There aren’t many rich lottery winners. Taxes aside, the tendency of most people who acquire wealth by windfall is to spend it as fast as possible, it seems. I don’t know many bank robbers, but I have to assume the idea is the same there.

Dishonest money dwindles away,

but whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow.

Proverbs 13:11

The reality behind that principle is a lot deeper than “easy come, easy go”. The one who gains money by dishonest means has no defense for himself when his ownership is challenged. He has no reason to consider money as earnings which he knows the true value of, but something to burn through while he still can.

The deeper Spiritual principal at play here is not really about money at all; it’s about human relationships. The farmer who builds up a relationship with the guy who sells him feed or hay will probably go back to him next year for more. The man who sells farm equipment can probably count on return business from both of them if he treats them well. The distributor who sells the dealer tractors will do a lot more business if they can establish a good connection.

There’s a lot you can do with a brand new connection that hasn’t developed yet, but even more that you can count on out of a long-standing friendship.

Ethan Kirl