Personal Finance in the Bible: Ecclesiastes 5:10-11

Bible with Cross Shadow by knowhimonline on Flickr Today’s Personal Finance Bible Scripture comes from Ecclesiastes 5:10-11. Solomon has a lot of great advice for us in Ecclesiastes. His simple observations go right to the heart of the matter and still ring very true today.

¹⁰ Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless. ¹¹ As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owner except to feast his eyes on them?

Ecclesiastes 5:10-11 (NIV)

Solomon wisely observes that the greedy can never have enough. But what is the point of greed? What good does it do us to have more and more? The second verse gives us Solomon’s insight into the folly of greed. Having and eating lots of food only makes you fat. And what good does it do to have all kinds of possessions? Do you want to be wealthy just so you can sit around and look at your stuff all the time?

How often do we think to ourselves “If I only had some more money in the bank…” or “If I could just get a raise and make more money…”? Solomon is cautioning us against the love of money. More money and more possessions aren’t really going to give us meaning in life. Only when we accept Jesus and give up our lives to Him can we experience any true and lasting meaning in this life. All the things The World can offer us are truly meaningless – they won’t matter at all once we’re dead!

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Paul Williams is a fee-only financial planner in Lancaster County, PA. He has a passion for teaching others about personal finance - especially from a Christian perspective. If you'd like to learn about his financial planning and tax preparation services, click here.

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3 Responses to “Personal Finance in the Bible: Ecclesiastes 5:10-11”

Khaleef @ KNS Financial Says:
August 20th, 2010 at 2:17 PM
These are great verses – especially for those of us who focus on and write about money! We have to be careful not to become greedy – even when we try to justify our greed by claiming to want to give more.

Don’t get me wrong, giving should be one of the main reasons why we want to obtain more money and get out of debt! However, many times we can be greedy (just wanting MORE), and then try to convince ourselves and others that our motives are pure.

Thank you for the reminder and challenge!
Khaleef @ KNS Financial´s last blog ..Thoughts About Marriage on Our Anniversary

[Reply]
Paul Williams Reply:
August 20th, 2010 at 3:26 PM

Thanks for your comments, Khaleef! I agree that it’s dangerous to assume we’ll act according to God’s will if we get more money. It’s natural for us to try to disguise our desire for more with generosity and then become selfish when we achieve the goal. The key is to be sure we’re loving God and not money.

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