Riches, Wealth & Generosity

I actually enjoy being around people with money. It’s not that I’m jealous or envious (at times I must confess I struggle with that), but because they act different. When people have money they are treated like they are more special than people without money. While I enjoy being around people of wealth, I’ve learned that they have some of the same feelings and fears that I have. I have also learned that when I travel around the world even at my income level, I’m quite wealthy compared to some. There will always be a lot of people way wealthier than me and there will also always be people who have less than I have.

I see wealth and riches as way to glorify the Lord. I love being generous. I enjoy giving even more when it’s secretive and quiet. Those are times when the Lord is most pleased with me.

King Solomon was “filthy rich” – he was known for his wealth and his wisdom -that’s a pretty good combination. The Lord had richly blessed him. He built the temple, which took 7 years, and then he built his castle, which took 13 years. He was in construction for 20 years! He continued to amass great wealth even as he spent great wealth. He also finished what he started with the temple. Check this out…

51 When all the work King Solomon had done for the temple of the Lord was finished, he brought in the things his father David had dedicated—the silver and gold and the furnishings—and he placed them in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple. (1 Kings 7:51 NIV)

I’m actually waking up this morning in the lake home of a wealthy individual who is incredibly generous with what the Lord has blessed him and his family. I do believe that it is difficult for wealthy people to trust in the Lord instead of their money. The recession that we all lived through taught us that wealth could be fleeting. I want to earn more and more money, but I want to be careful that I follow the Lord fully and have a generous spirit as I continue to grow my wealth.

Another major thought about people who manage well and accumulate wealth is that they can live a life of significance and influence. They can dig a well in a community in Africa or Nicaragua and give clean water to a whole community of people. They can provide for a homeless family to get a fresh start. We are never more like God than when we give. He gave His Son. He came to us. God is proactively generous, loving and kind. Wealthy people who can immolate that are blessed beyond compare.

Pressing On!

Dwayne