Day 81: Avoid Financial Folly

Scripture to Memorize:
Give her the reward she has earned,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.
Proverbs 31:31
Passage to Read:
The man who had received the five talents brought the other fiv. "Master," he said "you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more."
His master replied, "Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!"
The man with the two talents also came. "Master," he said "you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more."
His master replied, "Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faith with a few thingsw; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!"
The the man who had received the one talent came. "Master," he said "I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you."
His master replied, "You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gathered where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest."
"Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Matthew 25:20-30
Guided Prayer (from Donna):
Dear Lord, this passage containing the parable of the talents challenges me. My natural inclination is to see someone who doesn't have many financial resources and give to that person. I don't always stop and think: maybe that person doesn't have financil resources because he or she has been foolish with money or unwilling to do the hard work it takes to make wise investments.
It amazes me that Jesus didn't express compassion toward the servant who didn't invest his money. He rebuked him sharply and called him lazy. Forgive me, Lord, if I have been lazy in any way about investments or financial management. I realize you take money management as seriously as you take any other area of my life. Please help me to become a better investor. Holy Spirit, I invite you to be my financial planning tutor. I want ot be an A student to the glory of God. I want to invest every penny for maximum return so I can do the most good for the kingdom. I need your help to do that and thank you in advance for all the exciting lessons I'm going to learn and for the profit I'm going to earn! Amen.
Personal:
Donna starts today's lesson by stating that she misunderstood initially what God's word say about giving. She stated that she read things out of context. "We can and should be generous with out money, but everything we do--including our giving--must be guided by wisdom. Wisdom, after all, is the overriding subject of the entire book of Proverbs".
She shares how by trusting someone simply because they professed to be a Christian caused her to loose a "small fortune". She also shares how her generousity with people who were unscrupelous cost her more money.
"I thought I was being generous but I was just being stupid. There's a huge difference between sowing seed in good soil and throwing good money after bad. Unfortunately for my children, it's taken me forty-five years to figure that out."
She goes on to say "Very often, people have financial difficulties for a reason." She also warns about co-signing loans for people (relatives or not).
Donna says that the Proverbs 31 woman gave to the poor and needy but did not become poor and needy in the process. She did not eat the bread of idleness nor did she enable others to do so. She further states that she has loaned people money really believing they planned on paying her back but has never once been paid back. Now is God lays it on her heart to help someone she views it as a gift and gives them the money outright.
Donna's final paragraph today is:
"Don't confuse ministry with being foolish with your money. I made that mistake for decades and I regret it. Instead, realize that being wise with your money positions you for long-term ministry. And that's what the Proverbs 31 woman is all about--the long-term view. The Bible doesn't say, 'Give the reward she has earned to someone else who hasn't worked for it.' No, it says we have the right to enjoy the rewards we've earned. There's nothing unspiritual about that. Sow your seed in good soil, bless others out of the surplus, and enjoy your harvest."
Affirmation: I sow my seed in good soil.
Practical:
"Do not cosign for loans or in any way rescue people from the financial consequences of their own foolishness. If you have done so, seek a legal way out."
I must say that Donna's message today makes me feel better about the mistake I made. It is a blessing to be reminded that even though I make mistakes I am not a mistake. I can learn from my lesson just like Donna has learned from hers and in the future make wiser financial decisions.