Chapter 27—Finance in the Home
The Lord would have His people thoughtful and caretaking. He
would have them study economy in everything, and waste nothing.
You should learn to know when to spare and when to spend. We
cannot be Christ’s followers unless we deny self and lift the cross. We
should pay up squarely as we go; gather up the dropped stitches; bind
off your raveling edges, and know just what you can call your own.
You should reckon up all the littles spent in self-gratification. You
should notice what is used simply to gratify taste and in cultivating
a perverted, epicurean appetite. The money expended for useless
delicacies might be used to add to your substantial home comforts
and conveniences. You are not to be penurious; you are to be honest
with yourself and your brethren. Penuriousness is an abuse of God’s
bounties. Lavishness is also an abuse. The little outgoes that you think
of as not worth mentioning amount to considerable in the end.
When you are tempted to spend money for knickknacks, you
should remember the self-denial and self-sacrifice that Christ endured
to save fallen man. Our children should be taught to exercise self-
denial and self-control. The reason so many ministers feel that they
have a hard time in financial matters is that they do not bind about
their tastes, their appetites and inclinations. The reason so many men
become bankrupt and dishonestly appropriate means is because they
seek to gratify the extravagant tastes of their wives and children. How
careful should fathers and mothers be to teach economy by precept
and example to their children!
It is not best to pretend to be rich, or anything above what we
are—humble followers of the meek and lowly Saviour. We are not
to feel disturbed if our neighbors build and furnish their houses in a
manner that we are not authorized to follow. How must Jesus look
upon our selfish provision for the indulgence of appetite, to please our
guests, or to gratify our own inclination! It is a snare to us to aim at
198