What is Jesus' view on being wealthy?
In today's world, money seems to rule everything and very many preachers focus their teachings on prosperity in life , with a lot of reference to money. This all has me confused
Stephanie, many preachers teach a lie based upon prosperity theology, which is basically the idea that God wants all of his people to be wealthy. There's much in scripture about the PURSUIT of wealth - making money out to be a god, and that's what the prosperity message does, make money a god. Does this mean that a wealthy person (and keep in mind, wealth is relative) can't be a disciple of Christ? No, but like every other disciple, that person must renounce everything they own, which means renouncing being owned by things (like money) or relationships, so that Satan can't use these things to pull us away from God; in Luke 14:26-33 Christ sums it all up.
No one should be teaching anyone to "worship money".
Money is a "tool" to be used. Being rich is not a sin.
Every parent would love for their child to succeed in life. It's unrealistic that God the father would want less for his children.
John 10:34
"Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?"
Psalm 23
"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want."
Matthew 7:7-8 KJV
"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you"
"For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened."
Philippians 4:13 KJV
"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me"
Having said that there seems to be two schools of thought.
Some people only want ministers to preach fire and brimstone.
While others are looking for practical ways to apply biblical principles to succeed and live happy prosperous lives.
Both teachings can be found in the bible. You get to choose which message resonates best with you. It's all in the same book!
"Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe." - Saint Augustine
Money is not evil, but the love of money is, replacing worship of God with a worship of things.
Jesus did criticize the prosperity gospel in his story on the widow's mite. He's not asking her to give all her money. He's condemning the well dressed priests in a temple full of gold for demanding all she has so they can be even richer.
A devotion to the gathering of wealth is not compatible with devotion to God. Yahweh must always be the most important thing in our lives. Seeking first the Kingdom of God and its principles will always give reverence to our Father in heaven, rather than devotion to wealth. Wealth is not a sign of God's favour, just as being poor is not a punishment of sin. A Kingdom principle of those who have wealth is that they must be generous towards those who are poor to avoid, and not put hope in their wealth to avoid arrogance.
Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.....’ Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,f you did it to me.’- Matthew 25:34-36;40
Our goal in life is to not store up the temporal things of this world, but to store up treasures in heaven. The man-driven system of the world is in rebellion towards the words of Yahshua (Jesus).
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. - Matthew 6:19-21
To have wealth is not as sin, but if Kingdom principles are denied, it will lead to all kinds of grief and temptation and ultimately rejection from the King of Kings.
Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven. - Proverbs 23:4-5
You are confused because you are thinking reasonably and rationally about God and the Bible.
So, there is nothing inherently incompatible with being wealthy and serving God (examples King Solomon, Job) as long as you serving God (Exodus 20:3) first and above all else. Jesus never condemned a person for being rich. He challenged them to consider how they glorify their wealth and how that wealth is to be used in service to others (e.g. Matthew 19:16-22).
The prosperity gospel is what happens when dominant culture invades Bible doctrine. You don't need God to be wealthy, yet in the prosperity gospel god is wealth. Here, Jesus is demoted to functional savior that serves the function of granting riches. One you get the riches there is no need for Christ (c.f. Luke 16:13).
III John 2 "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth!"
Being wealthy is not wrong, what is wrong is how some have used their status of being wealthy to oppress those who are not or probably used their wealth in ways that have brought suffering and pain to others. Just as some negative things have been brought about by wealth and riches, poverty has also led people to sin, so i think one of the things Jesus wanted was for us to live in peace. Stealing,prostitution just to name a few have been bred by poverty. What Jesus wanted was for us to prosper and live a peaceful live.
About health.
A healthy person is a person who does not use drugs and pills. If God is the father to us the nature is the mother for us. Nature must (can) cure us!
About anger. A believer has no right to be angry. If a person often is angry he can not be healthy.
About money.
We need money to be independent. If you constantly think about money you are slave of money. A slave could not be happy!
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