $4,600/month at time of writing. So, yes; I guess we can agree that such a net worth would qualify one as wealthy.
Then came his off-the-cuff remark…
Pastors Offering Financial Advice
Sermons about contentment and the love of money, carry with them the inherent danger of pastors offering financial advice — albeit inadvertently.
‘Apparently, you can’t be wealthy and work, according to the article,’ my pastor asserted with a wry smile.
The congregation responded with a polite ripple of laughter.
I can see why many would find such an assertion amusing. So why did it not sit well with me?
Actually, the answer is quite simple — and, frankly, the article (not my pastor) — is correct.
In simple terms, every person’s work lifespan has an expiry-date. Whether we like it or not, a day will come when we are no longer physically capable of working to earn a living. This could be as a result of old age or, God forbid, a physical accident or dread disease. At that point, our income will dry up and drop to a big fat zero. How will we pay for the roof over our heads, keep the lights on and put food on the table when that day comes?
There is no way to candy-coat this. If we have no other means of income on that day when we are no longer able to work for a living, we will be impoverished. So, sadly, that article’s assertion is correct; you can’t be considered wealthy as long as you have to work to earn a living.
There was a second aspect of my pastor’s comment that neither he, nor many members of my congregation appeared to take into account.
Another reason why pastors offering financial advice is a bad idea.
When he made mention of the $1,900,000 net worth, I spotted the wry smiles and heard the soft ripple of derisive laughter across the congregation. How absurd! That the writer of that worldly article should insist that we aspire to such a ridiculous level of wealth; the nerve. Sounds like the love of money — doesn’t it?
This from a congregation of hard-working middle-class folk, all of whom dutifully put money into their pension schemes each month. What do we think that pension pot is for? And how much money do we think we are aiming to save up over a career spanning forty-plus years?
Normal hard-working people put money into a pension scheme each month for this exact reason; to ensure that they have accumulated enough — wealth — in order to support them when they are no longer physically capable of working.
It is fair to say that most of my Christian peers are not interested in stockpiling wealth in this world. They would much rather remain spiritually-minded and store up treasure in heaven. All they hope for is a retirement fund that is able to support the modest living-standard to which they are currently accustomed. They don’t want mansions, private jets or luxury yachts.
Just a modest lifestyle that will keep the roof over their heads and put food on the table in their twilight years.
This is a fair aspiration. So let me put it under the microscope for a moment. I hope the story below illustrates the inherent dangers of pastors offering financial advice.
Let’s assume Jane embarked on a career in her early twenties with a starting salary of $2,000/month. And let’s assume she would increase her salary at a steady rate of 5% each year for a career that spans 45 years.
Jane has just celebrated her fortieth birthday. In this scenario, she currently earns the median USA salary of roughly $4,600/month — and she can expect this amount to continue increasing over the next twenty-five years to keep track with inflation.
Let’s assume further that Jane will have put 20% of her total earnings into a pension scheme over the course of her career by the time she retires. That will mean that she will have accumulated a net worth of $766,000 by the time she reaches retirement age.
In the above scenario, Jane can expect to earn roughly $2,500/month for the rest of her life once she retires. This is roughly the same amount she earned back in her early twenties. Far from the “modest” lifestyle that she is currently accustomed to, when earning the average USA salary of $4,600/month, Jane will have to tighten her belt and live a far more frugal lifestyle in her old age.
She won’t be impoverished. But she won’t be comfortable either.
In order to maintain the comfortable, if modest, lifestyle to which Jane aspires, she would need to store up — wait for it — just under $1,400,000 in her pension scheme by the time she reaches retirement age. That would earn her the USA average wage of $4,600/month which would continue to keep Jane in the comfortable but modest lifestyle she has built for herself.
I acknowledge that this is less than the amount suggested in the article my pastor cited — but not by much. Suddenly, $1,900,000 isn’t looking so silly — or greedy — is it?
Let’s not forget, the above numbers don’t even begin to take inflation into account.
So what does this thought-process have to do with Contentment? This is one of those counter-intuitive Biblical truths. The only way to save enough money for our retirement is by living beneath our means in the present. Our human nature finds this incredibly difficult.
Instead our tendency is to spend everything we have. We never have any money left over at the end of the month. Conversely, if we learn to be content with what we have, we would spend less and, as a result, we would have more money to invest in our pension scheme to ensure that we will be able to support ourselves in our old age.
Of course the benefits of learning to be content in all circumstances go way beyond mere financial freedom. There are psychological and emotional benefits of learning this virtue. An attitude of contentment will make believers more kingdom-minded and produce eternal rewards. My pastor covered all of this in his sermon and I look forward to hearing the rest of his series over the next few weeks.
While I am prepared to call out the dangers in pastors offering financial advice, I still recognize the value of the spiritual advice they offer when unpacking God’s word.
So try this on for size.
Who doesn’t have enough money to get by each month? Who feels underpaid and in need of a raise?
Well, I guess I should put my hand up. How about you?
But here is what the Bible says on the matter…
Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless.
Ecclesiastes 5:10
NOTE: This message is not for those living on the breadline. We recognize that there are people who are genuinely poor in this world. However, it would certainly apply to any first-world family on a middle-class income.
This is a harsh truth — but one we should all take on board. It feels so brutal because, as sincere believers, we don’t feel like folk who love money. However, if the shoe fits, we might as well wear it and seek God’s grace on the matter. Then, we need to seek God’s wisdom to figure out how to rectify the problem.
Folk like us can take comfort in the fact that we are not alone. The vast majority of our pastors feel the same way, according to a statistical study.
Why There is Never Enough Money
Expenses always rise to meet income.
Parkinson’s Second Law
Parkinson’s Second Law observes that no matter how much money people earn, they always spend the entire amount — and a little bit more besides. This is a universal truth.
Think about it…
How much money did you earn ten years ago? And how much do you currently earn? For most people, the following statements are all true:
- They earn substantially more today than they did ten years ago
- Ten years ago, they needed more money
- Currently, they still need more money
The above pattern is Parkinson’s Law — and Ecclesiastes 5:10 — in action.
Breaking the Cycle
The only way to break this cycle is by recognizing this pattern for what it is; love of money. Once we are able to admit that there is a problem, we are in a position to do something about it.
First step? Start saving!
I am working on the assumption that you already give tithes and offerings to further God’s kingdom. However, you also need to start saving at least ten percent of your income each month. Saving this way enforces a discipline that ensures we spend less than we earn. The moment we achieve that, we will — have enough money.
It’s really that simple.
Changing your financial situation may take a little while but the moment you achieve the above baby step and start saving, the journey is underway.
So this is the art of contentment: not to seek to add to our circumstances, but to subtract from our desires
Jeremiah Burroughs
Put your outdoor work in order and get your fields ready; after that, build your house.
Proverbs 24:27
While recently chatting to a fellow-believer and close friend, he shared his secret dream of owning a holiday home down on the coast. And why wouldn’t he nurture such a dream? A part of me yearns for that as well. The thought of owning a lovely little beach hideaway that I could escape to for the odd weekend getaway sounds quite appealing.
My friend and I are not alone. Many a middle-class family dreams of their holiday getaway home. Some dream of a beach house. Others dream of a mountain chalet.
However, as I began to dream of that holiday home, my thoughts turned to scripture. Now, let me be clear; the Bible does not forbid anyone’s hankering for a holiday home. It merely offers some sound advice. Take a look at Proverbs 24:27, shown above.
Get Your Fields Ready
With that in mind, it occurs to me that a striving for a holiday home is little more than a house-building exercise. The proverb does not say there is anything wrong with this; it merely advises me to put my outdoor work in order and get my fields ready first — then build my house.
In other words, having scrimped and saved from my hard-earned wages, the proverb urges me to first invest in next year’s harvest. It tells me to get my outdoor work in order and get my fields ready. How do I do this? By purchasing seed and preparing my assets in order to reap a harvest when the time comes.
Once I have done that, I can begin building my house. Unfortunately, for most middle-class folk, like me, preparing those fields will soak up most of those savings, leaving very little to invest in that dream holiday home.
Truly wealthy individuals apply the wisdom in this proverb regardless of whether they are believers or not. It’s a sad fact that the middle-class syndrome generally does the opposite. It builds the house first— and pays the price in the long run.
As such, I have decided to take the lesson in this proverb to heart. While I love the idea of owning a holiday home by the sea, I choose wisdom and have invested my savings in next year’s harvest. In years to come, I may find myself in a position to “build my house” so to speak. Or maybe God will lead me to give the proceeds to his kingdom instead. After all, it’s his money; I am merely a steward.
So, for now, I will go about the business of putting my outdoor work in order and getting my fields ready. Just like the proverb says.
I recently came across some interesting statistics about pastors.
- 29% of pastors have zero in personal savings
- 84% of pastors have no emergency fund
- 70% of pastors feel grossly underpaid
- 90% of pastors experience financial stress in their family
In truth, most pastors are just like the rest of us; living from paycheck to paycheck and struggling to make ends meet. Most have little or no savings.
Small wonder, then, that the Biblical perspective on managing our finances is so seldom taught from the pulpit. The average pastor understands this no more than the next guy.
Please understand. Your pastor is neither trying to hide something from you nor avoiding the subject of money because it is temporal and unspiritual. Most pastors avoid the subject simply because they don’t understand it.
In short, pastors can’t teach what they don’t know!
This is a pity because the Bible actually has heaps to say about wise financial management and conduct.
Here are a few to get you started.
- Powerful Advice on Leverage and Investment in the Bible
- The Most Counter-Intuitive Financial Advice in the Bible
- Investment Advice in the Bible
- How to Overcome the Fear of Losing Money
- Investment in the Bible
- How to Overcome Weariness and Worry in Corporate Life
- How to Invest Like the Proverbs 31 Woman
My guess is most believers — like me — have seldom heard these verses taught from the pulpit, if ever.
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things [what you shall eat, drink and wear], will be given to you as well.
Matthew 6:33
We all know this verse. I am sure most believers have heard it countless times both in church and Sunday-school. But have we contemplated its true meaning? I believe Matthew 6:33 is one of the most challenging verses in the Bible for the average first-world believer. That includes me.
For the full impact of this verse, let us consider the verses preceding it.
31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Matthew 6:31-33
Distilled to its core, Jesus is saying, ‘Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness — not a pay-check!‘ Let’s consider how we acquire those basic necessities in life; what we eat, what we drink and what we wear. We purchase those things with money. And how do we come by that money? We go out, get a job, and earn it for the work that we do.
Now here’s the thing. Most people have an average of 16 waking hours each day — and most people spend ten, or more, of those hours on work-related activities. That includes time spent at work, commuting to or from work, or getting ready for work.
As a measure of our time, that amounts to roughly 62% of our waking hours. As a measure of our energy, it is actually much higher. How energized do you feel when you arrive home after a hard day’s work?
Seek First His Kingdom and His Righteousness
According to Matthew 6:33, we should seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. The promise is that, when we do this, then all these things will be added to us as well — what we eat, what we drink, and what we wear. However, all too often, we turn this on its head.
We wake up at five or six in the morning and get ready to leave for work — seeking a pay-check. We rush out to catch the bus or train, or do battle with grueling traffic in our effort get to the office on time. Then follow eight to ten hours of work. And, finally, the reverse commute back home, all in pursuit of a pay-check.
We tell ourselves that we don’t worry about money, but that is not strictly true. The reason we don’t worry is because we have a pay-check. We trust our employer to pay us what they legally owe — because we gave up the sixty most productive hours of our week in pursuit of our pay-check. And we trust God, our employer, and maybe luck that we will not be made redundant before we reach retirement age, as long as we hold up our end of the bargain and keep putting in the time. We call this job security.
Here is the hard truth. When we wake up at five or six in the morning and spend the first eleven hours of or waking day seeking a pay-check we are, by definition, seeking that pay-check first. We don’t cling to job security as a way to overcome our financial anxiety. Rather, we do it because of our financial anxiety.
In other words, having a job does not cure our worry about what we will eat or what we will wear. Instead, because we worry about those things, we cling to our job at all costs. In short, we seek first our pay-check.
Some of us compensate for this by spending some time in prayer first thing in the morning or, maybe, reading our Bible on the train journey in to work. Hats off to those who manage this; you’re doing better than most. But can this really qualify as seeking first the kingdom of God? Twenty minutes! Weighed against eleven hours spent in pursuit of a pay-check… really?
I know this sounds harsh but Jesus never said following him would be easy. God set the bar high. Thank the Lord for his grace and forgiveness, is all I can say; I fall way short.
That said, I want to rise to the challenge! By the power of God’s spirit, I want to truly seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. So how do I achieve that? Hand in my resignation tomorrow and spend all my time and energy in God’s word? Not only is that impractical, it borders on foolish. I simply don’t believe that is what God’s word demands of us.
Rather, I believe it is a process. First, I can start with twenty minutes a day spent in prayer and reading God’s word. That is a great place to start! In that time, if I truly seek his kingdom and his righteousness, I believe a picture will start to form. That picture will show what God’s kingdom should look like in my life. Once I know what his kingdom looks like in my life, I can formulate a plan to craft that life.
This will almost certainly change the way I currently earn and spend my money. I cannot seek God’s kingdom first while I still worry about what I will eat, what I will drink or what I will wear. These are flip-sides of the same coin.
This week offered another teaching opportunity around the dinner table. We had dinner with extended family, all of whom are believers.
At one point, dinner conversation turned to the subject of investment and financial stewardship. It didn’t take long before my mother pointed out the obvious off the back of something my son said.
‘Just remember, some of the unhappiest people in the world are also some of the richest,’ she said. The silent message; money doesn’t buy happiness.
While her statement was true, I had no compunction calling out the inherent error in that train of thought. The issue I take with assertions like this is in the hidden message that, somehow, poverty is more Godly than wealth.
I responded, ‘It is equally true that some of the unhappiest people in the world are also some of the poorest.’
Love of Money is the Real Heart Issue
My point? Wealth and happiness are not the core issue believers need to deal with in this context. The real issue we need to deal with, as believers, is the love of money. That is a fight every believer has to wage, rich and poor alike. And, when combating the love of money, doing battle from a place of poverty or financial struggle won’t make our fight any easier or more noble.
When combating the love of money, doing battle from a place of financial struggle won’t make our fight any easier or more noble.
Rich Abba, Holy Abba
The reason I push back against statements like this — especially around the dinner table — is simple. I don’t want to teach my children that consumer debt and its accompanying financial struggle is a Godly way to live. Poverty offers no immunity from the love of money.
I want them to understand that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Furthermore, I want them to learn sound financial management principles so that they are able to give generously to God’s kingdom and to live their lives with a Kingdom-first mindset.
In short, I want my children to learn to live their lives in such a way that they don’t worry about what they will eat, what they will drink or what they will wear but rather to seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness.
There will be times in their lives when they experience God’s abundance, and there will be times when they experience lack. If they learn to be wise stewards of the money God entrusts to them then, hopefully, they will experience more of the former and less of the latter.
But through it all, I want them to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.