James – Chapter 5

February 3, 2010


Being Wise With Wealth

Chapter 5 of James is about handling wealth. This Chapter does not condemn our desire to be rich and prosperous but it definitely condemn the mismanagement and abuse of wealth.

“Do not hoard it..” – v-3 God doesn’t want us to collect wealth and see piles of them for the sake of satisfying our eyes with the richness we have produced. That’s silly and selfish. God doesn’t have anything against being wealthy, He is against our intent to love wealth, which is dangerous.

All material things that make a person wealthy can fade away in time. “Your wealth had rotted, moths have eaten your clothes, and your gold and silver corroded.” V.2-3.
What good can it give if we just hoard wealth just to satisfy our selfish desires?

We can have money, but don’t let money manipulate us. We need to learn how to manipulate money. We work for it and we should not waste it. Do not just spend it selfishly for ourselves. “You have fattened yourselves for the day of slaughter.” V.5 There are many people and most especially, churches, that need financial help.

Fact: 800 million people are malnourished, 1 billion are overweight.. Just imagine how selfish most people are.