What does Proverbs 22:2 mean?

Both in the ancient world and today people often judge another's worth by their wealth (Proverbs 14:20). This is not how God values people, however. All people are created in God's image (Genesis 1:27). Salvation is available to all people alike (John 3:16–18; Galatians 3:28; Proverbs 14:31). A person can be poor or rich and approved by God for their faith in Him (Hebrews 11:6). On the other hand, a poor person or a rich person might well be defying God's commands. God does not determine a person's worth by their bank account, nor does He use such things to indicate His level of approval. The universal destiny of all people is to face God and be judged (Hebrews 9:27; Proverbs 11:4).

John 3:16 states that God's love for all humanity was expressed in sending Christ, so that believers might have eternal life. Money cannot make anyone more important in God's sight, but Jesus' redeeming grace makes all believers rich by becoming God's children. Second Corinthians 8:9 says: "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich." No one is excluded from the love Jesus showed by dying on the cross. First John 2:2 states categorically that Jesus "is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world." It doesn't matter to the Lord whether a person is rich or poor. He promises: "All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out" (John 6:37).