People earn their money through many different ways. But those who earn them as honestly and as respectably, are the very ones who should serve as good examples for us.
For the Bible says, we should "Walk with the wise to
become wise..." (Proverbs 13:20).
What Can We Do With Our Money?
According to the Bible there are things we can do with money that are fine, good and proper:
1.
Help & Support the Church to spread God's Kingdom - This is on the top list. Give your share to the church to send
missionaries, train teachers and oversee the work of the church.
(Malachi
3:7-12, 1 Corinthians 9:13-14, 2 Corinthians 9:7).
2.
Provide
for our own families. The Bible says that we can help other families but each person should make sure that
he/she provides for his/her immediate family first and work outward from
there (1 Timothy 5:8, Proverbs 13:22).
3.
Help the poor & needy. There is an old saying that goes,
"Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you
feed him for a lifetime." The
challenge is to determine which would be best to give: money, training or, if
the person is lazy, to allow that person to experience hunger so that
they'll appreciate the value of work. Sometimes that is also being
"kind" as Proverbs 19:17 says to be to the poor (Proverbs 19:17, 21:13,
29:7). Either way, the Bible tells us to help the poor.
4.
Invest
for our future. As we are
earning, we should be planning for a day that will probably come when we
aren't able to work as hard or as long. We should plan and save for the future (Proverbs
13:22, 21:20, 27:18, 31:25, Ecclesiastes 11:2, Luke 19:12-26).
5.
Enjoy the fruits of our labor. The Bible
says there is a time to "laugh" to "dance" and to have "peace"
(Ecclesiastes 3:1-8; also see Proverbs 13:25, 14:24, 15:6, 31:31).