Devotion: Parsimony

“Do not eat the food of a stingy man, do not crave his delicacies.” Proverbs 23:6 NIV

I consider myself well-read even though I stumble across new words daily. One of those words is parsimony. The freedictionary.com website defines parsimony as “unusual or excessive frugality; extreme economy or stinginess.” Did you ever ask someone to help you with a project resulting in his manner and attitude only making you miserable because of his stingy nature? You will most likely be hesitant to ask that person for help again; thus, a cheap person’s moral and social health may be compromised. The verse above clearly steers us away from a stingy man.

Perhaps you have a friend or colleague who takes advantage of your generous nature, allowing you to spot them for a soda, sandwich, or even lunch too often. Maybe you have been associated with someone who continually borrows ordinary everyday items – too stingy to purchase their own. That wears thin on relationships.

The Apostle Paul instructed Timothy this way along the same school of thought. “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.” 1 Timothy 6:17-18. NIV

So it is best not to be so tight-fisted with what we have as everything is on loan to us from God. We must be good, do good, and share it all with a charitable heart. One of the best examples of stingy is the character Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. Ebenezer was tight-fisted, stingy, greedy, and cold-hearted. He despised anything that brought happiness to others. What a transformation erupted after the Three Ghosts of Christmas visited him. The story is quite an exaggeration in extremes and does a fantastic job depicting the contrast between stinginess and generosity.

Being stingy with your time, resources and talents signal a core base of total selfishness. Stingy, greedy, hoarding, and refusing to share represent a hole in someone’s character, a void that is ever empty. Maybe this is the result of a lack of an authentic spiritual foundation or a lack of genuine compassion.

Still, there is another side to the coin.

Parsimony in speech, writing, and theories is an excellent quality and is recognized as using the fewest words possible. We all know that someone who loves to talk just to hear the sound of their voice, never pausing between sentences. In the present day, there is a great advantage to being parsimonious (economical) with our money and resources. COVID-19 taught us that what with the empty food store shelves. The Great Depression that began in 1929 was an even more, grave situation that spread worldwide.

In the Apostle Paul’s instructions to his young protégé, he said: “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way, they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.” 1 Timothy 6:17-19 NIV.

Paul said that even if we don’t have material wealth, we can be rich in good deeds and willing to share our gifts. God wants us to enjoy His blessings, and he wants us to use those blessings to make a difference in the world around us. Small things that are done with great love are rewarding. In our praise and prayers to God, ask Him to instill in us the desire to give generously from every gift He has given us. Most of us are blessed with more than enough.