As we move along in our series, in Proverbs 19, I find there are a couple of verses that allude to wealth and being poor. In Proverbs 19: 4 we read, “Wealth brings many friends, but a poor man’s friends desert him.”
Do our friends hang around us because they are sincere friends or are they fascinated by our status, position, and wealth?
A few verses later we see this, “A poor man is shunned by all his relatives–how much more do friends avoid him!” Proverbs 19: 7a
Let’s face it! People are drawn to wealth and money. I’ve heard stories of folks who lost their wealth, and then lost their friends and relatives because their economic status changed. So sad! This is why God tells us to choose our friends wisely.
The rest of Proverbs 19: 7b shows us what happens after he loses his wealth and is shunned. “Though he pursues them with pleading, they are nowhere to be found.”
It is so important to get wisdom! It makes us prosper.
“He who gets wisdom loves his own soul; he who cherishes understanding prospers.” Proverbs 19: 8
Wealth comes from the Lord. Everything we have is His.
When we know this as truth, it is easier to be generous and share with others in need.
Even if we have earned our money by working hard to achieve it, God has told us to, “…Remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth.” Deuteronomy 8:18 NIV
Wisdom produces more than what we ever thought it could produce.
“A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense.” Proverbs 19: 11
Women of God, use wisdom with your husbands. We are exhorted to not be argumentative. If we are contentious, we are being compared to be like a constant, nagging dripping of water. “…A quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping.” Proverbs 19: 13b
I had to chuckle as I read this remembering the annoyance I felt when I had a leaky, dripping faucet a couple of years ago. I played with the handle of that faucet trying to make an adjustment and stop the dripping.
It may be time for some of us to make an adjustment.
Ladies, if you want the garbage removed and taken out, make an adjustment in your approach and remain calm, even if it’s the tenth time you asked!
Then remind him of this: “Laziness brings on deep sleep, and the shiftless man goes hungry.” Proverbs 19: 15
If things don’t shift, he’ll quickly remember that you do the cooking when his stomach growls. “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”
It’s wise to use wisdom in all of our relationships.
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on My Beloved’s Voice
KINGDOM ASSURANCE
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