Wealth

I know this topic has been done alot but once again I'm bothered by it (I dont really read the bible anymore as it's just a giant list Of why I'm not going to heaven. ) I realize I got alot of stuff and its difficult to get rid of alot and that bothers me as I'm constantly looking for something to worry about. But verses like the camel and needle bring me grief as I feel like the guy who couldn't sell his belongings and I should be willing to do anything for God but I cant

If Jesus is your Lord and Savior then you're going to heaven. As far as doing things for God just do the work that your Heavenly Father has prepared for you to accomplish beforehand. My counsel is to stop sweating all of this small stuff and to allow God to do the heavy lifting.

the bar is set high. very high. most of us dont get anywhere near it. pray for amazing grace.

Brother.... the bible is not a book to tell you all the reasons youre not going to heaven


Though it will tell us all why we deserve a just punishment....

and also the good news of Christ
😁


Money is not evil

The LOVE of money is different


I posted this earlier today but I want to post it again here if you dont mind bro


matthew 19

16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?

17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,

19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?

21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

_________

Jesus was telling this man how to be perfect

this man believed his works regarding the commandments were perfect (including loving his neighbor as himself)

Jesus is saying ohhhhh is that so?

then give up all your things and follow me
(to expose where this mans heart really was.... it is not evil to have possessions)


22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions


______

Luke 10
25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
(again a man looking to be justified by works)
27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
(this man believes he actually does this fully)
28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
(Jesus says knowing this man is self righteous yaaa thats all you need then if you are correct)
29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
(as if he truely does this knowing Jesus does not believe him asks ohhh who is my neighbor maybe i am wrong mockingly)


30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.

33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,

34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.

36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?

37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.

____________


that amount of money
as well as offering for excess was .... a lot of money at that time....

this exposes that man who believed he was doing these things is actually wrong......

he does not love his enemy as himself as he ought to in order to be perfect

let alone his literal neighbor....
people try to take and mix up

reproof

instruction for righteousness

the law

and works

and try to say a man needs more than grace and faith to be saved (which isnt true)


________

its better we use what God provides wisely than tossing it away without care


turn your 1 into 10 in a respectable way and share more than you could have with 1


build a foundation.... provide jobs (examples of why wealth in of itself can be fruitful)

Speaking of "Jobs" ... Job was very wealthy and we did the study on him with @Devin02

I agree with OneOfHis.

These verses came to mind immediately.
I'm sure you know John 3:16. But take a look at the next two verses:

Joh 3:17 "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
Joh 3:18 "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

In the rich young ruler passage, Jesus tells him to sell all he has and give to the poor to show him that he is imperfect, flawed and can not keep all of the law, and therefore can not save himself by trying to keep the law. He needs to realize his need for the savior, that his works are flawed and do not lead to salvation, only faith in Christ can save. So the point of this passage isn't that we should all rush out and sell everything we have. The point is that whatever your circumstance, rich or poor, you need the savior, you need to put your faith in Christ for salvation, not in yourself or in your works.

Here is Paul's attitude to wealth and poverty; it was not as issue, just a circumstance:
Php 4:12 I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.

Financial blessings are also from the Lord. Just pray for enough to keep you from being too poor or too rich. Avoid extremes to avoid losing your way.

Proverbs 30:8-9 King James Version (KJV)
8 Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me:

9 Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.

Let go and let God!

Trust in Him and surrender all and watch Him work wonders and miracles in your life. Believe that Jesus really did die on the cross FOR YOU!! He’s taken your sins and has defeated death!! What more can we ask for?!

Hmm... money!

Say, have you ever played a video game? You fire up the game, get some story, identify the resources (skills/gold/magic/XP/additional characters/whatever) you will need to get more powerful and beat the game, and start grinding. Problem is, grinding can quickly become the reason you are playing the game, to get more skills/gold/magic/XP/whatevah, and you can lose sight of the whole reason you are playing the game.

That's what money and stuff are in life. The more you have, the more powerful you are. And you never know how much will be enough, because you never know what will happen in the future and how much you will need to deal with whatever happens, so more is better, right? But for a LOT of people, grinding becomes the reason they play the game and they totally lose sight of the important things in life... like actually living it, not just existing to grind.

Money is just a tool. You can do a lot with it, but it's still just a tool you use in life. When you get to the end of your story you will die, no matter how much money you have. Stuff is just other tools you bought with money. It all gets you through life. But if it is the REASON you are going through life, well... you're gonna be real messed up when you get to the end of the game. All the stuff you spent so much time grinding for will be gone.

That ain't saying money is bad. It's the LOVE of money that is evil, not money itself. Even the Bible says that money answers all things.

Just don't let money and stuff get out of its proper place in life. It's not the reason we are playing this game. It's just a tool to use while we're playing it.

My best advice in this and in general for someone who seems to go from seeing one fatal flaw to another in themselves, is to just accept that you can't trust your own perceptions and find someone wise and trusted to check those with so you have someone who knows you and can tell you that how you use your money is not primarily self focused, some time spent in "unspiritual" leisure is necessary, and when your perceptions are just off base (or confirm that you're out of line and completely correct that this is something important you do need to work on).

As a practical moment from my own life, a few christmases ago I wanted some new and nice dishes and when I didn't get them I went out and bought them for what seemed to me like a lot of money to be spending on myself (which I kind of have problems buying myself things I don't really need (unless they're board games on sale)). I was stressing over it a bit and wondering if I was being selfish and God just had to kind of give me a reality check and say "Cinder, someone who stresses about spending half as much money on stuff for herself as she just gave away to other people is not in danger of being a selfish person". And that was pretty much the end of it, though I still think probably too long and hard before spending very much money on new items I want.

Money by itself is not evil. Money is just money. It is the lack of money that causes evil. It is working at a job we hate that is evil. Working hard yet not earning enough to provide for our families is evil. For some, being deeply in debt is evil. Fighting with people you love over money is evil. Being greedy is evil. And committing criminal or immoral acts to get money is evil. - robert kiyosaki

sure that's not a cliché invented by rich Christians to feel good about themselves? an escape clause....

There must be a lot of evil in the world then. because you've described a loooooot of people!!

....Are you joking?

How can money be evil? It is amoral. It’s what you do with the finances and how you obtain it that can be defined as good or evil. Example, money prints your bibles, builds your churches, and send your missionaries into foreign countries. How can it be evil?

Dont feel bad. Just donate more to the poor.

morefaithrequired, haven't I seen you on a digital audio workstation chatroom somewhere? I swear you were in chat that day...

I was talking about I just installed a new sound board at church, because our old one finally gave up the ghost. Somebody got snippy with me because my church spent money on a sound board instead of using it to feed the poor. "What about the poor who are hungry? Oh, I know - Show them your neat sound board. That'll take care of them."

I mentioned that our church does do a lot for the poor around here. The snippy person said yeah, but we're spending money on a sound board when we could be giving that in addition to what we already do for the poor. I questioned how much Snippy gave to the poor. Snippy said that didn't matter, because the churches are the ones who make a big deal of helping people, so it is our burden to bear.

Finally I observed that if his rock band, and others like it, would contribute a bit to help the poor, maybe there wouldn't BE so much burden on the churches. Snippy shutteth up. I guess he didn't have a counter ready.

So yeah, I could swear I met you in a chat room somewhere...

You shouldn’t feel bad for being prosperous. That is a poverty mentality. That you are rich means you’re adding value into people’s lives, supply and demand. You can do good with your money but don’t do it out of a place of guilt, because everyone would like to be well off. To feel bad for doing well in life is ignorant, because they too desire to be successful. Compassion and guilt are not the same thing. You give out of love, not shame.

Did I say I feel bad?

I am just confused as to why you would say what you said....


Do you believe money is evil?

If so can you explain why?