Proverbs 28:20

A faithful man will abound with blessings,
but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.

The key difference in the character of the faithful man and the "get rich quick" person lies in integrity. The faithful man’s priority is to carry out his responsibilities and see them through to the end. He keeps his word and promises, he can be trusted to act ethically no matter how it may hurt him personally, and he is committed to quality work.

The "get rich quick" individual has one dominating desire—to simply get rich, no matter how it may hurt others or hurt his reputation. That desire controls his heart and mind and clouds his thinking. It pushes him to move from one wealth-creating scheme to another. It also clouds his moral judgment so that he resorts to lying, manipulating, and stealing to accomplish his short term purposes.

It is easy to see how blessings come to the faithful person. He is respected and trusted by other,s and this alone creates many business opportunities in his vocation. His supervisors praise him and recommend him for more demanding tasks. Because of his faithful, hard work, he is likely to see monetary reward for his labors.

The "get rich quick person" may experience quick riches and short term success, but he is just as likely to quickly lose any financial gains. He is not likely to bear much fruit because he does not have the necessary perseverance and discipline it takes to be successful. He earns distrust from his neighbors and clients, and may even earn their enmity, so that his work ends up working against him.

Two people may have the same abilities and opportunities, but because one has godly character and one does not, they will not only have two different results, but two different destinies.

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Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: By Pat Canavan. © 2024 Tenth Presbyterian Church. Website: tenth.org