 Character traits addressed in the book of Proverbs:  The Importance of Wisdom  The Fear of the Lord  The Purpose and Danger of Anger  Sex and Beauty  The Value and Danger of Money and Wealth The Value and Danger of Money and Wealth The Value and Danger of Money and Wealth  The Importance of Work  The Danger of Pride  The Importance of Self-Control  Mending Broken Relationships  Your Plans; God’s Plans  The Power of Our Words  Dealing With Prosperity and Adversity Dealing With Prosperity and Adversity Dealing With Prosperity and Adversity  The Marks of a True Friend

The Value and Danger of Money and Wealth Proverbs

 Because the Bible gives so many warnings about the dangers of money and wealth, you might be tempted to think that money and wealth are intrinsically bad.  But the Bible has many positive things to say about money and wealth.  The Bible describes wealth as a blessing from the Lord:  The blessing of the LORD brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it. (10:22 - NIV)

 Proverbs tells us that money and wealth are the normal reward for those who work hard and are diligent – whereas poverty is the usual consequence of laziness or chasing empty dreams:  Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth. (10:4 - NIV)  In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty. (14:23)  Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty. (28:19)  But we need to be careful not to over generalize – not all poverty is a result of laziness:  A poor man's field may produce abundant food, but injustice sweeps it away. (13:23 - NIV)

 Though wealth is generally viewed as a blessing in Proverbs, there are many dangers that come with wealth.  Money has the power to corrupt you and make you greedy, or hold onto that which you should have given to others:  Whoever is greedy for unjust gain troubles his own household, but he who hates bribes will live. (15:27)  One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered. (11:24-25).

 Money has the power to make you think too highly of yourself:  Wealth brings many new friends, but a poor man is deserted by his friend. (19:4)  A poor man pleads for mercy, but a rich man answers harshly. (18:23 - NIV)  Money has the power to give you a false sense of security.  Whoever trusts in his riches will fall... (11:28a)  A rich man's wealth is his strong city, and like a high wall in his imagination. (18:11)  Proverbs warns us that wealth will be of no use to us in the Day of Judgment:  Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death. (11:4)

 How does this apply to our kids?  Help your children find ways of earning money at an early age.  Shepherd your children into the joy of generosity.  Teach your children how to manage their money well at an early age.  Teach your children that having more than someone else doesn’t make you better than them and having less than someone else doesn’t make them better than you.  Conversely teach them not to envy or condemn those who are wealthy.

Dealing With Prosperity and Adversity Proverbs

 In a section of Proverbs written by Agur, he asks the Lord: Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise,  I may have too much and disown you and say, “Who is the LORD?”  Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God. (30:8b-9 NIV)  In making this request, Agur wisely recognizes that there are two kinds of situations that bring great spiritual danger into our life:  Abundance, Prosperity, and Success  Deprivation, Adversity, and Suffering

 In the New Testament, the apostle Paul says:  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. (Philippians 4:12 NIV)  So no matter who you are, even if you are as close to God as the apostle Paul, you will experience prosperity and adversity, success and suffering, everything going your way and nothing going your way.  Most of the time, we won’t experience a great deal of either. There’s a kind of balance going on – like what Agur requested.  But then we’ll have times of great success and times of great suffering. And those are the two great tests!

 The wages of the righteous bring them life, but the income of the wicked brings them punishment. (10:16 NIV)  When prosperity comes to the righteous, they use it for good and are blessed.  When prosperity comes to the wicked, they use it for evil and it confirms them in their wickedness.  When the storm has swept by, the wicked are gone, but the righteous stand firm forever. (10:25 NIV)  The storms of life will reveal who you really are:  The wicked, when faced with adversity, will become more fully entrenched in their wickedness and will ultimately be destroyed.  The righteous take suffering in stride and stand firm in their convictions.

 Keller makes the following observations about the two great tests:  There is nothing more spiritually dangerous than to be succeeding.  There is nothing more spiritually dangerous than to be suffering.  Because those two experiences bring out stuff in your heart that you didn’t know was there. There’s bad stuff in your heart that you don’t believe to be there, that you don’t expect to be there, you deny that it’s there. But those two situations bring them out.  And then you can either accept what you see, embrace what you see, build your life on this new insight, repent and change, transform your life and become wiser and wiser or you can deny it, you can repress it, you can blame it on other people and become more and more of a fool – but you will not stay where you were!

 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. (James 1:9-10)  James is telling you what you need to do in response to adversity on one hand or prosperity on the other:  You need to affirm yourself out of the spiritual danger of adversity with the gospel  You need to humble yourself out of the spiritual danger of success with the gospel  The gospel is that I am wicked and yet loved.  When I am in adversity I can remind myself of the affirmation of the gospel  When I succeed I can remind myself of the humility of the gospel

 How does this apply to our kids?  Be alert to those times when either everything is going your kid’s way or when they’re going through some tough times.  These kinds of times can bring previously hidden attitudes to the surface where you can help them identify and deal with them.