“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.  My new word today is parsimony and I am sure I have never seen that word before.  The freedictionary.com web site 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 stingy person’s moral and social health may be compromised.  The verse above clearly steers us away from a stingy man.

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

Along the same school of thought, the Apostle Paul instructed Timothy in this way.  “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 to not be so tight-fisted with what we have as everything is on loan to us from God.  We must be good and do good and share it all with a charitable heart.  One of the best examples of stingy I can think of is the character Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens 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 he was visited by the Three Ghosts of Christmas.  The story is quite an exaggeration in extremes and does a fantastic job in depicting the contrast between stingy versus generosity.

Stingy, greed, hoarding, refusing to share to me represent a hole in someone’s character; a hole that is ever empty.  Maybe this is the result of a lack of an authentic spiritual foundation or lack of genuine compassion.  Being stingy with your time, resources and talents signals a core base of total selfishness.  God wants us to enjoy His blessings and he wants us to use those blessings to make a difference in the world around us. 

LORD, instill in me the desire to give generously of every gift YOU have given me.  Open my heart and eyes to see and respond to the needs of others.  I am blessed with more than enough and to YOU I give the praise.  In JESUS name I pray, Amen.