Two Pitfalls of Money, and How the Gospel Frees You From Both
By Michael Kelley
Proverbs is a book of wisdom. It’s meant to teach us how life is meant to be lived. With the foundation of the fear of the Lord, Proverbs walks through all different arenas of life offering wisdom as it relates to each one.
It shouldn’t be a surprise, then, that Proverbs can teach us about how to handle money wisely. Now there is good news, and there is bad news in that regard. The bad news is that Proverbs is not going to tell you what car to buy or give you a trick to becoming more financially stable. The good news is that Proverbs will give you an overall operating system by which you should approach your finances. And that overall operating system can be summarized like this:
Faith should be the primary force behind your finances.
Proverbs 3:5-6 articulates that principle broadly:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight (Prov. 3:5-6).
But then the chapter continues and gives one specific application of how we should be trusting in the Lord with all our hearts. That specific application is financial:
Honor the Lord with your possessions and with the first produce of your entire harvest; then your barns will be completely filled, and your vats will overflow with new wine (Prov. 3:9-10).
But then Proverbs continues on to show us what happens when faith isn’t the primary force behind your finances. It describes two actions we take when our finances are not driven by faith. The first action is that of taking on great debt:
The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is a slave to the lender (Proverbs 22:7).
When you take on debt, you are sacrificing your future freedom because you have to work to satisfy the loan first. Some people take this very far and argue that, for example, taking on debt in the form of a mortgage for a home is wrong. And while you do sacrifice a measure of freedom in doing that, what Proverbs is warning against is the taking on of financial debt that is unmanageable and is done because you wanted to have something that you didn’t in reality have enough money to pay for.
On one side you have debt, which is buying things that you cannot really afford. But Proverbs also warns us against the other extreme:
People will curse anyone who hoards grain, but a blessing will come to the one who sells it (Proverbs 11:26).
Here is another warning for the opposite action - never releasing any money. Hoarding it for yourself. And though these two actions are opposite from one another, they both originate from a lack of faith.
Debt comes from a lack of faith in believing that God has given you the right amount at a given time, and choosing instead to make a poor choice to go and get more things than you can afford. And hoarding comes from a lack of faith in believing that your future finances can be trusted with God, and therefore you don’t have to live so tightly.
The better way - the wise way - the way of Proverbs - is for faith to be the driving force behind the way in which we approach our finances. And the gospel can help us do just that by freeing us from both the pitfall of debt and the pitfall of hoarding. Think about it: Why do we take on foolish debt? Because we are searching for identity, comfort, or status. But when the Gospel tells you that you are already a fully loved, chosen child of the King, you don't need to borrow from your future to buy an identity today. You are already rich in Christ.
And why do we hoard? Because we are terrified of the unknown. We think we are the ultimate providers. But when the Gospel reminds you that you aren’t the provider - God is. And He has already provided the most basic and greatest thing you will ever need through the life of His Son.
Michael Kelley is a husband, father of three, author, and speaker from Nashville, TN. His latest book is a year-long family devotional guide called The Whole Story for the Whole Family. Find his personal blog at michaelkelley.co.
