We’re in the series, “THE SEARCH, Solomon’s Secrets to a Happy & Successful Life.” We’re ruminating on the topics that Solomon covers in the wisdom given by God.
One big topic, not only in Proverbs, but also in the entire Bible, is money.
It stands to reason that the Bible talks a lot about money since our lives intersect with the subject all the time and since God is interested in us succeeding in handling money just as He desires our success in every area of life.
We’re going to approach this topic by uncovering…
THE 7 BIGGEST MONEY MISTAKES
When we correct these errors that the Bible reveals, then we will experience greater financial breakthroughs. Our lives will bring more honor to God and we’ll be happier.
The first big money mistake spoken of in Proverbs is…
1) MEASURING SELF-WORTH BY NET WORTH
"Rich people may think they are wise, but a poor person with discernment can see right through them." Proverbs 28:11 (NLT)
If God blesses us with wealth, that doesn’t necessarily mean we’re smarter than others who don’t have wealth are. Many people without money are very wise. Jesus owned very little while on earth and He was the wisest man to ever live. Life is like playing Monopoly. Doesn’t matter what property you owned, after its over, it’s all going back in the box.
Having a lot of money can inflate our ego but God never intended for us to use money as a measurement of how important we are. Each and every human being is eternally valuable because they are created in God’s image and He loves every one of us so much that He sent Jesus to suffer and die on the cross, shedding His blood for our sins. When you want to know how truly valuable you are don’t look to your checkbook balance – look to the cross!
The Word of God goes on to say…
"Those who trust in riches will be ruined, but a good person will be healthy like a green leaf." Proverbs 11:28 (NCV)
Circle those two words “good person” in that verse. Our emphasis in life should be on being a “good person,” not necessarily on being a “rich person.” If we trust in our money it will ruin us. Money will become our god because who or what you trust in is what you worship. Money is a tool to be used; not something that should be worshipped or worried about.
Another money mistake identified in the Book of Proverbs:
2) INVESTING IN “GET-RICH-QUICK” SCHEMES OVER PLANNING & HARD WORK
"The plans of hard-working people earn a profit, but those who act too quickly become poor." Proverbs 21:5 (NCV)
One of the biggest pipedreams in the world is that we can earn a profit by investing in little planning and doing little work. This mistake has a special appeal to the laziness of our fallen nature. That’s why “get-rich-quick” schemes are so inviting AND WHY the Bible warns of staying away from them.
Wouldn’t all of us love to believe those late-night infomercials that show people riding on a golf cart saying, “I made $100,000 last month and only worked five hours and you can too!?” Of course they made that money. They had their infomercial on one hour per night for five nights and waited for naïve people to send in their money for their product that would further advance the pyramid scheme.
Don’t whittle away what God has given you by falling for get-rich-quick schemes. Instead, keep working hard and slowly building wealth. GOD’S WISDOM IS, PLAN WELL, WORK HARD, & BUILD WEALTH SLOWLY.
"Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows over time." Proverbs 13:11 (NLT)
Studies have revealed that the average lottery or sweepstakes winner is flat broke one to three years after their windfall. Why? Because they didn’t work hard for that money and consequently they took it for granted.
We need to heed the wisdom of God’s Word.
"The trustworthy person will get a rich reward, but a person who wants quick riches will get into trouble. Greedy people try to get rich quick but don’t realize they’re headed for poverty."
Proverbs 28:20 & 22 (NLT)
Profit, the Bible says, comes from good planning and hard work. You can’t beat that formula for success. These verses let us know that things like playing the lottery and other forms of gambling to get rich quick are not wise. For one winner out of 50 million people in a lottery there are 49,999 losers. Think of the billions of dollars that could have been invested in plans that actually brought a return back to people had they not fallen victim to the lure of taking a hasty shortcut.
Plan carefully and work hard. Don’t just sit around and talk about earning money, or hoping for your ship to come in - we need to get to work!
"Work brings profit, but mere talk leads to poverty!" Proverbs 14:23 (NLT)
The third big money mistake we have to watch out for is…
3) WASTEFUL SPENDING
Sooner or later we need to spend our money. That’s why God helps us earn it. But we need to spend our money wisely. There needs to be some kind of a plan, some thinking behind our spending. The Bible says…
"The wise have wealth and luxury, but fools spend whatever they get." Proverbs 21:20 (NLT)
Look at this same verse in another translation.
"Wise people’s houses are full of the best foods and olive oil, but fools waste everything they have." Proverbs 21:20 (NCV)
Every year congressional watchdog groups publish their findings of how our tax money has been wasted on foolish pork barrel spending and we all deservedly heave a collective groan over two hundred thousand dollars spent for a Lobster Institute in Maine or two million allocated to build a bridge to nowhere in Alaska.
We need to put a watchdog on our own spending. We need to ask ourselves if we’re being good stewards of the money God has put us in charge of. It’s okay to spend money on things you want and not just things you need. But obviously we ought to spend and save for the things we need first before spending on things we just want. Putting the brakes on wasteful spending will improve the state of our financial affairs.
The fourth money mistake to avoid if we want to be successful financially:
4) CUTTING ETHICAL CORNERS
I’m basically going to read the Scriptures on this point and try not to make very many of my own comments.
"The wicked man earns deceitful wages, but he who sows righteousness (moral and spiritual rectitude in every area and relation) shall have a sure reward [permanent and satisfying]." Proverbs 11:18 (Amp)
"God hates cheating in the marketplace; rigged scales are an outrage." Proverbs 20:23 (Msg)
"The buyer haggles over the price, saying, “It’s worthless,” then brags about getting a bargain!" Proverbs 20:14 (NLT)
"Better to have little, with godliness, than to be rich and dishonest." Proverbs 16:8 (NLT)
"The godly are directed by honesty…" Proverbs 11:5 (NLT)
"A good reputation and respect are worth much more than silver and gold." Proverbs 22:1 (CEV)
A fifth money mistake…
5) WORKAHOLISM
"Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich. Be wise enough to know when to quit." Proverbs 23:4 (NLT)
Yes the Bible tells us to work hard – but not to overwork – especially if you’re wearing yourself out trying to get rich.
How do we know when we’re wearing ourselves out trying to get rich? When you don’t have time for God or time for your family, or when you’re ruining your health, you need to slow down and “be wise enough to know when to quit.”
Our culture may applaud workaholics but God doesn’t!
Speaking of the Lord, there’s one very big money mistake people make all the time in reference to Him.
6) FAILURE TO HONOR GOD BY GIVING MONEY TO HIS WORK
"Honor the LORD by giving him the first part of all your income." Proverbs 3:9 (LB)
When Solomon wrote these words, God commanded believers that had a flock of sheep to give the first lamb born in a new birthing season to God’s work. If they had a field, the first bushel of the harvest was brought to God’s house. This was the law of the “firstfruits.”
We may object that this was the legal system of the Old Testament and we are not bound by it. Which is true. They were children and we’re adults when it comes to understanding God’s truth. They lived under the law and we live under grace. We should be able to give more than they gave. We should have a greater ability to trust God with our money than they had.
And when we honor God by giving Him the first part of our income as Proverbs 3:9 says, the next verse adds:
"Then your barns will be full, and your wine barrels will overflow with new wine." Proverbs 3:10 (NCV)
Is this promise still in effect today? Once again, we should view it through the lens of the New Covenant. We are more aware of the value of spiritual blessings than Old Testament believers were. God dealt with the Old Testament believers as children and He deals with us as people with more spiritual maturity.
Children are more enamored with trinkets, adults know the real value of things is not just monetary. We know that spiritual things are more valuable than material. Honoring God with the first part of your income will produce spiritual growth. Our “barns” & “barrels” will be full of spiritual blessings!
That’s why Jesus told us to lay up treasures for ourselves in heaven where moths don’t eat them like they do on earth.
One woman attended a capital fund raising banquet at her church to raise money for a new building and the pastor used this teaching of Jesus about laying up treasures in heaven instead of letting them be moth-eaten on earth and she pledged an amount she knew was less than she could afford to give. As she arrived at her house after the banquet – she lived right across the street from her church – she opened her change purse to get out the key to her house and a moth flew out! She immediately went back across the street to the church and tripled her pledge. (From Sermon Central)
The promise that God is going to bless us in response to our honoring Him with the first part of our income is still true, but we have a greater, a more mature and a more eternal view of what’s important.
Christ followers have said to me: “I tried tithing and even giving offerings above my tithe and this promise didn’t work for me. My barns aren’t full and my barrels aren’t overflowing with new wine. I’ve been giving and I haven’t been getting.”
First of all, if our motive for giving is to get, we are immature in our spiritual thinking. We give as an act of worship because we love God and want His work to progress. We don’t use a downturn in the economy or the high cost of gasoline as an excuse to not give God our firstfruits.
But if we’re giving and we’re not making financial progress we may need to ask ourselves a vital question. How about the other financial mistakes the Word of God warns us against? It’s good that we’re tithing, but are we still making the mistake of:
1) Measuring our self-worth by our net worth? Is it possible that we can’t get ahead financially until we get it straight on what’s really important?
2) Investing in get-rich-quick schemes over planning and hard work? Have we been dreaming and scheming but not planning and working?
3) Are we still spending wastefully? God has given us great resources but have we been whittling them away? Then we wonder why we don’t have enough money for necessities because we already wasted it on non-essentials?
4) Have we been cutting ethical corners? Are we expecting God to bless us because you tithe but we neglect His ethical standards?
5) Are we guilty of being a workaholic? Do we have time for our daily walk with God? Have we rationalized that if we work more we’ll have more money to tithe, but have we forgotten that God really doesn’t want our money as much as He wants us!
6) Are we honoring God by giving to His work – and doing it with the proper motivations?
Failing these tests may be the cause of our money problems.
The last money mistake:
7) BEING GREEDY INSTEAD OF GENEROUS TO THE POOR
Once again, I’m not going to comment very much. I just want you to see some of the interesting things God has to say in the book of Proverbs on this topic.
"Greed causes fighting; trusting the Lord leads to prosperity." Proverbs 28:25 (NLT)
"Some people are always greedy for more, but the godly love to give!" Proverbs 21:26 (NLT)
"If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord—and he will repay you!" Proverbs 19:17 (NLT)
"Blessed are those who are generous, because they feed the poor." Proverbs 22:9 (NLT)
"Whoever gives to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to poverty will be cursed." Proverbs 28:27 (NLT)
"Those who shut their ears to the cries of the poor will be ignored in their own time of need." Proverbs 21:13 (NLT)
"The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed." Proverbs 11:25 (NLT)
Those Scriptures say a lot to us about GOD’S priorities. Are they OUR priorities? Do we make a big deal in our lives about being generous to the poor? It’s a big mistake not to.
