Many, very many, have not so educated themselves that they can keep their expenditures within the limit of their income. They do not learn to adapt themselves to circumstances, and they borrow and borrow again and again, and become overwhelmed in debt, and consequently they become discouraged and disheartened.
(CS 249.1)
Many do not remember the cause of God, and carelessly expend money in holiday amusements, in dress and folly, and when there is a call made for the advancement of the work in home and foreign missions, they have nothing to give, or even have overdrawn their account. Thus they rob God in tithes and offerings, and through their selfish indulgence they lay the soul open to fierce temptations, and fall into the wiles of Satan.
(CS 249.2)
We should be on our guard, and not allow ourselves to spend money upon that which is unnecessary, and simply for display. We should not permit ourselves to indulge tastes that lead us to pattern after the customs of the world, and rob the treasury of the Lord.—The Review and Herald, December 19, 1893.
(CS 249.3)
Industry and Economy in the Family
I was shown that you, my brother and sister, have much to learn. You have not lived within your means. You have not learned to economize. If you earn high wages, you do not know how to make it go as far as possible. You consult taste or appetite instead of prudence. At times you expend money for a quality of food in which your brethren cannot afford to indulge. Dollars slip from your pocket very easily....
(CS 249.4)
It is as wrong for you to fail to use your strength to the best advantage, as it is for a rich man to covetously retain his riches because it is agreeable to do so. You do not make the exertion that you should to support your family. You can and do work if work is conveniently prepared to hand; but you do not exert yourself to set yourself to work, feeling that it is a duty to use your time and strength to the very best advantage, and in the fear of God.
(CS 250.1)
You have been in a business which would at times yield you large profits at once. After you have earned means, you have not studied to economize in reference to a time when means could not be earned so easily, but have expended much for imaginary wants. Had you and your wife understood it to be a duty that God enjoined upon you, to deny your taste and your desires, and make provision for the future, instead of living merely for the present, you could now have had a competency, and your family have had the comforts of life. You have a lesson to learn which you should not be backward in learning. It is to make a little go the longest way....
(CS 250.2)
Jesus wrought a miracle, and fed five thousand, and then He taught an important lesson of economy: “Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.”John 6:12. Duties, important duties, rest upon you. “Owe no man anything.”Romans 13:8. Were you infirm, were you unable to labor, then your brethren would be in duty bound to help you. As it is, all you needed from your brethren when you changed your location, was a start. If you felt as ambitious as you should, and you and your wife would agree to live within your means, you could be free from embarrassment. You will have to labor for small wages as well as for large. Industry and economy would have placed your family, ere this, in a much more favorable condition.—Testimonies for the Church 2:431-436.
(CS 250.3)
Economy From Principle
Those whose hands are open to respond to the calls for means to sustain the cause of God and to relieve the suffering and the needy, are not the ones who are found loose and lax and dilatory in their business management. They are always careful to keep their outgoes within their income. They are economical from principle; they feel it their duty to save, that they may have something to give.—Testimonies for the Church 4:573.
(CS 251.1)
The First Lesson—Self-Denial
I have seen poor families struggling with debt, and yet the children were not trained to deny themselves in order to aid their parents. In one family where I visited, the daughters expressed a desire for an expensive piano. Gladly would the parents have gratified this wish, but they were embarrassed with debt. The daughters knew this, and had they been taught to practice self-denial, they would not have given their parents the pain of denying their wishes; but although they were told that it would be impossible to gratify their desires, the matter did not end there. The wish was expressed again and again, thus continually adding to the heavy burden of the parents.
(CS 251.2)
On another visit I saw the coveted musical instrument in the house, and knew that some hundreds of dollars had been added to the burden of debt. I hardly know whom to blame most, the indulgent parents or the selfish children. Both are guilty before God. This one case will illustrate many. These young persons, although they profess to be Christians, have never taken the cross of Christ; for the very first lesson to be learned of Christ is the lesson of self-denial. Said our Saviour, “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”Luke 9:23. In no way can we become disciples of Christ, except by complying with this condition.—The Signs of the Times, March 31, 1887.
(CS 251.3)