Avoid Suffering

In Proverbs 11:15, we’re told to be wary of lending money and cutting deals with strangers.

Good advice!

Lie and Die

The story of Ananias and Sapphira, in verses 1-11, is shocking and disturbing.

They sell some property and conspire to keep a portion of the profits for themselves.

They lie about the purchase price and are struck dead.

Peter asks, ”Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal?”

It’s better to be honest and keep your stuff than to sugar-coat your generosity and pretend you’re better than you really are.

Warn the Rich!

Image by alles-schlumpf via Flickr

Paul tells Timothy to remind rich people to trust in God, not their wealth.

God is a sure thing. Wealth is temporary and fleeting. The current economic crisis is an obvious application of this teaching.

Doing good deeds with our wealth will result in lasting rewards.

I sometimes forget that I’m wealthy. It’s easy to compare myself to people with more money. But relatively speaking, my family is incredibly wealthy!

Living Wage

Image by DavidDMuir via Flickr

According to Paul, serving God should not be equivalent to working for free.

Do workers in other industries have a right to quote verses 17-18 as evidence that they’re entitled to higher pay? I’m not sure.