1. We are especially to remember our stewardship.—Money is a trust committed to us, for which we are to give account unto God. We are answerable to Him for the use we make of it. If we have amassed wealth, from God has come the power that enabled us to do so. All we have is His—not our own. To each of us shall be addressed the words, "Give an account of thy stewardship, for thou mayest be no longer steward." If we remember this great truth we shall be rightly guided, both in regard to the accumulation and the distribution of money. We shall not inordinately desire it, for we shall feel that with its increase comes new responsibility; and we shall be careful how we spend it, for the question will ever be present to our minds, What would the great Master, to whom we have to give account, wish us to do with it? Those who have most wisely used their money are the men who have realized most intensely the thought of their stewardship. In the "Life of Mr. Moore," the successful merchant, by Smiles, this is most admirably shown. He amassed, by industry and by enterprise, great wealth; he lived a noble and benevolent life; he was honored by all men for his character and his generosity. But at the root and foundation of his life was the thought that all he had was a trust committed to him by God.
2. We should do good as we go.—There are those who allow that they should do good with their money, but they defer carrying out their intention till they have accumulated something that they think considerable. If they ever become rich, then they will do great things. The folly of this is apparent, (a) They lose the happiness which the humblest may daily reap from small deeds of kindness; and (b) they lose the power which will enable them to do anything if the great opportunity they desire comes. "Doing good," it has been well said, "is a faculty, like any other, that becomes weak and atrophied, palsied for lack of use. You might as well stop practising on the piano, under the impression that in a year or two you will find time to give a month to it. In the meantime, you will get out of practice and lose the power. Keep your hand and your pocket open, or they will grow together, so that nothing short of death's finger can unloose them." [2] However little money we may have, we should use a portion of it in doing good. The two mites of the widow were in the eye of Christ a beautiful offering. Giving should always go with getting. Mere getting injures us, but giving brings to us a blessing. "Gold," says holy George Herbert, "thou mayest safely touch; but if it stick it wounds thee to the quick." George Moore, to whom we have referred, wrote yearly in his diary the words of wisdom—
What I saved I lost,
What I spent I had,
What I gave I have.
What proportion of our money we should give every one must determine for himself, but we are not safe spiritually unless we cultivate the habit of generosity. "The Lord loveth a cheerful giver." "There are many," it has been satirically said, "who would be Good Samaritans without the oil and the two pence." All of us, however humble our station, are bound to give "as God hath prospered us" for the help of man and the cause of Christ; and the discharge of the obligation will become to us one of the greatest pleasures in life.
3. We should cultivate thrift.—Thrift is just forethought. It is reasonable prudence in regard to money. It provides for "the rainy day." If poverty be our lot, we must bear it bravely; but there is no special blessing in poverty. It is often misery unspeakable. It is often brought upon us by our self-indulgence, extravagance and recklessness. We are to use every means in our power to guard against it. The words of the poet Burns are full of common-sense:
To catch Dame Fortune's golden smile,
Assiduous wait upon her,
And gather gear by every wile
That's justified by honor;
Not for to hide it in a hedge,
Nor for a train attendant,
But for the glorious privilege
Of being independent.
The squalor and wretchedness which often fall upon people come from their not having exercised a little thought in the use of their money. A little self-denial would have saved them, and those depending on them, from many sorrows. A saving habit is good. "It is coarse thinking to confound spending with generosity, or saving with meanness." The man who puts by a little week by week or year by year, against possible contingencies is wise. However small may be our salary and limited our income, we should try and save part of it. Every young man should be a member of a savings bank, or a benefit club, by means of which he can make provision for the future. The honest endeavor to make such provision is in itself an education.
4. We should earnestly endeavor to avoid debt.—Debt means slavery. It is loss of independence. It is misery. "He" (says a Spanish proverb) "that complains of sound sleep, let him borrow the debtor's pillow." Every shilling that we spend beyond our income means an addition to a burden that may crush us to the ground. "Pay as you go," is a good rule. "Keep a regular account of what you spend," is another. "Before you buy anything, think whether you can afford it," is a third. But whatever rule we follow in regard to our expenditure, let us see that it does not exceed our income. The words of Horace Greeley, a great American writer and politician who had a large experience of life, are not too strong: "Hunger, cold, rags, hard work, contempt, suspicion, unjust reproach, are disagreeable, but debt is infinitely worse than them all. Never run into debt! Avoid pecuniary obligation as you would pestilence or famine. If you have but fifty cents and can get no more a week, buy a peck of corn, parch it, and live on it, rather than owe any man a dollar."
5. We should resolutely set our face against gambling.—Gambling is one of the curses of our time. It is the endeavor to get money by dispensing with labor, to make it without honestly working for it. It entails widespread ruin and degradation. Its consequences are often of the most appalling character. When the gambling spirit is once aroused, like drunkenness, it becomes an overpowering appetite, which the victim becomes almost powerless to resist. Gambling is in itself evil, apart from its deadly effects. (a) It proposes to confer gain without merit, and to reward those who do not deserve a reward, (b) It proposes to benefit us while injuring our neighbor. "Benefit received," says Herbert Spencer in his Sociology, referring to gambling, "does not imply effort put forth; but the happiness of the winner involves the misery of the loser. This kind of action is therefore essentially anti-social, sears the sympathies, cultivates a hard egoism, and produces general deterioration of character and conduct." The young should specially guard against this vice, which has been a rock upon which many a promising life has made disastrous shipwreck.
[1] Sir Henry Taylor, Notes from Life.