PRUDENCE – THE MANAGING AND MANAGEMENT OF GOD’S GIVEN RESOURCES 

PRUDENCE – THE MANAGING AND MANAGEMENT OF GOD’S GIVEN RESOURCES: FINANCIAL INTELLIGENCE – THE WISE PATH OF DOING LIFE THROUGH PRUDENCE! 

“A PRUDENT [FAR-SIGHTED] man FORESEETH the evil, and HIDETH himself: but the SIMPLE [NAIVE] pass on, and are PUNISHED [SUFFERED]” Proverbs 22:3/Emphasis Mine. 

PRUDENCE — it is the managing and MANAGEMENT of God’s endowed and given resources in terms of — TALENT/SKILL, FINANCE (MONEY), TIME, MATERIAL (PHYSICAL SUPPORT) and PEOPLE — that are within reach to do the PURPOSEFUL and MEANINGFUL diligent work in life and grace. 

The above is the definition God taught me in His WISDOM FOR LIVING SCHOOL; and in the course of doing life and living godly in any form of business in the Kingdom, I have also learnt and am still learning what it takes to be FULFILLED, which is far beyond mere SUCCESS or being SUCCESSFUL. 

And to be PRUDENT, there is the need to be PRINCIPLED, RESPONSIBLE, ACCOUNTABLE and DILIGENT in all matters of doing life and godly living in the grace. 

“The WISE in heart shall be called PRUDENT: and the sweetness of the lips increaseth learning” Proverbs 16:21. 

Therefore, considering the context of being PRUDENT — there is the need to be prudent in the management of God’s given resources that are available to you, in doing life and living godly. The stewardship and faithfulness to such given resources of God will open doors of trust to greater endowments for any man [Matthew 25:14-30; 1 Corinthians 4:1-2]. 

You need to learn from our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ, who in His humanity and earthly ministerial assignment and mandate from Father God, NEVER wasted materials. An example is the way He prudently ensured that which could have been considered leftovers — like the fragments — were gathered. After feeding the five thousand men, besides women and children, with the five loaves and two fishes, He ensured that the fragments were gathered into twelve (12) baskets for other causes or further causes [Matthew 14:15-21]. 
“. . 20 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they TOOK UP of the FRAGMENTS that remained twelve baskets full . .” [Matthew 14:20; Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17]. 

Considering being PRUDENT in one resource — FINANCES — there is the need to ensure that you are prudently intelligent; for the essence of being prudent in finance and financial management may not be appreciated until you hit the bottom, as I have experienced. It is when you watch and see that all you have worked for, or freely been given, or have inherited, disappears before your very eyes, as found in the Prodigal son lifestyle [Luke 15:11-24]; and more so, in Isaac’s near-bankruptcy because of the FAMINE [economic meltdown, austerity] that broke out, as experienced in the Holy Writ [Genesis 26:1-14]. 

My mentor and father in the Lord, of blessed memory, once said in a marriage seminar to the married men audience in attendance then, with this wisdom nugget for marital living: 

“DON’T BORROW MONEY FROM YOUR WIFE” — simply put, because in some of a wife’s world — in the paying back — “IT’S AN INTEREST-ONLY BUSINESS TRANSACTION — AND PAYING BACK NEVER ENDS” while the marriage lasts. 
I was told, “You will pay INTEREST-ONLY for all your life and the loan will never be acknowledged as paid.” That is the lesson I learnt not early enough. It took me years to put together what that statement means. 

What I have come to know is this: that which I considered to have been mine in a way, is called OURS; but what children and wife have, they say it’s THEIRS and not ours respectively. 
In a factual world, that is considered to be selfish by these two groups — and that is what I always thought before. Perhaps I may be wrong. 
If otherwise, do you or anybody have such experiences, or is it just me in my world? Help me out if you do. 

I also later, in the course of time, discovered that the notepad in which my wife wrote that she lent me money years and years ago — which I could hardly remember again — is still intact. Long after I am sure and certain that I had fully paid back within the framework of the time agreed, and even when the purpose was still about resolving our family cause and causes. 
For her, that money is hers and not ours indeed. 
Each time I requested that she should indicate “fully paid” with a date on her notepad, as expected then, she said NO. 
When I asked why, she would say whatever I had paid, as far as she was concerned, was ‘INTEREST ONLY’, because money taken from a woman is never fully paid. Just as my father in the Lord had told us — and as he taught us in the marriage seminar from his own experiences. 

My wife said that is the only way to help me understand what PRUDENCE and being PRUDENT — the management of God’s given resources — really means in financial matters. 
And for you, the Believers in Christ Jesus — it is worthwhile noting that in the management of God’s given resource, the reason why you need to live and do life WITHIN your own available means and resource, and not count on someone else’s as yours. 
Such self-acclaimed entitlement to someone else’s can ruin your life if you are not principled in being prudential. 

That is what I ascribe as to LIVE [LIVING] WITHIN YOUR OWN FAITH AND NOT SOMEONE ELSE’S FAITH! — which otherwise means, living within your means as to TILL [CULTIVATE] your OWN LAND [OPPORTUNITY], and in the PROCESS OF TIME your breakthrough will eventually come in the grace. 
For whatever happens to be without a process is a scam and a fraud. 

“Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the JUST [RIGHTEOUS] shall LIVE by HIS FAITH” Habakkuk 2:4/Emphasis mine. 

“He that TILLETH HIS LAND shall be SATISFIED with BREAD: but he that FOLLOWETH VAIN persons is VOID of understanding” Proverbs 12:11. 

“He that TILLETH [CULTIVATED] HIS LAND shall have PLENTY of bread: but he that FOLLOWETH after VAIN persons shall have POVERTY enough. 20 A FAITHFUL man shall ABOUND with BLESSINGS: but he that MAKETH HASTE to be RICH shall not be INNOCENT. 21 To have respect of persons is not good: for for a PIECE OF BREAD that man will TRANSGRESS. 22 He that HASTETH to be RICH hath an EVIL eye, and considereth not that POVERTY shall come upon him. Proverbs 28:19-22. 

And with the experience of being told it was INTEREST-ONLY, she taught me to learn more on PRUDENCE — [the management of God’s given resources] — as a serious matter and good ‘FINANCIAL INTELLIGENCE’ in the School of Life LESSONS. 
That is, not wanting to borrow for anything that doesn’t lead to MORE and far-reaching PRODUCTIVITY in terms of — innovating, creating and exploring — thereby earning far GREATER results, leading to an onward and upward trajectory in the grace. 

My wife’s action has broadened my horizon in terms of living far ABOVE the norms as may be applicable in many ways, especially in living in a developed world of capitalism, wherein there is indebtedness in society at large with no exception. 

And the wisdom to never again borrow from interest-only businesses in all settings; not even in Property Mortgages, or the Credit Card menace as dominant in the developed world, and which many other parts of the world are now embracing, despite the lessons learnt from the economic and financial meltdown of 2008 and other recessions that have emanated prior to and out of it, till the present day and time.[relative] 

However, thanks to my lovely wife and her school of ‘interest-only’ lesson — which my father in the Lord was right about eventually, from his own experience. It has made me wiser today than ever before. 

Bless you HONEY, if you are reading this note, do ensure you’ve written on your notepad — loan is fully paid and dated. If you are not reading this, which I hope not, to save my day — it’s all well too in the grace. 

Does anybody have such an experience? Bless you too. I hope you’ve learnt something good today. 

Blessed regards. 

SELAH – PAUSE AND THINK!  

SCRIPTURAL THOUGHTS WORTH PONDERING IN CONTEXT: 

“A PRUDENT man FORESEETH the EVIL, and HIDETH himself: but the simple PASS on, and are PUNISHED” Proverbs 22:3. 

“The WISE in heart shall be called PRUDENT: and the sweetness of the lips increaseth LEARNING” Proverbs 16:21. 

“Thou wilt shew me the PATH OF LIFE: in thy PRESENCE is fulness of joy; at thy RIGHT HAND there are pleasures for evermore” Psalms 16:11. 

“But the PATH of the JUST (RIGHTEOUS) is as the SHINING LIGHT, that shineth more and more unto the PERFECT (DAWN) day.” Proverbs 4:18 (Emphasis Mine). 

“Seest thou a man DILIGENT in his BUSINESS? he shall STAND before KINGS [NOBLES, DIGNITARIES, HONOURABLES]; he shall not STAND before MEAN [UNPRODUCTIVE, OBSCURED] men” Proverbs 22:29. 

SUMMARY: 
The message is: PRUDENCE — THE MANAGING AND MANAGEMENT OF GOD’S GIVEN RESOURCES is THE WISE PATH OF DOING LIFE THROUGH FINANCIAL INTELLIGENCE. 

It is a teaching, testimony and charge that calls Believers to steward TALENT, FINANCE, TIME, MATERIAL and PEOPLE with godly wisdom. Through personal experience, Scripture, and a marriage lesson on “INTEREST-ONLY” borrowing, it shows that PRUDENCE leads to FULFILMENT, not just SUCCESS, and protects us from waste, debt and ruin while positioning us for greater endowment and breakthrough in the grace. 

KEY POINTS 

1. THE DEFINITION AND FOUNDATION OF PRUDENCE

• PRUDENCE is the managing and MANAGEMENT of God’s endowed resources: TALENT/SKILL, FINANCE (MONEY), TIME, MATERIAL, and PEOPLE. 

• To be PRUDENT you must be PRINCIPLED, RESPONSIBLE, ACCOUNTABLE and DILIGENT in life and godly living [Proverbs 16:21]. 

• “A PRUDENT [FAR-SIGHTED] man FORESEETH the evil, and HIDETH himself: but the SIMPLE [NAIVE] pass on, and are PUNISHED” [Proverbs 22:3].

2. BIBLICAL EXAMPLES OF PRUDENCE

• Jesus: NEVER wasted. He gathered 12 baskets of fragments after feeding 5,000 [Matthew 14:15-21]. 

• Stewardship: Faithfulness in little opens doors to greater endowments [Matthew 25:14-30; 1 Corinthians 4:1-2]. 

• Isaac: Faced FAMINE [economic meltdown] but survived by prudence [Genesis 26:1-14]. 

• Prodigal Son: Lost all through waste and lack of financial intelligence [Luke 15:11-24].

3. THE MARRIAGE LESSON: “INTEREST-ONLY” FINANCIAL WISDOM

• “DON’T BORROW MONEY FROM YOUR WIFE” — In some contexts it becomes an INTEREST-ONLY BUSINESS TRANSACTION that NEVER ENDS while the marriage lasts. 

• The lesson: What I call OURS, wife and children call THEIRS. 

• The notepad of debt remained for years, and payments were counted as ‘INTEREST ONLY’. 

• The purpose: To teach PRUDENCE and to live WITHIN YOUR OWN FAITH AND NOT SOMEONE ELSE’S FAITH — i.e. TILL [CULTIVATE] YOUR OWN LAND [OPPORTUNITY] [Proverbs 12:11; Proverbs 28:19-22]. 

• “He that TILLETH HIS LAND shall be SATISFIED with BREAD… A FAITHFUL man shall ABOUND with BLESSINGS” [Proverbs 28:19-20]. 

• “The JUST [RIGHTEOUS] shall LIVE by HIS FAITH” [Habakkuk 2:4].  

4. FINANCIAL INTELLIGENCE IN A CAPITALIST WORLD

• Do not borrow for anything that does not lead to MORE and far-reaching PRODUCTIVITY — innovating, creating, exploring. 

• Avoid interest-only businesses: Property Mortgages, Credit Card menace, and all debt traps dominant in the developed world and spreading globally since the 2008 meltdown. 

• “He that MAKETH HASTE to be RICH shall not be INNOCENT… POVERTY shall come upon him” [Proverbs 28:20,22]. 

• Living ABOVE the norms of societal indebtedness requires prudence.  

5. THE OUTCOME OF PRUDENCE

• PRUDENCE leads to FULFILMENT, which is far beyond mere SUCCESS. 

• “Seest thou a man DILIGENT in his BUSINESS? he shall STAND before KINGS” [Proverbs 22:29]. 

• “The PATH of the JUST (RIGHTEOUS) is as the SHINING LIGHT, that shineth more and more unto the PERFECT day” [Proverbs 4:18]. 

• “In thy PRESENCE is fulness of joy; at thy RIGHT HAND there are pleasures for evermore” [Psalms 16:11]. 

CALL TO ACTION 

1. AUDIT YOUR 5 RESOURCES: TALENT, FINANCE, TIME, MATERIAL, PEOPLE. Manage them purposefully and meaningfully. Be PRINCIPLED, RESPONSIBLE, ACCOUNTABLE and DILIGENT. 
2. PRACTISE FINANCIAL PRUDENCE: Live WITHIN your means. Do not borrow for consumption. Only borrow if it leads to PRODUCTIVITY, innovation and greater results. 
3. TILL YOUR OWN LAND: Cultivate your own opportunity. Do not depend on someone else’s faith or resources. “Whatever happens without a process is a scam and a fraud.” 
4. LEARN FROM SCRIPTURE AND EXAMPLES: Be like Jesus who gathered fragments. Avoid the Prodigal path. Foresee evil and hide yourself [Proverbs 22:3]. 
5. BE FAITHFUL IN LITTLE: Stewardship opens doors to greater endowment from God [Matthew 25:21]. 
6. SHARE AND REFLECT: Does anybody have such an “interest-only” experience? Pause, think, and apply the lesson. SELAH. 

REV. CHUKIE MORSI