Have you ever compared what you had with someone else? Do you worry about your possessions? Do your possessions (or the desire to accumulate them) get in the way of your devotion to God?
Jesus didn't have a place to live; He slept outside and in friends' houses. God's value system is obviously very different than ours. Here is some wisdom and scriptures about earthly riches, eternal riches, earthly poverty and spiritual poverty.
Top 10 Things "Poor" People and "Rich" People Have in Common
10. They both need the same amount of sleep.
9. They both have 24 hours in a day.
8. They both have responsibilities.
7. They both need Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
6. They both have to do things they may not feel like doing (like work, managing finances, paying taxes, paying bills, maintaining their possessions, visits to doctors/dentists, waiting, helping, etc.).
5. They both are empty without Christ's love.
4. They both can only wear one set of clothes, drive one vehicle, live in one house and live with one family at a time.
3. They both have thoughts, feelings and words that matter to God.
2. They both have the same Bible.
1. They are both equal in the sight of God.
Reasons Why It's Better to be "Poor" than "Rich"
- The more things in your life, the more distractions you have. If God gave us everything we've ever wanted, we would have so much junk in our life, we wouldn't be able to love God and prioritize Him like we should.
- Money can't buy you the right kind of happiness. Would you even want to buy friends?
- If you had a million dollars, you would probably think you had more control of things than you really do. God is in total control and we are not, no matter how much or how little we possess. We will always have the need for faith in God.
- We can't take anything with us to Heaven. Don't let your biggest treasure on Earth be asphalt in Heaven (there will be streets of gold in Heaven).
- We're required to worship God, serve God and love God. How much money does it take to do that? None.
- My calling is not simply acquiring degrees or making a lot of money.
- Money won't necessarily bring you godly friends.
- I'm convinced my life is gonna be about more than getting stuff and money.
- The more you think that money brings happiness, the more you will be unhappy without it.
- Life is not about money or what people want you to do.
Scriptures
Matthew 6:19-21 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
Luke 18:22-30 "So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me. But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. And those who heard it said, Who then can be saved? But He said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God. Then Peter said, See, we have left all and followed You. So He said to them, Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life."
1 Timothy 6:10 "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."
Some Definitions of Materialism
- a preoccupation with or stress upon material rather than intellectual or spiritual things
- a doctrine that the only or the highest values or objectives lie in material well-being and in the furtherance of material progress
Exhortation
Do you have a problem with materialism? God knows what you're going through. He loves you and wants you to choose Him over earthly wealth. Since we live in a world that values earthly riches, it can be easy to "play by their rules". However, no matter what anyone says or how much pressure you feel to get more things, Christ is on the throne. He is waiting for you to acknowledge Him and let Him be number one in your life. Sometimes when we put things in front of God, He takes them from us, so we can see Him like we should. Please repent from any materialistic sins (selfishness, greed, foolishness, ungodliness, pride, jealousy, envy, etc.) and seek God!
Love in Christ,
Jason Gastrich
