April 3rd, 2025
Money can’t buy happiness, but it can buy friends.
Money can be like a magnet. As soon as someone comes into wealth – whether it’s an inheritance, a large signing bonus for a contract, or winning the lottery – people are attracted immediately.
Overnight celebrities can be extremely unprepared for this to happen. Professional athletes often go through hoards of money and even into vast debt to bankroll their entire family or entourage.
On the other side, those who don’t have money can waste what little they have to attract and impress would-be friends, hoping to buy meaningful relationships.
As you read the Book of Proverbs, you realize that there are three primary ways we are taught wisdom. In the first part of the book, there are direct warnings and commands that God’s people must obey (e.g., 3:5-6; 7:1-5). Once you get to chapter 10, however, most of the individual proverbs are either a piece of good advice (e.g. 10:19; 15:1), or a simple description of the way things are in this world (e.g. 10:26; 13:7). We find some of the verses on friendship in this last category.
Solomon simply observes that “wealth makes many friends” (19:4) and “every man is a friend to one who gives gifts” (19:6). Similarly, Proverbs 14:20 reads, “The poor is disliked even by his neighbor, but the rich has many friends.”
What are we to take from this? Should we accumulate as much money as possible as a means of making friends? Is this the way to meaningful companionship? The answer, of course, is no. Solomon is simply explaining what happens in a fallen world.
The truth is, friends that accompany wealth are not true friends at all. Here’s all of Proverbs 19:4, “Wealth brings many new friends, but a poor man is deserted by his friend.” A good piece of advice is given in Proverbs 12:26, “The righteous should choose his friends carefully, for the way of the wicked leads them astray.”
There are subtle ways that we try to “buy” friends, even without much money. We may hope that the right gift will salvage a failing relationship. A comedian once suggested that much of the billion-dollar industry of Valentine’s Day is propped up by people making a last-ditch effort to save or rekindle their romance.
Purchasing shoes or clothes to impress certain people is another way we invest in the wrong kind of friendships. Always covering the tab, even if it hurts other people you are responsible for, can be a manifestation of this tendency as well.
Yes, money can buy friends, but it’s a poor investment. Remember, friends who can be bought always have a price. And when your money runs out or a higher bidder comes along, that so-called friend will be gone for good.
How do we invest in friendship wisely? More on that next time.
Money can be like a magnet. As soon as someone comes into wealth – whether it’s an inheritance, a large signing bonus for a contract, or winning the lottery – people are attracted immediately.
Overnight celebrities can be extremely unprepared for this to happen. Professional athletes often go through hoards of money and even into vast debt to bankroll their entire family or entourage.
On the other side, those who don’t have money can waste what little they have to attract and impress would-be friends, hoping to buy meaningful relationships.
As you read the Book of Proverbs, you realize that there are three primary ways we are taught wisdom. In the first part of the book, there are direct warnings and commands that God’s people must obey (e.g., 3:5-6; 7:1-5). Once you get to chapter 10, however, most of the individual proverbs are either a piece of good advice (e.g. 10:19; 15:1), or a simple description of the way things are in this world (e.g. 10:26; 13:7). We find some of the verses on friendship in this last category.
Solomon simply observes that “wealth makes many friends” (19:4) and “every man is a friend to one who gives gifts” (19:6). Similarly, Proverbs 14:20 reads, “The poor is disliked even by his neighbor, but the rich has many friends.”
What are we to take from this? Should we accumulate as much money as possible as a means of making friends? Is this the way to meaningful companionship? The answer, of course, is no. Solomon is simply explaining what happens in a fallen world.
The truth is, friends that accompany wealth are not true friends at all. Here’s all of Proverbs 19:4, “Wealth brings many new friends, but a poor man is deserted by his friend.” A good piece of advice is given in Proverbs 12:26, “The righteous should choose his friends carefully, for the way of the wicked leads them astray.”
There are subtle ways that we try to “buy” friends, even without much money. We may hope that the right gift will salvage a failing relationship. A comedian once suggested that much of the billion-dollar industry of Valentine’s Day is propped up by people making a last-ditch effort to save or rekindle their romance.
Purchasing shoes or clothes to impress certain people is another way we invest in the wrong kind of friendships. Always covering the tab, even if it hurts other people you are responsible for, can be a manifestation of this tendency as well.
Yes, money can buy friends, but it’s a poor investment. Remember, friends who can be bought always have a price. And when your money runs out or a higher bidder comes along, that so-called friend will be gone for good.
How do we invest in friendship wisely? More on that next time.
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