How to Become Wealthy

“Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything.” Proverbs 11:24

If giving away your earthy possessions to gain wealth sounds like a poor investment strategy to you, you may be missing the point of this verse. Proverbs is not telling us to put our two cents in the offering on Sunday, then run to the mailbox on Monday and wait for a check. What trips us up is our definition of wealth. Wealth can certainly mean monetary resources, but even the poorest of people can be wealthy. 

On a mission trip to Belize several years ago, I saw people living in what I would have previously considered poverty. Their homes were modest and their earthy possessions often limited to a few items of clothing, a bedroll and a couple of pots to cook in. But these people were not poor. Their faces told another story. They were rich in love and good will. Although they barely had enough food for themselves, they invited us to join them for dinner. Their generosity was overwhelming. 

In Charles Dickens’ classic story, A Christmas Carol, wealthy Ebenezer Scrooge learns the value of true wealth after taking a journey to the past, present and future. In the end, Scrooge learns the impact generosity has on mankind. Scrooge (now synonymous with stingy) would have died a poor, miserable man with a large bank account had he not learned this lesson.

You may have great resources to give away or you may only have a small meal to share, but what makes you wealthy or poor is not what you have, but your attitude toward what you have and how you steward it.