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THE FAX OF LIFE

A Weekly Service To The Business Community From SVCC

HOW TO PROSPER WITH A CLEAR CONSCIENCE
By Rick Warren

The headline was simple: "Keating's sentence -12 years." The court had decided that the costliest Savings & Loan failure in history (a $2.6 billion collapse) was the result of massive fraud committed by the former CEO Charles Keating. In addition to his sentence, Mr. Keating was ordered to pay $122.4 million in restitution. It's probably safe to assume that if Charles Keating had the opportunity to do it over again, he'd think twice about putting profit before ethics.

There's nothing wrong with making a profit. In fact, Jesus commended the man who made the highest return on his investment (Matthew 25:21). But there is a right way and a wrong way to prosper. What matters to God is not how much you make, but how you make it. You can avoid a lot of pain if you'll follow what the Bible says about prospering:

4 WRONG WAYS TO PROSPER

  1. BY DISHONESTY. (deceptive buying and selling) "The Lord wants all weights and measures to be honest and every sale to be fair." Pr. 16:11 (GN)

  2. BY DEFRAUDING. (acquiring by trickery or pretending)
    "Don't hold back the wages of a hired man overnight." Lev. 19:13

  3. BY DEFAULTING. (failing to fulfill an obligation) "Let no debt remain outstanding..."
    Rom 13:8 "The wicked borrow and do not repay." Ps. 37:21

  4. BY DEPENDING ON LUCK INSTEAD OF GOD. (get rich quick schemes) "The man who wants to get rich quick will quickly fail. Trying to get rich quick is evil and leads to poverty"
    Pr. 28:20 & 22"...the one who chases fantasies will end in poverty." Pr. 28:19



4 RIGHT WAYS TO PROSPER

  1. HONEST, HARD WORK. "Wealth from gambling quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows." Pr. 13:11 (LB) "Hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty." Pr. 14:23

  2. WISE SAVING AND INVESTING. "The wise man saves for the future, but the foolish man spends whatever he gets." Pr. 21:5

  3. PRAYING FOR GOD'S BLESSING. "If you..know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!" Matt. 7:11

  4. GIVING BACK TO GOD AND TO OTHERS. "Honor the Lord by giving Him the first part of all your income and He will fill your barns... to overflowing!" Pr. 3:9-10 (LB) "Be generous and you will be prosperous. Help others and you will be helped..." Pr. 11:24-25 (GN)

Until next week...
FOL#47

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