Articles
Proverbs To Live By (11:24)
There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more, and there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in want.
This proverb contrasts the attitudes of miserliness and generosity. One of the general principles of life is that one must expend or “scatter” in order to gain a profit. The farmer must sow seed, not keep it stacked in the barn. Muscles must be exercised and “break down” in order to build strength. If we lounge around and “save” our energy, we will become weaker.
When we are insecure about material things, we tend to hoard and become stingy. We don’t sympathize with others in worse shape or share with them. We think that we don’t have enough or, if we share with others, we will lose what we have. But rather than find comfort in our conserved resources, we often end up miserable and alienated because our insecurity is still there no matter how much we have.
To a large degree, covetousness is a state of mind. It is the perception that we don’t have enough or the fear that some disaster will happen and deplete our meager resources. The antidote to this is to trust God to supply our needs, be content with what we have, share with those in need. God often blesses us with enough to meet our own needs and share with others.
