Wealth Without Work

An inheritance obtained early in life is not a blessing in the end. – Proverbs 20:21 (NLT)

Mohandas Karamachand Gandhi and Solomon ben David both agree. Wealth obtained without work is a curse, not a blessing. Gandhi listed what he termed the Seven Deadly Sins of society and put wealth without work at the top. Why? Why did Solomon, probably the richest man in the world in his day, and who inherited most of it from his father, King David, say that it was not a blessing in the end?

Ill-gotten gain has no lasting value, but right living can save your life. (Proverbs 10:2) If you have money, but no character, you are still going to be miserable. Character, which comes from right living, is its own reward.

The earnings of the godly enhance their lives, but evil people squander their money on sin. (Proverbs 10:16) If you have the requisite character to be able to handle wealth, it can do a tremendous amount of good. But all that power and influence in the hands of an overgrown narcissistic child is a disaster waiting to happen.

Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows. (Proverbs 13:11) Money gotten without work doesn’t teach you any skills. A person with skills will simply rebuild their fortune if it is lost. A person without skills who simply inherited their wealth are up a creek without a paddle if and when it disappears!

We need to value work for its own sake. Sniff with suspicion get-rich-quick schemes and lottery winnings. The devil’s best hooks are always baited well. Didn’t Jesus warn us that it is very difficult for rich people to enter the Kingdom? If that is the case, we should never make the multiplication of funds an end in itself. If we do what we love, are passionate about it and become skilled at it, others will pay us for that ability. And even if they don’t, and we die starving artists, we are at least artists.

I believe one of America’s greatest curses is its wealthy lifestyle. It has become so necessary to live a certain way that we are willing to borrow our lives away trying to keep up! I simply pray with Agur,

“O God, I beg two favors from you before I die. First, help me never to tell a lie. Second, give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, "Who is the LORD?" And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God's holy name. (Proverbs 30:7-9) May God preserve us from the deadly sin of wealth without work.