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Is Striving for Wealth a Valid Pursuit?
A reader named Tom posted a comment recently on The Millionaire Next Door review:
One other area that bothered me a little about the book…they never addressed WHAT all those millionaire wanted to do with all that money or WHY they tried to accumulate so much wealth… Of course, you could be a millionaire to buy more stuff, but is that really what motivates us? I just wish they had asked each millionaire they interviewed one more question…WHY they wanted to be wealthy?
This raised a number of questions, such as
- Do I think wealth is a worthwhile goal and, if so, why?
- Is it "ok" to become wealthy?
- What does the Bible say about attempting to build wealth?
I think for some people, the reasons for becoming wealthy are pretty straightforward – to have more money than other people, or to buy all the "toys" they’ve always wanted, or they think that having money will solve all their problems and provide happiness. In contrast, I think others are somewhat uneasy about building wealth and are not even sure if it is a valid goal.
I am going to pursue this topic from a heavily Biblical perspective. If you aren’t interested in hearing about the Bible, or you already know you want to become wealthy to buy lots of fun stuff, I’d kindly ask you to skim down to the last few paragraphs when I tie this all together and discuss some good ways to use the wealth you’ve built up.
God has created world and therefore owns everything in it (including money) and has put people in charge of managing all of His creation:
You [God] made him [people] ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet. Psalm 8:6
The wise person saves and invests carefully
There are numerous verses related to money in the Bible, here are a few that describe some of the basic personal finance topics that I often discuss:
In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has. Proverbs 21:20
The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty. Proverbs 21:5
As I interpret this, the first verse is telling us to save some of what we have – to spend less than we earn. The second verse is telling us to take a carefully planned approach to investing rather than rushing in and acting hastily. To sum these two verses up: save some of your money, skip the get-rich-quick schemes, and diligently invest.
Repeating this process naturally leads to wealth
If you save some money and steadily invest it, over a long period of time, this will most likely lead to wealth. I do think it is not a bad thing for a person, even a Christian, to become wealthy over time. In fact, you have to build up significant wealth to leave an inheritance that lasts long enough for your grandchildren to use it:
A good man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children, but a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous. Proverbs 13:22
The goal should NOT be to become very wealthy
Though I think it is acceptable to become wealthy as a natural consequence of fiscal responsibility, I do NOT believe that your desire should be to become very wealthy for wealth’s sake:
People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. 1 Timothy 6:9-10
Note also here that the "love of money" is the root of all kinds of evil – not money itself . Money can a great tool if wielded responsibly.
Use your wealth a tool
So, over the years you’ve saved and invested and now you’ve accumulated some wealth. There are a number of paths you could pursue with that money to help others. Remember,
In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ Acts 20:35
First, you could just give more of it away as you earn and save it. You will be able to care for more people along the way and you won’t end up with a great deal of wealth. In this manner, you don’t even have to consider whether or not it is a good thing to become wealthy.
Another option is to give some of it away to help others after you get to a certain point in life. When you get to the place where you know you won’t need all that you have saved up, start helping others with significant gifts. Remember, not everyone can be a missionary or a pastor; there must be others with the financial resources to support all those missionaries and pastors.
A third path is to use your wealth to reduce your daily work commitments. Think of the contributions you could make to society if you didn’t have to spend 8+ hours per day at work. This is the abundant life I touched on in yesterday’s post of the Personal Finance plan enhancements . You could live in a way that is fulfilling to you and useful to others in society. You could take a lower paying job or become a full-time volunteer – you’ve got so much more time and freedom to serve and help others with your life.
Caveat: You don’t have to have lots of money to serve others
Remember, there are two ways to accumulate enough wealth to free you from your current job. You can earn and save a lot of it or just learn to spend very little . If you don’t need much money to live, then you don’t need to accumulate very much of it. This is the point of being frugal that was espoused in Your Money or Your Life.
Your wealth can be a great benefit to others
In summary, accumulating wealth can occur as a natural consequence of responsible saving and investing. And this wealth can be given away to help others or can be used to enable you to give yourself away to help others. If you desire to become wealthy just to be wealthy and buy stuff or whatever, then I’m going to say that is probably not a great and noble pursuit. However, using your wealth as a tool to make this world a better place is quite noble indeed.
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