I have been teaching from Hosea for the last several weeks and also reading John Wesley’s Sermon #50 on the use of money. It is in this sermon that Wesley develops the now famous three-point formula for the right perspective on wealth.  It would have been relevant for Israel then and is certainly so for us today.  Israel had become so caught up in the pursuit of wealth ” and men had so perfected the art of financial deceit that they are described as literally loving fraud – not just wealth but the deceit itself. Getting wealth in legitimate pursuits no longer appealed to them.    

Here is a very brief capture of Wesley’s formula for the right use of money.

First” gain all you can in legitimate ways and by that he means ways that will do no harm to others.  We should not be reluctant to use the skills we have been given ” but we also have a responsibility to our fellow man in how we accumulate money.

Second” save all you can.  I had always taken that to imply that it is better to save than to spend.  Saving was easy for me.  I came by that naturally having saved all my life.  Saving is a choice to live as simply as possible however ” Wesley meant more than that: 

“Despise delicacy and variety” and be content with what plain nature requires.  Waste no part of it in curiously adorning your houses; in superfluous or expensive furniture; in costly pictures painting gilding books; in elegant rather than useful gardens.  Lay out nothing to gratify the pride of life ” to gain the admiration or praise of men.” 

I think that is also what C.S. Lewis was saying about prosperity: “Prosperity knits a man to the world. He feels that he is finding his place in it” ” while really it is finding its place in him.”

Third” give all you can knowing the power of money to do good. “… it is an excellent gift of God answering the noblest ends. In the hands of his children it is food for the hungry drink for the thirsty raiment for the naked…first to those in the household of faith and then “as you have opportunity ” do good unto all men.”

It’s simple – maybe even simplistic – but I would encourage you to read the sermon for yourself.