Personal Finance in the Bible: Proverbs 21:17

Corey —  September 28, 2010

Bible with Cross Shadow by knowhimonline on Flickr       Today’s Personal Finance Bible Scripture comes from Proverbs 21:17.

     17 Those who love pleasure become poor;
     those who love wine and luxury will never be rich.

Proverbs 21:17 (NLT)

       Think the Bible doesn’t have relevant financial advice? Consider that verse one more time. Personal finance experts generally agree that avoiding hard work and buying things you can’t really afford will never lead to financial success. (And by afford I mean that you can still cover all your necessary expenses and save for all of your goals after purchasing your luxury item.) Even though this little bit of wisdom seems like it should be common sense, God wanted to emphasize it in Proverbs as well. I’m guessing it must be pretty important! 😉

       It’s not that God doesn’t want us to have any enjoyment in this life. You really have to look closer at what that verse says. If you love pleasure and luxury, you’re probably not putting God first in your life. As I’ve discussed many times before, God wants your heart and if your heart belongs to something else then you can’t serve Him. It’s fine to enjoy the good things in life, but make sure you have a wise (God’s) definition of the “good” things in life and make sure you put God above all else. That’s the only way you can truly be rich.

Corey

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Corey is currently pursuing a Master of Arts degree in religion. While he enjoys learning and writing about Christianity, another one of his new passions is writing about personal finances in order to help others make wise decisions with their money.

2 responses to Personal Finance in the Bible: Proverbs 21:17

  1. That verse is pretty much the opposite of a tremendous amount of advertising, isn’t it? A lot of ads say, “Be rich by spending lots of money on luxuries.”

  2. It certainly is, Michael! But then again, most of the Bible is the opposite of what the world tells us!!!