The Book of Proverbs contains a powerful verse that is frequently taken out of context: “A good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children, but a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous” (Proverbs 13:22, NIV). This scripture is not a divine endorsement of diligent labor solely for the purpose of bequeathing material wealth to one’s grandchildren. To focus on financial accumulation as the primary application of this proverb is to veer completely off course. We must first clarify the true meaning and significance of this “inheritance,” defining it according to Jesus’ own standard of what constitutes a “good” person.
Consider the account in Luke’s Gospel:
“Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.’ Jesus replied, ‘Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?’ Then he said to them, ‘Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.’” (Luke 12:13–15, NIV)
Jesus addressed this issue by expressing indignation at the questioner’s preoccupation with material division. He then illustrated his point with the parable of the rich fool, effectively demonstrating that amassing wealth for the sake of leaving an inheritance is not the mark of the “good man” described in Proverbs 13:22. Rather, a legacy that endures across generations is rooted in righteous teaching and character formation—an education that instills in children the principle of adding value to others, rather than hoarding blessings exclusively for themselves.
Hard work is commonly considered necessary by ordinary people. But it was hard work that unnecessarily afflicted humanity after Adam’s curse. God did not create humanity in His own image so that they would toil and perish miserably. It is unnecessary to succumb to living under harsh conditions, scrounging for survival. Why is it necessary to work hard merely to survive? Jesus came for the purpose of granting us freedom—even from physical toil.
Yet troubling questions persist. Can a person be happy without money in the bank? Can anyone be happy when unsure where his next meal will come from, or that of his children? Can one be truly happy when looked down upon or despised by his peers? Can a person be truly happy when uncertain how his wife and children will face life’s struggles after his death?
These questions have long troubled some people. But they do not necessarily trouble those who have attained true freedom in Christ. Happiness does not come from an abundance of wealth, nor from being admired by others. Neither does happiness come from scarcity, nor from the inability to feed one’s children. Happiness is a result of spiritual freedom.
“I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:9–10, NIV)
A person who is in Christ is not anxious about his personal survival, but about the survival of others. He differs from those considered rich, whose concerns arise from anxiety—fearing the loss of everything through inflation or some other unforeseen disaster. The rich man’s concern is often the likelihood of negative reactions from others if he were reduced to poverty.
The rich are rarely happy because of potential insecurity, even though they may never worry about having food for tomorrow. In Africa, they fear witchcraft, suspecting those they consider envious of their wealth. This includes concern about the reaction of ordinary people if their businesses crumble and they experience poverty. Such anxiety stems from an inability to treat others as equals during times of elevated ego.
Pride makes the wealthy feel threatened at the thought that those they once despised might suddenly become richer than them. Ordinary people often admire the rich; their poverty makes them feel dehumanized. But they do so without realizing what makes the rich miserable, even as they live in apparent abundance. Meanwhile, the poor strive to attain the status of wealth they see in those they admire.
The poor assume that hard work is necessary in order to acquire riches. For most people, the primary reason to work hard is to attain a luxurious living. But true luxurious living cannot exist in isolation from the poor people in one’s environment. Genuine luxury becomes possible only when those in one’s surroundings appreciate one’s services. Therefore, there can be no true luxury without committing oneself to serve fellow human beings. Stolen money may survive for a short while, but it never makes the beneficiary truly happy.
There is a kind of luxury that arises from ego. This is what entraps most of those considered rich. Here we observe a sharp distinction between two types of wealth. The wealth that comes through freedom is different from the wealth that comes through bondage or mere hard work. To illustrate this point, consider the lives of good comedians. Can anyone accept the notion that comedians are hard workers? I suppose not; comedians appear as natural as can be observed.
Comedians simply enjoy distributing their talent, making people laugh and relieving stress. Good comedians may have had difficult times while growing up. Strict parental discipline—assuming it is necessary—may have made their lives miserable, aiming to shape their destinies. This holds true for any other talent a child might possess but which strict parents consider unacceptable.
I suppose such parents are often surprised when their comical children turn out to be celebrities. Those parents would never have envisaged such children earning a good income as professional comedians. Perhaps such comedians have achieved what Jesus promised to humanity. Jesus came so that humanity might live in abundance. Those comedians do not carry the burden of how they will survive the following day.
Sadly, when surviving in a self-centred country like Zimbabwe, such comedians rarely receive sufficient reward. Think of legends like Mdhara Bhonzo, Mukadota, and Gringo, to mention but a few. A self-centred nation cannot care about rewarding the services of such people. The majority of inactive people assume that getting things for free enables the acquisition of wealth. But it is most likely that even when dying in poverty, comedians remain in their state of happiness.
They appear to know that happiness does not come from what one receives, but from what one gives. They may die poor, yet they have peacefully done well, entertaining the highly stressed ordinary people. When Jesus promised to provide abundant life, that life had to surpass what is experienced by those comedians. Unaware of this, even most Christians prefer to avoid some Scriptures, like the following:
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:25–33, NIV)
An average Christian asserts that everything said by Jesus is truthful. However, the actions of such Christians show that they remain stuck in unbelief regarding the above Scripture, while still identifying themselves as Christians. In Jesus, humans have a chance to return to the status of being God’s children. While expected to work hard for survival, Christians do not have to work hard for their own survival, but for the survival of other people.
In God’s Kingdom, everything is accomplished without stress. But even now, it is possible to achieve marvellous things when identifying with the purpose of one’s existence. The great inventors of this world were not necessarily Christians, yet they connected with the purpose for which they were created. The idea of working hard merely to survive is a result of being someone else, rather than being oneself. Professional comedians can therefore realize a good income in a field viewed as undemanding of hard work.
Incidentally, there cannot be hard work in playing one’s favourite sport. There is instead an enjoyment that keeps the person in high spirits of enthusiasm. This is why others accumulate wealth in the world of sport. Those sportsmen live better lives than those doing jobs commonly assumed necessary for survival. Competition is unnecessary when one identifies with one’s own purpose of existence.
A good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children, but a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous. (Proverbs 13:22, NIV)
Notice carefully that the mention of a good person does not necessarily refer to being hard-working. A good person has nothing to do with whether one is hard-working or not. But how does a person become good? This world has produced good people, but there can be no other model for goodness than looking at Jesus as the perfect standard. Access to goodness becomes possible when other people benefit from one’s services.
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” (Philippians 2:3–7, NIV)
This Scripture perfectly illustrates the significance of true riches. Valuing others above oneself appears to be the only assurance of a durable inheritance. Successful comedians succeed because they have valued other people above themselves. Successful billionaires like Elon Musk became successful because their dreams involved catering to the needs of humanity.
In the world of football, we have the likes of Lionel Messi and others realizing fortunes out of playing football, because these talented sports personalities do what satisfies the needs of millions of fans around the world. The principle of service carries the magic of realizing durable benefits. The inheritance for one’s children means adopting the idea of service in their minds, according to their innate talents. This has nothing to do with material accumulation, but with an attitude that focuses on serving fellow human beings.
True wealth does not need storage, and it carries no future concern for self. A highly talented comedian, valuing his audience, generates income without having received a physical inheritance. The attitude of service, even in comedy, is the only durable inheritance to leave one’s children. Life is about service, more than being served by others. How can we quantify the wealth of Jesus in monetary terms today? More so, how do we quantify the wealth of Jesus in the world to come? This describes the effects of service rendered by a man who died below the age of thirty-five—a service that spanned fewer than four years.
There is therefore a need to carefully study the lifestyle of that man. All this illustrates that the only way to true wealth and happiness is altruism. The mind of a greedy man suggests that the principle of altruism is not applicable. This is notwithstanding that the highly successful people recorded in this world serve the needs of their fellow humans in various ways. Striving to accumulate wealth only for oneself is striving towards poverty for one’s own future generations. However, striving to serve fellow humans across the world is striving towards true wealth for one’s future generations.
“I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labour, and this was the reward for all my toil. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 2:10–11, NIV)
This is one of the most popular Scriptures in the Bible, yet rarely do people stop to reflect on its significance. The problem of humanity lies in not knowing the purpose of living on this planet. The assumption has always been that the purpose of living is to be self-satisfied, without satisfying other people. Living up to seventy years is considered generous, even without showing anything for surviving that long—let alone those who live to a hundred or more. They would have long become a stressful burden to their grandchildren.
Having exhausted whatever physical inheritance, the grandparent becomes burdensome. Only a few people are motivated to work hard so they can provide for the rest of humanity. The most fascinating observation is that those striving to accumulate wealth only for their close families remain incapacitated, unable to achieve those objectives. This explains the toiling for vanity, as opposed to living to serve others. The laws of nature, though unobserved by most people, reveal that durable wealth is found in serving humanity without focusing on self—making it the only lasting investment for future generations.
Andrew Masuku is the author of Dimensions of a New Civilisation, laying down standards for uplifting Zimbabwe from the current state of economic depression into a model for other nations worldwide. A decaying tree provides an opportunity for a blossoming sprout. Written from a Christian perspective, the book is a product of inspiration, relieving those who have witnessed the strings of unworkable solutions, leading to the current economic and social decay. Most Zimbabweans should find the book to be a long-awaited providential oasis of hope, in a simple conversational tone.
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