What the Bible Says about Your Career

For those of you new to Free Money Finance, I post on The Bible and Money every Sunday. Here's why.

As regular readers know, I talk often about your career being your most valuable financial asset. I've also discussed the fact that the Bible lists growing your career as one of the seven pillars of financial success. So today I'm going to expand on that a bit by listing several verses that talk about the importance of a good career and the benefits of working hard. Here goes:

Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve before kings; he will not serve before obscure men. Proverbs 22:29

Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free. Eph. 6:7-8

For even when we were with you, this we commanded you: that if any would not work, neither should he eat. 2 Thessalonians 3:10 

Laziness leads to poverty; hard work makes you rich. Proverbs 10:4

No matter how much you want, laziness won't help a bit, but hard work will reward you with more than enough. Proverbs 13:4

He who works his land will have abundant food, but he who chases fantasies lacks judgment. Proverbs 12:11

Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, buy hasty shortcuts lead to poverty. Proverbs 21:5

Any of these ring especially true for you? I gravitate most to the first one and the last one. The first says that if you work to develop your skills (through education, experience, hard work, etc.), you will be successful. The latter says there are no shortcuts. This applies to both your career and personal finances in general. If you plan well and work hard, in most cases you will be very successful over time (not immediately).

So, what's your take on the thoughts above?

Comments

[Mike]

FMF, I'd love to hear a bit about which version of the Bible you use and why, particularly if you think there is a most accurate version.

I generally read the King James Version. Most of the the verses you post here I recognize as familiar verses, just with modern English language but I drew a blank with Proverbs 13:4 and had to look it up.

Your version:
"No matter how much you want, laziness won't help a bit, but hard work will reward you with more than enough."

KJV:
"The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat."

While the version you posted does sound more relevant to financial matters, do you think anything is lost in the simplification?

For what it's worth, I read the KJV because I think it's the English version most similar to the original, however I know that unless I learn Hebrew and Greek I'm not going to get the original versions -- and even the versions in the original languages don't always agree on the same wording.

[FMF]

Mike --

I use the NIV and the NLT bibles. I think they are clearer and have the most up to date scholarly translations (NIV just went through another round recently.) I know this is a topic that can be debated on and on, but there's no debate that people can understand these much better than the KJ version -- and how can anyone learn anything from the Bible if they can't understand it? ;-)

The question if "anything is lost in the simplification", makes one HUGE assumption -- that the KJ version is the best translation to begin with. I don't believe it is, so therefore, I don't think anything is lost. In fact, I think it's made clearer and is probably more accurate compared to the original language and today's use of English. Again, I know that people debate this issue almost without end and I don't mean to start that debate here. But since you asked, I answered. ;-)

[texashaze]

@Mike - I'm no bible scholar but all the recommendations I've read consistently say that the King James version is the least accurate of all the translations. They also consistently say the NASB is the most accurate to the ancient texts followed closely by the NIV. The difference between the NASB and NIV is that the NASB has the word in the spot the ancient text had it while the NIV may move a word in another spot to help it read/sound smoother while retaining the original meaning. Personally I use the NIV and like FMF I also like the NLT.

[StLpastor]

Since I spent a lot of time studying Hebrew back in the day, a few comments-
First, you have to decide what 'translation' means.
In this case, for example, the KJ is a precise translation-the Hebrew, edited for Grammar says 'craving/desiring/lusting, the lazy/sluggard/slacker soul gets nothing. But the soul of the Hard worker will be made fat"
but a precise translation is not necessarily the best-I could translate "I get up so as to laugh at danger and dance with death and to fill up my senses" literally into a foreign language, but there would be ways of translating the text which would more accurately communicate my meaning.
NIV frequently translates Hebrew idiom into a parallel English idiom, when KJ will just let you figure out what it mean.
Also, KJV has some significant problems in terms of not having the best sources that have been discovered in the last couple centuries, and translating things to the benefit of the divine authority of kings (James, just for a funny example, is spelled J-A-C-O-B in Hebrew), and of course using archaic language. At least use New King James.
I like NASB as well.

[Georgia]

When I was in my teens (1950's) I would go to a 3/4 blind neighbor several times a week and read to her from the Bible. One night her pastor came in and condemned me to H3ll. The reason? I was reading to her from the RSV of the Bible which had just recently come out. I asked my pastor about it. He informed me that the KJB had been revised many times and ask the woman's pastor if he could read the original version. Think Old English such as Chaucer. Also, many people do not realize that it was authorized by King James, not God, and KJ was a wicked old man. But just as with Joseph, God meant it for good and we've been blessed by it.

I have come to a much simpler explanation for the good of the modern translations - God always speaks to us in our language and we speak to Him in the same language. This is the same worldwide - no matter what language you speak. What good would any of our versions do for the people for whom English is not even a 2nd or 3rd language? Does that mean God doesn't love them and their translations are no good? No way. He loves us all.

I now use the NIV and it may have been revised since mine, which was copyrighted in 1987.

[Rod]

For those of you who are discussing this you will all find this website very interesting. Mike, If you actually go back there were other versions that were both more accurate and older than the KJ. This is definately worth the read.
http://www.greatsite.com/timeline-english-bible-history

[Rod]

But, now getting back to our regularly scheduled blog.
#1 speaks to me the most I think.
#2 I try to do this but quite often I end up serving myself. I have been better lately at giving credit where credit is due though. I seriously could not get the job I have nor do the work I do without God guiding my steps.
#3 Yes for others but not for me??? I still want to eat. But if we actually as a society actually did this one. Would we need the services our government provides? hmmm

#4+ not really ones that I dwell on all that much.

[jeffrey@moneychoices]

This is a fascinating post with some well-chosen quotations. It's a compelling thought that a spiritual manual written so long ago might still have relevance in our modern age of commerce. After reviewing the proverbs, though, I feel that their power of guidance is as strong today as it was back then. Hard-work, thriftiness, and motivation will never go out of fashion.