I. Keep God First – Honor God out of what He has given you! a. Give to God first: Honor the LORD from your wealth and from the first of all your produce. (3:9)b. Giving to God first is rewarded: So your barns will be filled with plenty And your vats will overflow with new wine. (3:10); Adversity pursues sinners, But the righteous will be rewarded with prosperity. (13:21)II. Wisdom is more important than money – Ask God for wisdom before doing anything!a. Wisdom brings wealth: Riches and honor are with me, Enduring wealth and righteousness. (8:18); to endow those who love me with wealth, that I may fill their treasuries. (8:21)b. Wisdom yields better fruit than money: I walk in the way of righteousness, In the midst of the paths of justice (8:20)c. Wisdom helps us to correctly use money: Why is there a price in the hand of a fool to buy wisdom, when he has no sense? (17:16)d. Wisdom gives one guards in the pursuit after money: Do not weary yourself to gain wealth, Cease from your consideration of it. (23:4)
III. Righteousness – More Important than Wealth or Money!a. Righteous people got their money honestly: Great wealth is in the house of the righteous, but trouble is in the income of the wicked. (15:6)b. A Poor, blameless man is better of than a rich man: Better is the poor who walks in his integrity than he who is crooked though he be rich. (28:6)c. The Righteous are sometimes rewarded by God with financial success: Adversity pursues sinners, but the righteous will be rewarded with prosperity. (13:21)d. Righteousness vs. Injustice: Better is a little with righteousness than great income with injustice. (16:8)
IV. Fearing God – Remember who will give an Account to someday!a. Fear God: Better is a little with the fear of the LORD Than great treasure and turmoil with it. (15:16) b. Humility and fear: The reward of humility and the fear of the LORD Are riches, honor and life. (22:4)
V. Diligence is Required for Excelling Financially – Plan for your Future!a. Hard Workers vs. Lazy People: Poor is he who works with a negligent hand, But the hand of the diligent makes rich. (10:4)b. Action vs. Talk: In all labor there is profit, But mere talk leads only to poverty. (14:23)c. Planning: The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage, But everyone who is hasty comes surely to poverty. (21:5)d. Overspending: The violence of the wicked will drag them away, Because they refuse to act with justice. (21:7)
VI. Limitations of Money – Keep it in the proper perspective!a. Wrath of God – there is punishment for sin: Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, But righteousness delivers from death. (11:4)b. Money doesn’t last: When you set your eyes on it, it is gone. For wealth certainly makes itself wings like an eagle that flies toward the heavens. (23:5); for riches are not forever, nor does a crown endure to all generations. (27:24) c. Trust in God, not money: An arrogant man stirs up strife, but he who trusts in the LORD will prosper. (28:25); He who trusts in his riches will fall, But the righteous will flourish like the green leaf. (11:28)
VII. Using Money for the right reasons:a. Helping out with problems: The rich man’s wealth is his fortress, the ruin of the poor is their poverty. (10:15)b. Leaving an Inheritance behind: A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, And the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous. (13:22)c. A Wife’s labors: She senses that her gain is good; her lamp does not go out at night. (31:18)
VIII. Money can cause bad feelings – God made us all, no matter what our pay-stub says! a. Favoritism of the Rich: The poor is hated even by his neighbor, but those who love the rich are many. (14:20) b. Friendship: Wealth adds many friends, but a poor man is separated from his friend. (19:4); all the brothers of a poor man hate him; how much more do his friends abandon him! He pursues them with words, but they are gone. (19:7) c. The problem with Thieves: The ransom of a man’s life is his wealth, But the poor hears no rebuke. (13:8) d. A Good Reputation: A good name is to be more desired than great wealth, Favor is better than silver and gold. (22:1) e. Braggingly Rich: The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower becomes the lender’s slave. (22:7)
IX. Generous Giving – Give generously to God and to others! a. Generosity leads to more money: There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more, and there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in want. (11:24) b. Generosity leads to spiritual refreshment: The generous man will be prosperous, and he who waters will himself be watered. (11:25)c. The Greedy end up with nothing: A man with an evil eye hastens after wealth and does not know that want will come upon him. (28:22)
X. Honest Living – Earn your money honestly! a. Dishonest money: Wealth obtained by fraud dwindles, but the one who gathers by labor increases it. (13:11) b. Dishonesty leads to poverty: He who oppresses the poor to make more for himself Or who gives to the rich, will only come to poverty. (22:16)
XI. Greed – Don’t be a miser! a. Family problems: He who profits illicitly troubles his own house, But he who hates bribes will live. (15:27)b. Prevailing Justice: He who increases his wealth by interest and usury gathers it for him who is gracious to the poor. (28:8)c. Asking God: Keep deception and lies far from me, Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion (30:8)
Posted by Joseph 