The issue of money and lifestyle is not a side issue in the Bible. The credibility of Christ in the world hangs on it. “Fifteen percent of everything Christ said relates to this topic – more than his teachings on heaven and hell combined.” Listen to this refrain that runs through all his teachings:
- “One thing you lack: go sell everything you have and give to the poor, and then you will have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me.” (Mark 10:21)
- “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God… But woe to who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.” (Luke 6:20, 24)
- “Those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.” (Luke 14:33)
- “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” (Luke 18:25)
- “Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” (Luke 12:15)
- “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)
- “Sell your possession and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted.” (Luke 12:33)
- “Zacchaeus… said to the Lord, ‘Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor’… And Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house.’ (Luke 19:8-9)
- “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went out and sold all he had and bought that field.” (Matthew 13:44)
- “[Jesus] saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. ‘I tell you the truth,’ he said, ‘this poor widow has put in more than all the others.” Luke 21:2-3
- “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself and is not rich towards God.” (Luke 12:20-21)
Source: John Piper, Don’t Waste Your Life, p.109-110
Canny investors watch the tide, not the waves.
“The measure of our wealth is how much we would be worth if we lost all our money.”
John Henry Jowett
Three ‘rich’ quotes from businessman, investor and multi-millionaire, Robert T. Kiyosaki (author of the bestseller, ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad’)
- Rich people don’t work for money; they make money!
- There is a difference between being poor and being broke. Broke is temporary, poor is eternal.
- An asset is something that puts money in your pocket. A liability is something that takes money out of your pocket. This is really all you need to know. If you want to be rich, simply spend your life buying assets. If you want to be poor or middle-class, spend your life buying liabilities.
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Money can buy you a house but it can’t buy you a home.
Money can buy you a bed but it can’t buy you sleep.
Money can buy you companionship but it can’t buy you friendship.
Money can but you medicine but it can’t buy you good health.
Money can buy you a holiday but it can’t buy you rest.
Money can buy you investments but it can’t buy you peace of mind.
Money can buy you a pension but it can’t buy you a happy retirement.
Money can buy you food but it can’t buy you an appetite.
Money can buy you entertainment but it can’t buy you happiness.
Money can buy you lots of things but it can’t buy you love or self-worth.
Today’s culture seems all about… “buying things you do not need with money you do not have to impress people you do not like.”
R. Kent Hughes
“There is always death and taxes; however death doesn’t get worse every year.” – Anon.
“Make all you can. Save all you can. Give all you can.”
John Wesley (1703-1791), English preacher and founder of Methodist Church
The rich young ruler wasn’t lost because he had money; he was lost because money had him. (See Luke 18:22-23.)
“Money is a wonderful servant but a terrible master. If it gets on top and you get under it, you will become its slave.”
E. Stanley Jones, author and speaker
“Contentment makes poor men rich; discontentment makes rich men poor.”
Benjamin Franklin
The truth is we’re already rich. No matter where you stand on the economy, we live in the richest time of the richest nation in history. (…) For example, in our Western culture today, we observe a five-day workweek. Think about what that means. Most people have to work only five days in order to have seven days’ worth of food and shelter and clothing and health care. We take it for granted. But that’s unique to our little window of history. And it’s still not the case everywhere. What’s more, there are households of three, four or more people that send only one person into the workplace to earn money. And with that one person’s earnings, the entire family can amass enough money in five days to give them food and shelter for seven days. Outside of work, that leaves at least fifty hours per week for nothing but leisure. Most people in the world can only imagine such luxuries. (…) [Do you ever get] bad cell phone coverage? That’s a rich-people problem. Can’t decide where to go on vacation? Rich-people problem. Computer crashed? Slow internet? Car trouble? Flight delays? Amazon doesn’t have your size? All rich-people problems. Next time there is a watering ban in your neighbourhood, just remember that many people, mostly women, carry jugs on their heads for hundreds of [metres] just so they can have water for cooking and drinking. They can’t imagine a place where there’s so much extra water that house after house just sprays it all over the ground [watering the grass]. Feeling guilty? I hope not. That’s not my purpose. On the contrary (…) guilt rarely results in positive behaviour. But gratitude? Great things flow from a heart of gratitude.
Andy Stanley
Source: Andy Stanley, How To Be Rich, 2013, Grand Rapids Michigan: Zondervan, p.28-30
“Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income.” – Solomon, King of Israel, Ecclesiastes 5:10. NIV
Jesus said: “Guard yourself against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
Luke 12:15 NIV1984 Edition
“There is nothing wrong with men possessing riches. The wrong comes when riches possess men.”
Billy Graham
In the Bible there are around 2300 references to money, wealth and possessions. It is obvious, then, that someone thought the subject and our attitude towards it, very important!
Net worth does not bring self-worth!
But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth.
Deuteronomy 8:18 NIV
“Money is like an arm or a leg – use it or lose it!”
Henry Ford (1863-1947), founder of the Ford Motor Company
“Money is another pair of hands to heal, feed and bless the desperate families of the earth. In other words, money is my other self.”
Bruce Larsen
Money is like manure: if you let it pile up it stinks, if you spread it around it helps things grow!
When someone says, ‘It’s not the money it’s the principle; it’s the money!
RT Kendall
“Nowadays people can be divided into three classes: the ‘Haves’, the ‘Have-Nots’, and the ‘Have-Not-Paid-For-What-They-Haves.”
Earl Wilson, US baseball star
The literary classic, ‘David Copperfield’ was written by Charles Dickens in 1849-50. One of the main characters in the book, Mr. Micawber, gives this timeless advice concerning money: “Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pounds nineteen and sixpence, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds nought and six, result misery.”
“No one would remember the Good Samaritan if he’d only had good intentions. He had money as well.”
Margaret Thatcher
“Don’t just make money, make an impact. Significance should be your goal, not survival.”
Bob Gass
Bob Gass, The UCB Word For Today, 17/7/2002
It’s relatively easy to make a living. It’s a lot harder to make a difference.
“Nothing hurts more than having to pay income tax, unless it’s not having any income to pay tax on!”
J. B. Colbert
“If a person has earned money without helping people, his money will not buy him happiness.”
Tim LaHaye, author
Dishonest money dwindles away, but whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow.
Proverbs 13:11 NIV
An inheritance quickly gained at the beginning will not be blessed at the end.
Proverbs 20:21 NIV1984
A fortune made by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapour and a deadly snare.
Proverbs 21:6 NIV1984
“Money isn’t everything but it ranks right up there with oxygen.”
Zig Ziglar
“Money is important, just as important as blood, but we make blood to live; we don’t live to make blood.” – Fred Smith, US businessman, speaker and author
Riches are found in contentment but contentment is not found in riches.
“A rich person is not the one who has the most but the one who needs the least.” – Anon.
“Success often costs more than its worth.”
attributed to E. Wigglesworth
“Economic disaster begins with a philosophy of doing less and wanting more.”
Jim Rohn
“A full vault is poor compensation for an empty life.”
Nido Quebin (motivational speaker, writer, businessman)
“Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint.”
Solomon, King of Israel – 10th century B.C. (Proverbs 23:4 NIV1984.)
If anyone promises you pie in the sky you can be sure they are after using your dough!
