For those of you new to Free Money Finance, I post on The Bible and Money every Sunday. Here's why.
While reading a commentary recently on the book of Proverbs, I found this Sumerian proverb:
Build like a lord, live like a slave! Build like a slave, live like a lord!
The Bible says the same thing in Proverbs 21:20:
In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has.
In other words, wise, rich people are the ones that spend less than they earn. In contrast, foolish people spend more than they earn.
And even if someone earns a great amount, if they spend more than this each year, they're going backwards financially. Examples of this include Ed McMahon, Michael Jackson and Evander Holyfield.
Seems like common sense to me? Didn't we all learn this in fourth-grade math?
What about the widow who gave all she had? :)
Posted by: yipeng | June 30, 2008 at 10:04 AM
Yea, there is some real value in following the simplicity of this lesson. I don't know why so many people struggle with it - well, I guess I do - self-control... A character trait that is seen less and less these days...
Posted by: Christian Finances | July 03, 2008 at 09:49 AM
@yipeng: There's a big difference between wastefully spending all you have and generously giving all you have.
Posted by: Rich Schmidt | August 08, 2008 at 11:59 AM