MORAL STORIES

WISDOM OF A WEALTHY MAN

A well-known multimillionaire was travelling to a distant city. On the way, he approached a hotel to spend the night. The manager of the hotel easily recognized him and greeted him most heartily. He personally led the rich man to the most luxurious suite in the hotel and instructed the staff to provide all necessary amenities to the wealthy guest. While they were busily decorating the rooms and arranging more luxuries, he called the manager and said, “Sir, I don’t need such a luxurious room for a night’s stay. I need only an ordinary room.”

The manager was surprised to hear the unexpected request of his very wealthy guest. He told him, “But, Sir, Your son visits this hotel occasionally. He asks for the most expensive suite with all available amenities. I thought you too would appreciate the facilities available here.”

The rich man replied quite politely, “Please do not compare me with him. He is the son of a very wealthy man. But I am not.”

Later he told the manager that he came from a poor family and gradually became rich by his earnest and honest efforts, minimizing his expenses. Even after he became rich, he used to follow his principles and spend money very wisely, avoiding all unnecessary luxuries in life. A substantial portion of his income was regularly set apart for charity.

As he was not born rich, he was aware of the value of money. He believed that it was a sin to spend money for luxuries when millions were suffering from constant poverty and frequent starvation. Growing rich by rightful means and hard work is not sinful. But love of money and unwillingness to help the poor and needy around us using the money we received as God’s gift, are grave sins.

“Many people have been ruined because of money, brought face to face with disaster. Money is a trap for those who are fascinated by it, a trap that every fool falls into” {Sirach 31: 6, 7}.

“Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be satisfied with what you have” {Hebrews 13:5}.

“No one can be a slave of two masters; he will hate one and love the other; he will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money” {Matthew 6: 24, Luke 16:13}.

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By: Dr. Babu Philip, Professor, Cochin University of Science & Technology, Fine Arts Avenue, Kochi-682016, Kerala, India.

This is Story No. 157 in this site. Please click ‘Older Posts’ at the bottom of a page to read previous stories and click 'Newer Posts' at the bottom of a page to read newer stories in this site. Please click on a word in the 'Story Themes' to read stories on that theme.