“Money has never made man happy, nor will it; there is nothing in its nature to produce happiness. The more of it one has the more one wants.” – Benjamin Franklin
The desire to become rich seems to be the ultimate goal of many people today. Some may kill to get it, others may steal to acquire it, a few may sell themselves to embrace it and many more may even deceive to attain it.
Someone once said that money is a necessary evil. It becomes necessary because it is needed to meet the demands of many essentials in life but it can become an evil when you allow it to drive your life down the dirt path and you do anything to embrace it. The Bible confirms that money is very important in the world in which we function, but points out that the love of it creates the potential for an individual to become involved in all kinds of evil practices (1 Timothy 6:10).
When money becomes your master, it will drive you down the treacherous road of greed and covetousness, where dignity, decency and decorum gradually disappear from your life, creating shame and disgrace, not only for you, but also for your family and friends.
For decades, I have seen and heard of singles, couples, divorcees, young, old, rich and poor, whose lives have been shattered either by their own actions or by that of others, because of the love of money.
When money begins to define your existence, where it makes you feel important because of its presence in your life, then you have become its slave, no matter the tangible evidence you have to display to the world. Once money has a strong grip on you, it will strangle you in many negative ways; however, if mastered, it will submit to your control.
When I was in my late teens, a senior gentleman drove me through a district that had some large houses. When he was approaching one of the houses he slowed down, pointed at the house and commented that the former owner of the house, who was a millionaire, died of malnutrition. I was shocked. The thought that stood with me was this: “How can an individual be so much in love with money that he may have allowed it to send him to the grave?”
On the other hand, the outlook of the late Steve Jobs years ago is worthy of more than a superficial glance. He said: “The bottom line is, I didn’t return to Apple to make a fortune. I’ve been very lucky in my life and already have one. When I was 25, my net worth was $100 million or so. I decided then that I wasn’t going to let it ruin my life. There’s no way you could ever spend it all, and I don’t view wealth as something that validates my intelligence.”
What a very profound statement that speaks of putting money in its rightful place, where it does not define who you are; because if it does, you will do everything to hunt for it, hoard it and continue to hustle after it to your own peril and those close to you.
A good example of such a family impact is the case of Bernard L. Madoff who is said to have run the largest Ponzi scheme in history, totalling about US$65 billion. It was a clear case of money becoming Madoff’s master, which gradually led him to deceive a large number of people who trusted him. Many of these people lost their hard-earned cash and suffered emotional and psychological pain.
This betrayal also affected his wife, who said that she attempted suicide on December 24, 2008 (New York Times, June 2011). The effects on Madoff’s sons were also grave. Mark, the younger son, committed suicide two years after his father’s arrest, while his brother Andrew said that what his father brought on the family was a “betrayal of biblical proportions”.
Madoff, who had also attempted suicide, ended up with a 150-year jail sentence. He obviously did not read and understand what wise man Solomon said in Proverbs 23:4,5: “Weary not yourself to be rich; cease from your own human wisdom. Will you set your eyes upon wealth, when [suddenly] it is gone? For riches certainly make themselves wings, like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.”
Someone once said: “Money cannot buy peace of mind. It cannot heal ruptured relationships, or build meaning into a life that has none.”
That statement fits into the life of a man I met a number of years ago whose income was much higher than the average upper-class individual. He told me that money was once his god. The more financial resources he accumulated, the more it made him feel like someone special. He later told me that the money and other material things were not filling the emptiness that he felt inside. He said he only got his void filled when he turned his life over to God. With a smile on his face he said that he no longer craves after money, although his financial status has not changed, but he has now become the master of his money.
Stories are all documented of unhappy billionaires like Adolf Meckler, who told his wife that he was going to the office early one day but instead, he went and laid on a train track for the oncoming train to run him over. Others like Jonathan Wraith, Eli M. Black, Huibert Boumeester and Wayne Pai all sent themselves to premature deaths leaving their wealth behind.
The key to mastering money is first mastering you. Robert Hasting put the issue in context when he said: “Unless an individual learns to control himself, he is no more likely to control his money than he is to discipline his habits, his time or his temper. Undisciplined money usually spells undisciplined persons.”
For those looking for quick money, master yourself or money will master you.
Next week I will look at money management.
Reverend Haynesley Griffith is a marriage and family life consultant. Email griffitharticles@gmail.com.