Hey Kids, Could You Use a Little More Money?

by Gary Calton
via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 16 No. 3, September 30, 1990

There’s nothing like a little added incentive to get your attention. Everyone would like to make a "little" more money to ease the burden of bills. Recently, the Wall Street Journal reported that researchers Greg Duncan at the University of Michigan and Saul Hoffman at the University of Delaware have looked at the effect of "righteous living" on the economic status of young women. They didn’t intend to look at "righteous living," but it works out that way.

They found that teenagers who graduated from high school and did not have an "out of wedlock birth" generally avoided poverty later in life. Indeed, they found that the family income of these girls in later life was consistently 50 to 100 percent greater. This was true for both black and white women. The impact of illegitimacy and lack of achievement was more severe on black women than on white women, with average family incomes of 33 percent less for those who did not "live righteously" for white women as opposed to 50 percent less family income for black women who strayed from the path of righteousness.

The income levels for those girls who did not "live righteously" were associated with a lower rate of marriage, a lower earning rate for the husband where he existed, and declining welfare levels.
The question immediately arises as to whether I have correctly associated "righteous living" with the lack of a high school diploma and illegitimacy. Surely, no one defends the immorality of illegitimacy (I Corinthians 6:9-10). On the other hand, finishing school may not seem so serious--but it is.

I have never heard of any girl’s parents asking their lovely child to drop out of school. In fact, just the opposite is always encouraged. The Holy Spirit, through Paul, tells all young people to

• "...obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right"
• "'Honor your father and mother'—which is the first commandment with a promise" and
• "that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth." (Ephesians 6:1-3).

Now, if I have ever seen the Lord’s word prove true, this is one sure instance. Sometimes, you may think that Mother and Dad don’t know what they’re talking about. After all, they are old beyond belief. But they have lived through the years these research professors talked about. They have seen, first-hand, the problems that young ladies, both in and out of the church, have had when they have engaged in things the Lord condemns and their parents begged them.

Before you reach for the pleasure of sin, think about it. Count the cost. Remember what Jesus said about friends' attitude when you begin something you can’t finish (Luke 14:28-29). They ridicule the person who doesn’t count the cost. Moses counted the cost when presented with the pleasures of sin (Hebrews 11:25-26). He is still remembered, but virtually no one knows the names of his companions in Pharoah’s household.

The long-range view of eternity versus the short-range view of pleasure should always be tempered by God’s promise that "godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come" (I Timothy 4:8). We should never lose sight of this promise which Paul goes on to say in I Timothy 4:9, is "a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance."

We must strive to learn to live "with the Master." His ways make this life a pleasure and promise even more when we leave this mortal life.