Adefolake Ayotunde-Salami
I cannot remember how young I was but what I am about to talk about left a lasting impression on me that I never forgot and I have applied ever since. I tried looking for the video but I could not find it because it was one of those days I randomly came across a video on TV of Oprah telling her best friend Gayle King something profound about money. I would not just be telling you what I learnt without using the Bible to further explain why I believe she is right. If you are thinking I will list what she taught me, you are wrong. You have to read the entire article before you get the secret.
“Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.” Luke 6:30. So first things first, give. It is funny I hear people saying when I get rich, I will give. That is such a big lie. Whatever you are not doing now; you cannot do it later. These things are habits, no matter how little it is, learn to give. Do not always give with the mindset of getting back but give because you want to be a blessing. Like the scripture above says, give to everyone who asks and I know motivational speakers say, “learn to say no” but if you look at the scriptures, it says the opposite when it comes to finances. Proverbs 3: 27 – 28, “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act. Do not say to your neighbour, “Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you”—when you already have it with you. Again, this scripture further backs my point about when you are asked to help and you are in a position to, please do.
So now that we have established it is good to give and bad to say no to someone you can help, how do you now ensure people do not take advantage of that. But before that, let us look at what the Bible says about those who borrow money and never pay back, “The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously;” Psalm 37: 21 meaning everyone who borrows money should pay back even though a lot of people do not pay back and so many relationships have been destroyed because of this. Which brings me to my first question? If you know people would borrow money and not pay back, why do we still borrow them? Because we think we are fulfilling Matthew 5:42, “Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.” but God also expects us to apply wisdom. “….wisdom is profitable to direct.” Ecclesiastes 10: 10.
So here is what we know so far, God wants us to give. He does not want us to hold back help when we can or for us to tell our neighbour to come back tomorrow when we can assist today. Also, only a wicked person would borrow and not pay back but still we should give because as children of God, we should not turn away the one that needs help from us. Almost seems like Christians are setup to go broke helping wicked people and not expecting anything in return until you realize what Matthew 10:16 was saying, “I am sending you like lambs into a pack of wolves. So be as wise as snakes and as innocent as doves.” so we are back to the application of wisdom.
In the video I talked about earlier, Gayle King was telling Oprah how people loved to borrow money from her and she always borrowed them but they never returned it or returned it in bits. It usually ruined the relationship and Oprah’s response threw me off balance. She said, “I don’t borrow people money”. This is the richest woman in the world saying she does not borrow people money but from her previous videos I know she is a very generous woman, so what does she do? She went further to say, “when people ask me for money, I give them what I can afford to part with and take my mind off it. If they pay back, fine, if they do not, fine”. Oh wow, what a wise woman but I decided that day with no money in my account to do one better. I decided I would not even expect it back, the moment I give you, I would inform you it is a gift or seed, call it what you want but there would be no need to pay me back. The benefits of this are too many to mention. I know someone is saying if people found out that was my mantra, they would capitalize on it and want to ask every time. How wrong you are, in fact it is the exact opposite that happens. They barely ask knowing my stand, for example if someone asks for XYZ amount and I only have XYZ amount as well at that time, I know I can part with X and still sleep peacefully at night not worrying about YZ. Imagine borrowing someone all the money you have and they do not pay it back? When I finally started earning well and I could part with small amounts, I always jumped at the opportunity of giving because I know it is a privilege to give. Acts 20:35…“It is more blessed to give than to receive.” However, when people ask me for ridiculous amounts of money I do not have and make it a state of emergency, I know I can always give an amount that I can part with and by doing so, I not only do what God wants me to do by helping and giving but also I apply wisdom which God also wants me to do as well. It is a win-win situation.
