THE RULER IS SHRINKING
Why Bitcoin Looks Expensive When Money Is Losing Meaning
Every year, a father stands his child against the kitchen doorway and places a pencil mark just above her head.
He writes the date beside it. Seven years old. Eight. Nine. Ten.
Over time the marks climb steadily upward until the doorway quietly becomes a family history written in graphite. Children grow. Parents smile. Life moves forward one year at a time.
Now imagine something absurd.
Imagine that while the child sleeps, someone returns each year and trims an inch from the ruler used to measure her. The father continues marking the doorway, convinced the measurements remain accurate. The numbers still appear precise. The process still feels official. But the ruler itself has changed.
Eventually someone announces that the child has stopped growing.
The father knows something is wrong. The child has not changed. The measurement has. That is precisely what has happened to modern money.
When people say bitcoin is expensive, they almost always mean it takes more dollars to buy the same amount of bitcoin than it once did. Hidden inside that statement is an assumption few people ever question: that the dollar itself has remained constant.
It has not. The ruler has been shrinking.
The prophet Amos described a merchant who “made the ephah small and the shekel great.” He did not openly rob the poor. He simply adjusted the measure while preserving the appearance of fairness. The transaction looked honest because the numbers still balanced. The injustice was hidden inside the measurement itself.
God did not overlook it. He called it evil.
Proverbs tells us that dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord, while Leviticus commands honest weights and honest measures. These passages are often treated as ancient marketplace regulations, but they reveal something far deeper about God’s character. The Lord cares about truth, and every measurement is ultimately a truth claim. Whenever the measure is quietly altered, trust begins to erode.
That is why inflation is never merely an economic conversation. It is a moral one.
Most people experience inflation as higher prices. Groceries become more expensive. Tuition climbs. Insurance premiums quietly rise. Housing drifts further beyond reach. Yet the deeper story is not that everything else suddenly became more valuable. Often it is that the measuring stick itself has slowly lost purchasing power.
Bitcoin forces us to confront that uncomfortable possibility. Bitcoin is not merely an asset rising against the dollar. It is a scarce monetary unit being measured by currencies intentionally designed to expand. That distinction changes everything.
Imagine a young family living responsibly. They save diligently. They postpone vacations. They cook more meals at home. They avoid unnecessary debt. At the end of the year they have faithfully added to their savings account.
Across town, however, newly created money enters the financial system. It reaches governments first. Then large banks. Then major corporations. Then financial markets.
Assets begin to rise. Stocks appreciate. Real estate becomes more expensive. Those closest to newly created money benefit before its effects spread through the broader economy. Months later, the family’s employer finally offers a modest raise. The number on the paycheck increases, but by then the cost of the house they hoped to buy has already moved beyond them.
Nothing was stolen in plain sight. Yet something was taken. Economists call this the Cantillon Effect. Scripture would simply recognize a familiar pattern. The measure changed. The people furthest from the source paid the price.
The Founders understood this long before modern central banking existed. Their experience with Continental Currency during the Revolutionary War left scars that shaped how they viewed money. They had watched paper promises multiply while purchasing power disappeared. They did not reject paper currency because they lacked imagination. They rejected monetary manipulation because they possessed memory. Even Article I, Section 10 quietly reflects that lesson, reminding future generations that honest government cannot remain indifferent to honest money.
History has a remarkable way of repeating itself when memory fades.
Today, we often congratulate ourselves because inflation arrives gradually instead of all at once. Yet slow deterioration does not become stability simply because it lacks drama. A dishonest currency can leave the number untouched while quietly stealing the life inside it.
Bitcoin may not be becoming expensive as quickly as the dollar is becoming small.
That sentence deserves careful thought. Because if the ruler itself is changing, then every financial decision built upon that ruler deserves to be examined again.
This is why I have come to see bitcoin less as a lottery ticket and more as a savings technology. Lottery tickets promise sudden wealth without discipline. Savings preserve today’s labor for tomorrow’s needs. Those are profoundly different ideas.
One appeals to greed. The other rewards stewardship.
Inflation is what happens when the ruler changes but the authorities insist your height is the problem.
That is why measuring bitcoin only in dollars can become misleading. It is like judging the child while refusing to inspect the ruler. Honest measurement begins by asking whether the standard itself remains trustworthy.
Time then becomes part of the equation.
If a currency is designed to lose purchasing power over long periods, waiting is no longer neutral. Every year spent standing still carries its own hidden cost. The question is no longer whether bitcoin can withstand the passing of time.
The deeper question is whether money designed to expand indefinitely can withstand a world increasingly searching for something that cannot.
Kingdom Principle 👑
God cares deeply about honest measurement because truth cannot flourish where the measure itself has been quietly bent.
Wise stewardship begins by examining the ruler before trusting the measurement. Whether we are evaluating money, success, or legacy, the standard must remain anchored in truth rather than convenience.
Prayer 🙏
Heavenly Father, thank You for being the God of truth, justice, and honest measures. Guard our hearts from accepting deception simply because it has become familiar.
Give us wisdom to discern what is true, courage to question what has quietly drifted, and humility to steward faithfully every resource You have entrusted to us. Teach us to measure our lives, our work, and our money according to Your standards rather than the changing values of the world.
May our lives reflect honesty, integrity, and faithfulness in every measure.
In Jesus’ name, Amen. 🙏📖⚖️₿🕊️👑