Truth is Truth

 

1 Timothy 6:17-21

What I learned in Sunday school and from my parents at home as a child, is that truth is truth and a promise from God is a promise that will be kept.  What is so amazing is that I believed and acted on these truths while I was an unbeliever, before I bowed my knee to the authority of Jesus Christ and by faith ask Him into my heart and life.  These truths hinge on what God’s word says about how a man should handle money, and credit, and lending of money.

As a very young child my brother and I would clean flower beds and cut grass to earn spending money, and we were taught that ten percent of what we earned was to be given to God, because He had blessed us with the opportunity and the ability to earn the money, and we were also taught to do it with a willing spirit, so that it would be acceptable to our Father in heaven.  Mother would often talk to us about being cheerful givers, and would read 2 Corinthians 9:7. We were also taught that if we borrowed a tool from dad or a neighbor and if it was lost or miss-placed, it was our responsibility to do one of two things, replace it or search till we found it and returned it in good working order.  I believe that teaching came from the book of Exodus 22:14, “If a man borrows anything of his neighbor, and it is injured or dies, the owner not being with it, he shall make full restitution.”  I also remember this verse from Psalms 37:21, “The wicked borrows but does not pay back, but the righteous is generous and gives.” 

I also learned about lending, but for many years we had little in the way of money and I was in my forties before God required of me to trust the promises that I learned as a child in Sunday school and at home.  Promises like these; “Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely, who conducts his affairs with justice.”  (Psalms 112:5)  I was also taught in Sunday school that when you lend, do not expect to get anything back, and to never lend expecting or as a condition of the loan interest in return.  In no way is this referring to a business deal; it is a loan to a friend, enemy, or even neighbor.  Jesus spoke to this subject in Matthew 5:42.

In fact, what I learned from Mother and Dad and also Sunday school was that God’s word could be trusted.  It does seem strange as I reflect back, that I applied the truths on money long before I trusted Christ’s love for me, I got it all backwards, but thank the Lord, I received the free gift of Salvation.  In Proverbs 13:11, “Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little make it grow.”  God opens doors of employment, it is He that bestows on us the abilities that our employer needs, and that is what I learned from mom and dad, and Sunday school.  I also applied this truth found in Proverbs 22:7, “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.”  And I learned not to be a co-signer also in Proverbs 22:26, “Do not be a man who strikes hands in pledge or puts up security for debts.”

For years, I would have told you I was not rich, and yet when we look at the poorest of the poor in the USA by the world standard, even they are rich.  So I believe if you live in the USA you should take very serious these verses in 1 Timothy 6:17-19, “As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.  They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasures for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice