Proverbs 28-A stingy man hastens after wealth and does not know that poverty will come upon him

Daily Devotional Podcast. Follow along with blog post.

I think that verse is saying, don't be stingy, isn't it? It's Proverbs 28:22 and again it says, "A stingy man hastens after wealth and does not know that poverty will come upon him."

I'm grateful, because growing up, I had a mother who wasn't stingy and who made giving and helping people, easy. My mother always said, we need to help this person and help that person. So giving has never been hard for me. In fact my mother's mother and her mother's mother were givers. Just in case it doesn't come naturally to you, you can train yourself to give to people who need it. It just takes practice and that involves giving -- yes, simply giving. 

Proverbs 28:22 is another way of saying that when God blesses us with things we can use to give to people, we should do it. And it doesn't matter what it is, nothing is too small or too big to help someone. You've heard the phrase, someone's trash is someone else's treasure, right? Well, there you go. There is someone who can benefit from someone. We just have to have a willing heart, is all. Look beyond money and grasp this: trying to hold on to everything will not lead us to wealth. It will lead us to poverty. We don't have to go around being stingy, because stingy is another way of being poor. Let's ponder on that for a little while.