Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and
the man that getteth understanding. For the
merchandise of it is better than the merchandise
of silver, and the gain thereof than fine
gold. She is more precious than rubies: and all
the things thou canst desire are not to be compared
unto her. Length of days is in her right
hand; and in her left hand riches and honour
(Proverbs 3:13-16)

This scripture says Wisdom holds life in one hand
and riches and honor in the other. Without honor,
wealth—or the prospect of wealth—is dangerous.
As we saw in chapter 3, Proverbs 1:32 says prosperity
will ruin a fool. Why? Because a fool will not know
how to handle prosperity honorably.

When prosperity ruins a fool, he doesn’t know it.
He will do everything he can to gain wealth—including
running right over you. He is a thief. He will steal
your time, even your thought life, by telling you a lie if
he thinks it will help him. He will steal your honor to
get what he wants.

A dishonorable person will always have money
problems. No matter how much wealth he accumulates,
he will always be in financial trouble.
A dishonorable person is driven by fear. That is
the reason he lies. He is afraid. Afraid of what? Afraid
of losing what he does have. He is also afraid of never
getting what he wants and doesn’t have.
Sadly, many “good” Christians, and even the
Church itself, have adopted this same attitude.

Our thinking has been so perverted by the world’s
ideas of finance that our attitude has become, “If I get
anything, I have to keep it. I must not let it get away.”
Actually, that is the most selfish, self-defeating attitude
a Christian or Christian organization can have. It is
also the most dishonorable thing we can do because
God gave us the power to get wealth in order to establish
His covenant on the earth.

Use what you have to establish God’s covenant,
to spread His Word throughout the world. The Lord
will replace that money if you honor Him and follow
the dictates of the covenant. If you are dishonorable
and hold tight to what you have, you will never have
much more than you do now. You will always be
either headed into financial trouble or just coming out
of financial trouble, and worried about it all the time.
Be honorable before God and do your part. He will
honor you. Believe God for your finances and act on
your belief.

If you don’t want to keep more than a few hundred
dollars a month for yourself and your family, that’s
your decision. I think you are cheating your family;
but that’s between you, your family and God. Go ahead
and believe God for $10,000, keep a few hundred dollars
of it, and put the rest into the work of God. The
blessings of the Lord will start overtaking you if you
stay in honor with God and keep His covenant.

God appreciates what you do for Him. He will
return it to you faster than you can invest it. I know,
because He has done it for me. These blessings will
overtake and overwhelm you. God will bless you
with riches faster than you can get rid of them. When
you begin to honor the covenant by supporting the
preaching of the gospel, God will honor you richly.

The Lord has promised, “Those who honor Me,
I will honor” (1 Samuel 2:30). What is that honor?

Can we identify it in Scripture? Yes, we can. He who is
faithful (or honorable) over little will be made master
over much (Luke 16:10-12; Matthew 25:21).

Riches and honor come with wisdom and
understanding. They are a part of the heritage of
the saints—those who honor God with their lives
and substance.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth
as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for
them of my Father which is in heaven (Matthew 18:19).

I want to share with you now about the covenant of marriage
between Gloria and me. There are some things that even the
minister who pronounced us husband and wife could not do
for us. We became one flesh, but there was more to it than that.
There was also a mental union and a spiritual union. The
preacher could not join us mentally. A mental union
cannot be pronounced and produced in 10 minutes.

It takes time. So too does a spiritual union before God. We are married physically. The Word of God says that her body belongs
to me, and my body belongs to her (1 Corinthians 7:4-5). We are married sexually. We don’t use it, either of us, in bribery or
extortion.

That is dishonorable.

We also are married mentally. It has taken Gloria time to figure
out that I don’t think like everybody else. (My mother and father could have told her that!) Actually, most people are that way.
We all think and act differently. No two people think exactly alike.

Gloria and I had to work at learning to think like each other.
As we did so, we started complementing each other. God
created us that way, to be one, to be full and strong together, instead of divided and weak in division and despair.

We also have been joined together spiritually. That is something
no preacher can do for us. God brought us together. In marriage, there is a miracle action that takes place just as when we
are born again. In the new birth, we became one with Jesus.

Gloria and I became one with each other when we stood before
the minister and were pronounced husband and wife. We agreed
to that union. There was a prayer of agreement, a prayer of covenant.

Marriage takes pulling with one another, praying with and for
one another. It takes seeking God to find out what we can do
to help, support, encourage and understand one another.
We have been at it now for over 30 years and
because of God’s honor between us, it gets sweeter
and stronger every day.

There were some things that I did for a long time which just
irritated Gloria, and I could not figure out why she was so
upset. That still happens occasionally. I can tell when she
is irritated about something, but she has too much spiritual
sense to throw a fit about it.

We have to be honorable in marriage and in the home.
We have to learn honor all over again, and we have to
teach it at home. We have to sit down with our children
and talk to them about it over and over.

Parents, teachers and pastors must all work together to
teach these principles to our children, so they will grow
up to be honorable young men and women. Then they
will pass on to their children and grandchildren what
they have learned from us.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries