Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Pampered Into Poverty

Proverbs 12:9 KJV
He that is despised, and hath a servant, is better than he that honoureth himself, and lacketh bread.

At first read this verse sounds to be the opposite counsel than we learn anywhere else in the Bible. I have visions of Donald Trump who has all the servants and food he could want but is of poor reputation among the godly. Surface reading might make it appear that is better than the one who is poor.

But the key to understanding the verse is the phrase "honoreth himself." It helped me to think of it as "pampereth himself." (the word for honor means "to make weighty. It is the man who makes himself appear to be more important than he really is. It might mean that he thinks of himself as more important or more deserving than he is.)

The Bible is speaking about being disciplined with our resources so that we may afford both the necessities and those things that help rather than spending our money on pleasures and extravagances to the place where we find ourselves in want of real necessities.

Frugality and living in our means is the chief way to see our means increased.

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