God’s Word for Today

26 Jul, 2025

6 Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity

than a rich man who is crooked in his ways.

-Prov 28:6 ESV

INTEGRITY

Integrity is a consistent theme in the Bible, isn’t it? It is better to be right with God and lacking in worldly goods or accolades than to have material comfort and be spiritually doomed (Prov 16:19 ; 19:22 ; 22:2; Mat 16:26 ; 19:23 ).

The word ‘crooked’ in Hebrew word could be translated as "perverse." This implies something being twisted, distorted, or warped. In this context, this can refer to shrewed business practices or blatant corruption. A person gaining wealth through corruption might think they are better off. But, he cannot escape spiritual judgment under God’s perfect justice. A dishonest person may try to claim that his finances and faith are separate but Scripture disagrees. There is no dichotomy in the Christian life. In Matthew 6:24 , Jesus quotes, "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money."

Sadly, the thought of giving up earthly wealth and comfort may make people hesitant to accept the gospel. The rich man who approached Jesus is the example. He claimed he had done everything he could for God when asking Jesus about salvation. He was self-confident until Jesus challenged him to give up his money. Instead of obeying Jesus, the man became sad and walked away from Christ (see Luke 18:18-23; Matthew 19:22 ). His wealth possessed him. Our wealth should be Jesus alone. Nothing else. He is true who won’t bargain Jesus with anything else. Our attitude towards wealth is a test of faith, that is, unless faith in Jesus is more important than wealth, we should suspect it is not saving faith. (Luke 9:23 –25; Mat 19:29 ).

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