^“ It is better to have a little, honestly earned, than to have a large income, dishonestly gained.” - Proverbs 16:8 GNT

“Don’t let it, don’t let it, don’t Let money rule you.”-The O’Jays

Methods matter.

We tnd to be impressed by money. Even those of us who believe that the love of money is the root of all evil struggle with the “like” of money.

At best, money is an ex we say we’re over whose social media feeds we still faithfully watch. At worst it is an ex we would get with in a second if they showed up at our door, or someone we never got with who we keep stalking, and trying to run into, like, “hey, what are the odds?”

100%. The odds are 100% that money and I will meet again.

We tend to be impressed by money so much so that we give instant credibility to people who have a lot of it. We don’t even care how they earned it. They must be good at something.

If they got it by lying, cheating, and stealing, we’re still impressed.

If they lied, cheated, and stole from us, however, they are monsters and should be punished. This raises a whole other set of questions about empathy, which I will lay aside for now. My point is, we tend to be sufficiently impressed by money that we don’t ask enough questions about where it came from, and we don’t look closely enough at the character of the person holding it.

And I’ll be honest: I wholeheartedly believe the scripture: the love of money causes a host of problems. When we put money before people, or obsess over it, we tend to make bad decisions and hurt the ones we love. We do not live our best lives, no matter how good they outwardly look.

Having said that, I often find myself, at least at first blush, thinking that many of my problems could be solved with more money. I also never met a paycheck I didn’t like. And I definitely hope you buy my book, and my next book, too.

Now, there is a basic truth here: if you don’t have enough money to eat, or enough money to put a roof over your head, getting more will dramatically improve your quality of life.

It is painfully easy for people who have money to condescend to those who don’t about their obsessions. Of course you don’t worry about it. You don’t have to.

But if your plight is that you don’t have enough for the Benz, and are _miserable_ driving your lowly Toyota, or think your life won’t begin until you live in a sufficiently prestigious zip code, I have some concern about your priorities. If you're willing to hurt someone else to get them, I have more questions than that. The toys are great, but life doesn’t end without them. And if you are not happy without the toys, you are probably oblivious to the blessings you do have. If you have food, and shelter, and transportation, and people who love you, and access to education and opportunity, not only are you extraordinarily fortunate, you’re also wealthier than many. 10% of the world population regularly goes to bed hungry.[1] 20% lacks adequate housing.[2] If you’re not in those groups, you are already blessed and highly favored.

One of the timeless fundamentals of my church is “a relentless drive for progress.” We should always be moving forward. Now, there are more and less healthy ways to do that. The healthy way to pursue progress is to have gratitude for where you are, and enjoy what you have, but not be satisfied to stay there. If you lack that gratitude, you are in danger of despising your gifts, your life, and the people around you, until you have “arrived.” You are also in danger of never arriving because there’s always someone else who has more.

Prisons are filled with brilliant, creative people whose illegal money-making schemes got them in trouble. I would argue they did more harm than good.

The marketplace is filled with brilliant, creative people whose legal money-making schemes prey on the weak or swindle the gullible. I would argue they do more harm than good.

Too many pulpits are filled with people whose relationship with their flocks are transactional and exploitative.Too often they do more harm than good

We are drawn to winners. For some of us, the thief is a hero until he goes to jail. For others, the thief is a hero even while he’s there.

The scripture here expresses a different value system. The fortune does not justify itself. The means of acquisition must be honest. If not, it’s better to have a small fortune. It’s not just what we make, it’s who we become as we make it.

And a good metric here is your family and friends.

If your fans love you, and the people who profit off you celebrate you, but the people closest to don’t feel valued by you, you might not be as rich as you think.

(Photo Credit: Pixabay)

[1] Sevil Omer, “10 World Hunger Facts You Need to Know,” World Vision, August 28, 2023, https://www.worldvision.org/hunger-news-stories/world-hunger-facts.

[2] “As Cities Grow, so Do the Numbers of Homeless,” As Cities Grow, So Do the Numbers of Homeless | YaleGlobal Online, July 13, 2017, https://archive-yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/cities-grow-so-do-numbers-homeless.