Using God’s gift of wisdom to achieve wealth and financial gain is not wrong if done in a righteous way in which you plan and invest wisely, avoid deceit and trickery, and live according to God’s commands. Joseph was a man who was faithful to God throughout his life in good times and in bad. God blessed him with the ability to interpret dreams and then God used that gift to place Joseph in a significant leadership role as governor over all of Egypt. Through Joseph, God blessed the descendants of Israel (formerly known as Jacob) and he also blessed Pharaoh, making him very wealthy and protecting his people from famine.

Genesis 47:1-27

Jacob’s Family Settles in Goshen

      1Then Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, and said, “My father and my brothers and their flocks and their herds and all that they have, have come out of the land of Canaan; and behold, they are in the land of Goshen.” 2He took five men from among his brothers and presented them to Pharaoh. 3Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” So they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we and our fathers.” 4They said to Pharaoh, “We have come to sojourn in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now, therefore, please let your servants live in the land of Goshen.” 5Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. 6“The land of Egypt is at your disposal; settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land, let them live in the land of Goshen; and if you know any capable men among them, then put them in charge of my livestock.”

      7Then Joseph brought his father Jacob and presented him to Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 8Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many years have you lived?” 9So Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my sojourning are one hundred and thirty; few and unpleasant have been the years of my life, nor have they attained the years that my fathers lived during the days of their sojourning.” 10And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from his presence. 11So Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had ordered. 12Joseph provided his father and his brothers and all his father’s household with food, according to their little ones.

      13Now there was no food in all the land, because the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. 14Joseph gathered all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan for the grain which they bought, and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house. 15When the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food, for why should we die in your presence? For our money is gone.” 16Then Joseph said, “Give up your livestock, and I will give you food for your livestock, since your money is gone.” 17So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses and the flocks and the herds and the donkeys; and he fed them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year. 18When that year was ended, they came to him the next year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is all spent, and the cattle are my lord’s. There is nothing left for my lord except our bodies and our lands. 19“Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we and our land will be slaves to Pharaoh. So give us seed, that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate.”

Result of the Famine

      20So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for every Egyptian sold his field, because the famine was severe upon them. Thus the land became Pharaoh’s. 21As for the people, he removed them to the cities from one end of Egypt’s border to the other. 22Only the land of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had an allotment from Pharaoh, and they lived off the allotment which Pharaoh gave them. Therefore, they did not sell their land. 23Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have today bought you and your land for Pharaoh; now, here is seed for you, and you may sow the land. 24“At the harvest you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four-fifths shall be your own for seed of the field and for your food and for those of your households and as food for your little ones.” 25So they said, “You have saved our lives! Let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s slaves.” 26Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt valid to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth; only the land of the priests did not become Pharaoh’s.

      27Now Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in Goshen, and they acquired property in it and were fruitful and became very numerous.

Many will complain that Joseph took advantage of the people by taking all they owned for Pharaoh. This view simply does not stand up to careful scrutiny. The people were thankful to Joseph for feeding them and keeping them from death. Further, once Joseph had gained everything for Pharaoh, he allowed the people to work the land and keep the large majority of what they grew. Even though Pharaoh “owned” it all, Pharaoh only collected 20% or 1/5. This is incredibly fair… I can hardly resist comparing this to what we consider a “free” nation of the United States of America today, in which the government takes higher personal and corporate income tax than Pharaoh did! At least Pharaoh owned what he collected income from.

Joseph used the gifts God gave him in a righteous manner to glorify God, support God’s people, and even fulfill the duties of the position under Pharaoh that God had placed him in and to do so very effectively… and he became wealthy along the way.

Wealth should not be despised, but rather only unrighteous behaviors and attitudes should be despised and rebuked. Wealth developed by righteous people is often used to glorify God and help His people. We should be thankful to God and give Him the glory and avoid resenting His servants who become wealthy. Perhaps we should even try to learn from those who gain wealth righteously rather than condemn them.

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Remember that all you have belongs to God. Manage your money God’s way. Visit GrowGodsMoney.org .

Why do so many of us accept that work should be a burden we must endure, rather than a part of our life in which we find joy or at least contentment?

It is intuitive, but also backed up by studies, that people who are happy at work are more productive and more successful. They perform better at their work because they find joy and satisfaction in what they do. These are people you want to be around.

I am certainly not suggesting that I expect all of us to get paid for doing something we enjoy as much as spending time with our families or going on vacation. However, there are a number of simple things we can do to find joy in our work.

1- Remember that we are more than our work. Our personal value comes from God. He crafted each of us as unique and special individuals to serve Him. Our value is not defined by how we perform or are perceived to perform at work.

2- Ultimately our joy comes from God. Ensure you spend time in prayer and study of the Bible daily.  Not only do we grow closer to God and develop a better understanding of His character and instruction for our lives, but it puts into perspective what is important about our work and our lives.

3- Basic for finding contentment or satisfaction with any job is reminding yourself why you choose to do that work. List the positive aspects of your employment such as providing for your family, enabling you to support your church or honor God with your money, and allowing you an opportunity to reach people for Jesus in your workplace… can really impact your attitude toward your job. Instead of viewing it as a prison with chains, it is a choice you make for specific reasons. If you can not find any good reasons or if the job forces you into conflicts with your Christian faith you likely want to seek alternate employment.

4- Know how your job or role contributes and matters to the bigger picture where you work. Don’t limit yourself to a narrow view of just “completing specific job tasks”, but rather understand the broader picture. It leads to a higher degree of satisfaction.  This concept is described from a classic example:

A man walked down a road by a construction site. He saw three workers laying bricks in what appeared to be a wall. As he asked each man separately what they were doing he received the following three responses… I am laying bricks, I am building a wall, and finally, I am building a cathedral so people can worship and honor God.

Which of the three men do you think was most satisfied with his work? The one who saw the bigger picture of course. He understood not just what he was doing but the value of it to a bigger purpose.

5- Avoid focusing too long in your mind about what a “perfect” job would be like. This type of exercise can be useful to help identify a specific action such as evaluating alternate employment, but becomes depressing if you continually compare your current circumstances to a theoretical perfect job that may not really exist.

6- Look for ways you can take initiative at work to help create the environment in which you want to work. If you want a friendly and Christian environment… then start by acting that way yourself!

7- Certainly not last, but at the end of the list because it is something we should keep in our minds as we go back to our daily lives… come before God humbly and ask Him to help you find joy in your work… whether in your current job or by finding another.

For additional resources to help you find joy in your work, check out our Earn Money with a Purpose page at GrowGodsMoney.org.

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Remember that all you have belongs to God. Manage your money God’s way. Visit GrowGodsMoney.org .

Many write on the internet about how you can earn extra money, even from home over the computer. There are an amazing number of ways to pursue incremental income with today’s technology.

Before you leap with excitement to the search engine to identify all the ways you are about to make lots of money from home, you should probably start by thoughtfully considering your goals. What are you trying to achieve?

Are you looking for a short-term boost to your income to accomplish a specific goal, like paying off credit card debt or donating to a church fund to help your community? Are you looking for long-term incremental income that you can do on top of your current daily commitments? Perhaps you are seeking a new profession entirely and want to leave your “day job”. Clearly identifying, and writing down, your objectives can help guide you when you start your search to find the right answer for your situation, personality, and skills.

Ok… I know you are excited but wait just a minute more… nothing is free. All of these activities take time. All too often people refer to the quality of life in regard to only what you can buy and how much stuff you have. In truth, quality of life is more dependent on our ability to be content with what we have. Then we can focus on the true value of our time… we never truly know how much we will have and we can not get any of it back once we use it. So it is very important to consider what time commitment you are willing to put towards any effort to gain incremental income.

Now spend some time setting your goals and limitations (e.g. how much time you are willing to take away from other things you do). Make sure you understand your broader priorities and do not just focus on the pursuit of more money at all costs… that is greed. Then search away to identify a selection of good ideas for earning more income that will work for you!

Don’t forget to evaluate any legal liabilities or safety concerns when selecting something that may be right for you. The following list are just ideas to get your thoughts started… not a recommendation for any specific site, activity, or business.

• Tutor
• Wash cars
• Cut grass
• Clean houses
• Babysit, pet sit or house sit
• Help care for the elderly
• General household chores or handyman activities
• Buy water bottles in bulk and sell them at local events. Easy profit and people will thank you for it unless you overcharge.
• Rent your car through sites like GetAround or RelayRides
• Rent your home through sites like Airbnb or VRBO
• Become a driver with Uber or Lyft
• Hire out through services that coordinate temporary workers
• Sell extra stuff you have at garage sales, Craigs List, eBay, etc
• Look for sites that pay you to try new products or visit stores and provide feedback
• etc…. etc…. etc.

Parting thought… set up a specific time frame to come back and evaluate the activity you selected and compare or steward it to the written objectives you laid out at the start. Is it working as you thought? Did you protect your time and your other priorities (e.g. does your family still know you? still like you?) Just because you started something does not mean you need to keep doing it if it is not working out. That is why you write down your goals/objectives, identify relative priorities, and put constraints on the time commitment before you begin. It is not just about the dollars. It is about the quality of life.

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Remember that all you have belongs to God. Manage your money God’s way. Visit GrowGodsMoney.org .

For most of us, we focus on one or a few primary sources of income generation based on a core set of skills or knowledge that we have. We need to do a few key things to make a sustainable change in our long-term income potential.

KNOW Your Skills

This sounds simple, but many of us have an over-inflated idea of how good we are at what we do.  Consider if we were to take a poll of people who have a certain type of job. It is fairly typical that well above half the people would indicate they believe they are above average at performing that skill. Mathematically this can’t be true.

Seek validation on your skill level (strengths and weaknesses) from a trusted friend or colleague. Try to find an objective way to measure your skill. If you are getting feedback from your supervisor or customers/clients, welcome it and genuinely listen to what they are telling you instead of getting defensive.  Ask friends that know you well to speak about other skills they see that you have but may not be currently using as a source of income. Objective self-reflection is also very helpful.

Having a realistic view of what we are good at and what we are not at is an important foundation for growing sustainable income.

GROW Your Skills

Once you identify a reasonably objective set of strengths and weaknesses, you can start making decisions about which of these you should focus on improving first. By improving on some of your weaknesses or building further on your strengths you can grow your capability and skills… which inevitably makes it easier to grow your income.

Some skills can be worked on at home or informally by studying and practicing. Other skills are best improved through formal training (e.g. community college, trade schools, apprenticeship at companies doing that work, university or college degrees).

Growing the key skills around which you base your income is foundational to improving your income generation potential.

SHOW Your Skills

Even with your current situation, be sure you are genuinely working in such a way as to demonstrate your skills and potential. Do not let laziness or lack of motivation pull you into underachieving. You are paid based on the skills you demonstrate, not the skill potential you have. As you grow your skills, it will translate directly to your current source of income. If you are self-employed, your effectiveness and earnings will improve. If you work for someone else, they likely will notice.

You can also market your skills to other companies doing similar work or to other companies doing different work that you are qualified to do. By marketing yourself to other opportunities you will get a realistic measure of whether or not you can earn more money by switching employers or job types.

As you consider these important aspects of income generation, keep in mind also that how much you enjoy what you do or where you work has a significant impact on your job performance and your enjoyment of life. After all, generating income is only one aspect of a personal financial strategy… a part of a bigger plan. Do not be too quick to pursue whatever pays the highest just to find out later you are unhappy and unsatisfied. It is best to seek contentment wherever you are for as long as you are there and to seek God’s direction for your life. His plans are always better than our own!

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Remember that all you have belongs to God. Manage your money God’s way. Visit GrowGodsMoney.org .