What the Bible Really Says About Money | Proverbs 22:7
Here is a question worth sitting with for a moment: if someone offered you three million dollars with no wisdom, or a lifetime of wisdom with no money, which would you choose? Most of us would grab the cash. But the book of Proverbs quietly insists we would be choosing wrong.
In this message closing out our Guidance for Today series through Proverbs, we tackled a topic many of us would rather avoid in church: money. It is a subject often twisted and manipulated, so we approached it carefully — not from our perspective, but from God's. And here is the surprising thing: talking honestly about money turns out to be less a financial conversation and more a deeply spiritual one.
Money Is Not What Matters Most
Proverbs opens by ranking wisdom above wealth:
"Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her." — Proverbs 8:10–11
Why is wisdom worth more than gold? Because in the New Testament, wisdom is not merely a skill you develop — it is a Person. Paul writes that in Christ "are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Colossians 2:3). So when Scripture says money isn't what matters most, it is ultimately pointing us to Jesus. Consider three reasons He is better than any bank account:
Money can be lost; your salvation cannot. Economies crash and jobs disappear, but Paul reminds us that nothing "in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:39).
Money cannot buy happiness; Jesus gives lasting joy. If wealth guaranteed happiness, the richest people would be the happiest — and they plainly are not. The joy of the Lord is our strength, and it is received, not earned.
Money changes in value; Jesus never changes. Prices rise and dollars shrink, but "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8).
Jesus put His finger on the real issue: "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:21). Whatever you treasure most is what you are actually trusting as your lord. So the honest question isn't "How much money do I have?" but "What matters most to me?"
Learn to Manage Your Money Wisely
Saying money isn't ultimate doesn't mean it doesn't matter. Proverbs devotes over a hundred verses to handling money well. Here are three practical habits it commends.
Spend and save wisely
"Whoever loves pleasure will become poor; whoever loves wine and olive oil will never be rich. The wise store up choice food and olive oil, but fools gulp theirs down." — Proverbs 21:17, 20
We live in a culture of constant consumption, and technology makes overspending effortless. Two simple questions can bring restraint: Do I actually need this? and Does this fit my budget? Saving, done rightly, is not selfish — it is faithful stewardship. Building an emergency fund and living within your means honors the God who provided the income in the first place.
Understand the danger of debt
"The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender." — Proverbs 22:7
Not all debt is reckless — a mortgage or responsibly used credit can be wise. But Scripture warns that debt can quietly become bondage, straining our finances, our peace, and even our relationships. If credit has become a trap for you, there is freedom in pressing pause and rebuilding healthy habits.
Give to God first
"Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine." — Proverbs 3:9–10
Giving to God is not tipping the church for a good service — it is worship. We offer Him our first and our best, not our leftovers. And to be clear: this verse is not a magic formula that guarantees riches in exchange for offerings. That is the distortion of false teachers. Proverbs describes what normally happens, not an ironclad promise. Interestingly, the most generous people are often the most financially healthy — because when you don't worship wealth, you manage it responsibly instead of desperately.
God Wants You to Work Hard
"All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty." — Proverbs 14:23
Work is not a curse invented by the enemy; it is part of God's original design, given in the garden before sin ever entered the world. Scripture calls us to avoid two extremes — the workaholic who sacrifices family, health, and faith for more money, and the person who drifts into laziness. Instead, we are invited to worship God with our work, and even to let our work become a witness. When you labor with excellence and integrity, people notice, and the door opens to point them to Christ.
The One Thing You Cannot Earn
Here is the beautiful contrast at the heart of it all: you work hard to earn money, but you cannot work to earn your salvation.
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." — Romans 3:23–24
Every other religion says you must achieve God's favor. The gospel says you simply receive it. Jesus built the bridge we could never build — living the life we couldn't live, dying in our place, and rising again — so that we could cross to the Father freely, by faith. Christianity is not about you working your way to God; it is about God working His way to you.
A Takeaway to Carry Into the Week
Be honest before the Lord: What matters most to you — Jesus, or money? If your heart has been treasuring the wrong thing, you can turn back today. True financial freedom isn't found in having more; it is found in following the ways of God, whose ways are always better.
If you are anywhere in the Livermore area or across the Tri-Valley and looking for a church family to grow with, we would love to welcome you this Sunday at Arroyo Church.
How to Lead Your Family Spiritually | Proverbs 22:6
Two pastors. Both loved the Bible. Both spent over forty years in ministry, both earned doctorates, both knew Scripture inside and out. But at the end of their lives, one is still married to the wife of his youth and enjoys close relationships with his kids and grandkids, while the other is on his second marriage and estranged from all three of his children. What made the difference? Both men knew the Bible. Only one actually practiced it at home.
That contrast opens this week's message in our Guidance for Today series. The main idea is simple but weighty: the state of your family forms your future. If the world shapes your family, it shapes a future you likely don't want. But if the Word of God shapes your family, you walk in the will of God, and that brings life.
God's guidance for marriage
1. Keep pursuing one another
Proverbs doesn't shy away from intimacy in marriage. It actually celebrates it as a good gift from God — not something to worship, and not something to be ashamed of, but a gift meant to bond a husband and wife together for life. Consider the language:
"May you rejoice in the wife of your youth... may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be intoxicated with her love. Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man's wife? Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman?" (Proverbs 5:18–20)
Notice it says the wife of your youth, not the youthful wife. The goal is a love that deepens over decades. Here's the honest truth: intoxication with your spouse begins naturally but continues intentionally. If you don't intentionally pursue one another, you will naturally drift apart. Paul puts the mutual responsibility plainly:
"The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband... the wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband, and likewise the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife." (1 Corinthians 7:3–4)
Pursuing your spouse also guards the marriage. The more satisfied you are at home, the less pull you feel to look elsewhere. (And to be clear: if someone has cheated on you, that sin belongs to the person who committed it, not to you.)
2. Change your communication
Change your communication and you can change your relationship. For husbands, that means trading criticism for genuine praise:
"Her husband... praises her: 'Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.'" (Proverbs 31:28–29)
You can push your wife down with constant criticism or pull her up with encouragement. Ask yourself: what's my praise-to-criticism ratio? For wives, Proverbs offers an equally direct word about letting go of control:
"Better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and nagging wife." (Proverbs 21:19)
The root of nagging is usually a desire to control. Speak up in love when it matters, then release the rest to God — He is far better at changing people than we are.
God's guidance for parenting
3. Lead your kids to Christ
"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." (Proverbs 22:6)
What is "the way"? Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life" (John 14:6). Your primary job as a parent is not behavior modification — it's pointing your children toward spiritual transformation in Christ. You can raise a polite, successful child who is spiritually bankrupt. Training is a daily discipline, and three habits help:
Pray daily — short, honest prayers of blessing and thanks over your children.
Attend church weekly — make gathering with God's people a settled priority.
Set an example — your kids learn more from who you are than what you say, especially when you model the gospel by asking forgiveness.
Remember, Proverbs are wise sayings, not ironclad promises. Children have their own will in a broken world. But when you lay a foundation, you give them something to return to.
4. Discipline your children
"Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them." (Proverbs 13:24)
Loving discipline drives foolishness out of a child's heart. A few guardrails: discipline must actually be done; do it out of love, not anger; stay united with your spouse; follow through decisively; and never crush the child in the process.
"Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged." (Colossians 3:21)
The one perfect Father
Here's the honest ending: none of us is the perfect spouse or parent. If your hope rests on being perfect — or your family being perfect — it will fail you. There is only one perfect Father, and He is God. In the story of the running father (Luke 15), a son squanders everything, then heads home in shame. "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him" (Luke 15:20). That is the heart of God toward you. We love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). You can only give the love you have first received.
A takeaway to sit with
Which relationship in your family is God asking you to lead differently this week — and have you first received the love of the Father that makes it possible?
If you're anywhere in Livermore or the Tri-Valley and looking for a church family to grow with, we'd love to meet you and pray with you.
Guidance for Your Relationships: 5 Steps from Proverbs
Remember the old Facebook relationship statuses? Single. Dating. Married. And then there was the one that always made you pause: It's complicated. Whenever someone posted that, you knew there was a story behind it.
Here is the truth: every human relationship could be labeled “it's complicated” to some degree. Why? Because every relationship is complicated because people are complicated. You think you have someone fully figured out, and then they say or do something that surprises you all over again. That is exactly why we need help. Guidance from God for your relationships is not a luxury. It is a necessity.
Continuing our series Guidance for Today, this message walks through the book of Proverbs to offer five practical steps for healthier relationships. Outside of your relationship with God, your relationships with people are the most important part of your life. So let's dig in.
1. Learn who you should and shouldn't trust
Trust is the foundation of every relationship, and Proverbs is honest about it.
“Trusting in a treacherous man in time of trouble is like a bad tooth or a foot that slips.” (Proverbs 25:19)
A foot that slips does not do what a foot should do. In the same way, the person you should be cautious with is the one who consistently fails to do what they say. Not someone who makes an occasional mistake—everyone does—but someone whose pattern shows they cannot be relied on. Character is not what a person occasionally does; it is what they consistently do.
At the same time, some of us are so guarded we trust no one, usually because we have been badly hurt. Scripture points a healthier way: put faith in faithful people. Paul told Timothy to entrust responsibility to “faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2). The more faithful a person proves to be over time, the more you can trust them.
One caution and one comfort. The Bible never tells us to trust people with all our heart—only the Lord (Proverbs 3:5). Every person you know will fail you at some point, so do not ask a spouse or friend to be Jesus. But do lean toward grace. As 1 Corinthians 13:7 says, “love always trusts.” That does not mean being gullible; it means giving people a real chance and assuming the best when you reasonably can.
2. Learn to communicate like Christ
Communication shapes the course of your relationships. Proverbs gives us three quick ways to speak like Jesus.
Understand the weight of your words
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue…” (Proverbs 18:21)
Words have started wars and ended marriages—but words have also inspired hope and built families. Something may be easy for you to say and yet completely crush the person who hears it. Choose to speak life.
Be selective with your speech
“When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.” (Proverbs 10:19)
Not everything in your mind needs to come out of your mouth. A simple practice: pause, pray, then say.
Do not lack in listening
“If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame.” (Proverbs 18:13)
Ask a question, then quietly listen. Calmly repeat back what you heard to make sure you understand. So often the real issue is not the problem itself—it is how we communicate about the problem.
3. Develop discernment about confronting
“Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.” (Proverbs 26:4–5)
There is a time to confront and a time to hold back. A good surgeon uses a scalpel, not a battle axe—a targeted, careful move meant to heal, not harm. Before you confront someone, ask three questions:
Can I confront them calmly and lovingly?
Are they actually open to feedback?
Will this be a constructive conversation that helps them grow?
If the answer is no, sometimes the wisest, most loving choice is to step back and let God work.
4. Avoid neediness and neglect
Proverbs balances two truths beautifully:
“Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor's house, lest he have his fill of you and hate you.” (Proverbs 25:17)
“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” (Proverbs 17:17)
We are called to be faithful, sacrificial friends—and to keep healthy boundaries. Do not smother people, and do not neglect them either. Neediness looks like always needing attention and feeling empty without it. Neglect looks like putting tasks over people and missing what matters most to those you love. Aim for faithful friendship with boundaries.
5. Let love cover all sin
“Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.” (Proverbs 10:12)
Every day we sin and are sinned against. When someone wrongs you, you can respond with hatred, which turns a small conflict into a war, or with love, which de-escalates and forgives. The temptation is to keep sending reminders of the offense—date, time, and receipt—and even to increase the “fine” over time. But love lets it go.
How is that even possible? Only because we have first been forgiven.
“If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin… If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:7, 9)
Walking in the light does not mean being perfect. It means letting God and others see you as you really are. As you rest more deeply in God's forgiveness of you, you will find yourself more able to forgive others. We love because he first loved us.
A takeaway to carry into this week
Pick the one relationship God brought to mind while reading. Which of these five steps does it most need—trust, communication, discernment, better boundaries, or forgiveness? Ask God for the courage to take one small, loving step this week.
If you are anywhere in the Tri-Valley—Livermore or a nearby town—and you are wrestling with a hard relationship, we would love to walk with you. Come as you are; this is a place to belong and grow.
How to Get Guidance from God: 4 Steps from Proverbs
Have you ever insisted you knew the way, only to turn a one-hour drive into ninety minutes of wrong turns? Pastor Josh opened this week's message with exactly that memory—insisting he could navigate without the Maps app while his wife pleaded with him to just follow the directions. It's a small, funny picture of a much bigger truth: a good guide gets you where you need to go, and a bad guide leaves you delayed, lost, or worse.
Here's the good news at the heart of this sermon: God is a good guide, and He genuinely wants to give you guidance. The real question isn't whether God wants to lead you—it's whether you'll listen.
Where the Series Begins
This message kicks off a short series called Guidance for Today, walking through the book of Proverbs—often called the most practical book in the Bible. Proverbs sets the tone from the start:
"Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance." (Proverbs 1:5)
Guidance is available. But it comes to those who hear. With that foundation laid, the sermon offered four practical steps for receiving God's direction.
1. Fearing God Is the First Step
Proverbs is blunt about where wisdom starts:
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction." (Proverbs 1:7)
To fear the Lord doesn't mean being terrified of Him, as if He were a threat to run from. It means deep reverence and respect. Think about how differently you'd behave if a younger sibling walked into the room versus the king of a nation. The more you truly respect someone, the more you honor them—and the more you listen.
The point lands like this: if you have a guidance problem, you may actually have a reverence problem. When we treat God too casually—as a buddy rather than the Creator, Sustainer, and Savior—we stop listening, and when we stop listening we stop being led. Reverence is the foundation. Without it, the whole building falls apart.
2. Trust God Over Self
The second step is one of the most familiar passages in Scripture—don't let its familiarity make it feel small:
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3:5-6)
Notice it says trust with all your heart, not your head. You can believe God exists without ever entrusting your life to Him. As James reminds us, "You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!" (James 2:19). Head knowledge alone is the faith of demons.
Picture the world's safest airplane. You can admire the blueprints, tour the cockpit, and agree it's incredible—but if you refuse to get on board, you don't actually trust it. Trusting God with your heart means climbing in. It's the difference between saying "God is forgiving" and saying "I am forgiven."
And trusting Him means submitting in all your ways—not some of them, not just on Sundays. You're still in the driver's seat with real freedom, but you're no longer the one who decides the destination. Like a soldier driving an officer, you go where your commander directs.
3. See Past the Surface
Sometimes the path that looks right is the very one that leads to ruin:
"There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death." (Proverbs 16:25)
This is exactly how temptation works—wrapping something harmful inside something that looks good, like bait on a hook. Maturity means learning to look beneath the surface. The sermon offered three clarifying questions:
Am I living by feelings or by faith? Feelings fluctuate daily. Don't make long-term decisions on temporary emotions.
Is this a good long-term choice? Ask what your life will look like next week, next year, in ten years—not just in this moment.
If someone else were in this situation, what would I tell them? This question pulls your emotions out of the way so you can see clearly.
And when you still can't see, invite others in:
"Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety." (Proverbs 11:14)
We all have blind spots, just like every car does. Wise, godly counselors—a pastor, a mentor, a seasoned brother or sister in Christ—can see what we can't. The catch is that many people won't speak into your life unless you give them permission. So give it.
4. God's Plans Prevail—And That's Good News
Finally, Proverbs reminds us who is ultimately in charge:
"In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps." (Proverbs 16:9)
Make your plans—there's nothing wrong with that. But hold them loosely. Pastor Josh shared how our own church landed in its current building through a phone call he never expected, for a location he wasn't even considering. His plans said no; God's plan was better.
Here's the beautiful part: guidance isn't only something God gives it's something He does. Like a shepherd gently nudging a wandering sheep with his staff, God actively leads His people. And Jesus is that shepherd:
"I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep." (John 10:14-15)
The same Shepherd who wants to guide you is the one who laid down His life to save you. He doesn't just say He loves you; He proved it on the cross.
A Takeaway to Sit With
Do you know the Shepherd's voice? And when He speaks, do you follow?
Reflect this week: What is the one area where you most need God's guidance right now—and which step are you skipping? Reverence, trust, seeing past the surface, or surrendering your plans to His?
If you're in Livermore or anywhere across the Tri-Valley and you're looking for a church family to walk this out with, we'd love to worship alongside you and help you take your next step of faith. You don't have to figure out the way alone—the Good Shepherd is ready to lead.