Proverbs 13:11 ESV
Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.
[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+13%3A11&version=ESV]
Money made quick goes quick. It’s not a universal rule- this verse is descriptive, not prescriptive-, but the trend holds true. If I made money quickly, I’ll be more prone to spending it quickly, because I won’t have the habits of prudence, frugality, charity, and diligence to restrain me from self-indulgence. Conversely, if I’ve earned that money through hard work, if I’ve taken the time to build those habits, then my spending will be guided by wisdom and self-control (Proverbs 25:28).
People act the way they’ve acted before. We have a normal way of acting, of thinking, of speaking, and we almost never change any large part of that overnight. Over the course of months or years, perhaps, you may change your behavior, thought, and diction to something almost unrecognizable, but the change happens slowly. Day after day small changes accumulate, a different word here, a restrained frown there, a new gesture perhaps. Thus, over time a person metamorphizes. For the Christian, this metamorphosis is sanctification, the grace of God at work in the justified man to bring him ever closer to perfection (Romans 6:19,22).
The power of habitual actions and modes of thought has another result: human can be judged by their past behavior (Matthew 7:16). They can not only be judged but predicted (Titus 1:5-9). If Fred across the street has checked with you every time you dropped a twenty-dollar bill on his driveway (an inexplicably common occurrence, I assume) in order to make sure you don’t lose it, you can be fairly certain he’ll be honest with you in future, especially in regards to twenty dollar bills. If, on the other hand, you’re dealing with me, a known reprobate who regularly steals your tulips, you aren’t going to be particularly trusting of my honesty. After all, an honest man then and now will probably (hopefully) be an honest man in the future; a thief then and now will probably be a thief in future. At any rate, you aren’t likely to trust him not to be a thief (particularly with how risk-averse humans are).
What does all this have to do with quick money going quick?
People who build up their wealth little by little build up habits of hard work and pecuniary care. People who get their money all of a sudden don’t tend to have those habits. If they were pursuing such windfalls as their primary strategy, they have likely even cultivated the opposite of these good habits. And what does somebody with no habit of foresight do with a whole lot of money? Spend it, lose it, waste it, get into dangerous and expensive habits…. The possibilities are not good.
What does this mean for us?
It means that we shouldn’t be frustrated or angry that we’re not getting rich quick. We should actually thank God for His mercy, that He grants us the wisdom of experience. After all, was it not wisdom Solomon asked for in 1 Kings 3:1-15? Surely wisdom must therefore exceed the wealth which followed it. Wisdom is, after all, an eternal treasure from God (Proverbs 2, 2:1-4). Truly His mercy is great and His love everlasting (Psalms 136).
God bless.
Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.
