Why are we so concerned about getting wealth?

[ladypeartree]

On 6/1/2022 at 5:39 AM, Sower said:

  Understand....

Impulse buying! When I got married I discovered credit cards, and my new wife had two. After a few years of our balance at the limit, we  decided to cut them up and go back to cash and carry. We remembered when we pull out those greenbacks to pay, what it took to earn them. Only use debit card now, a business necessity, and even then it is too easy to satisfy that impulse purchase, so I usually leave the web site and come back and reconsider. That helps. (Totally debt free now for many years.)
Because I'm cheap (frugal) though, it's still hard for me to pass up a bargain... (mostly tools)

Love the bargain bit ..If I think of buying something on line I will almost always leave it in the " basket " and go back a few days later to see if I still think I need it before I push that button ..most of the time I just empty the basket 

[Marathoner]

5 hours ago, Starise said:

All the Lord has given us here on this earth we are to be a stewards. The bible tells us to manage our affairs. If we don't have the oil in our cars changed the engine will fail very early, if we don't change the air filter in our heating/cooling system it will not be as efficient. If I fail in my family responsibilities my family will suffer. If I don't study the word as a believer it only hurts me.

If we don't have enough income to meet our expenses we either need to earn additional income of cut our expenses. Even if we have enough income a good manager will look for ways to further cut expenses or possibly increase income. If we have investments in bad places we should seek to move those investments to better places. If we don't manage our health, our bodies will deteriorate faster.

We should do the best we can with what we have whether it is little or much.

There is no sin in acquiring wealth. This is simply prosperity. The more you have the more responsibility you have.

Greed comes into play when a person is driven only by the goal to get money. For the greedy person they will never have what they think is enough.

Many people are understandably concerned about money. Many need to run a very tight financial ship to make ends meet or take other just measures to make sure those ends 'meet' when expenses come in. This is where priorities come into play. What can I do without? What could be cut back? Are there other options? 

God does not want people who lay back and expect Him to do all of the providing without us doing anything, unless we are totally helpless and dependent on Him. I'm thinking of elderly person or persons with health issues who can't honestly work.

If we have abilities, or ways to earn income we are expected to utilize those methods and not rely on someone else or a government program to sustain us. Sometimes this requires us to go outside of our comfort zones and maybe do things we don't like in order to earn a living. At least until we can get into something we DO like.

Those who have worked hard and are in retirement should not feel guilty if they do not work. They have saved for these days and now they reap the benefits of it. During these years the body grows weary and honestly isn't capable to do what it once did for many elderly. Sometimes having a job of some kind is really more the Lord's will for some elderly since it's good for them. Staying busy is tied to staying healthy.

I don't believe those who have an over abundance of this life's goods are supposed to squander it all on themselves. I would look at how those extra funds could help to grow the kingdom or help family and friends who need it. 

In this economy it is difficult to know the future other than to say, it doesn't look as if our money is going to go further in the future. Income will likely lose more and more potential. It takes wisdom in this day and age to determine how to navigate in these rough waters.

Well said, brother. 

It's worth comparing ourselves so that what you wrote above is better understood by those who are reading this topic. 

A husband's duty is to his wife and also to his children, if he is a father; a wife's duty is to her husband and also to her children, if she is a mother. This pleases the Lord so whatever he does, the husband must do for the good of his family. This is a great responsibility but also a blessing beyond compare. You have been given much!

My duty is only to the Lord, for I am neither married nor a father of children. Therefore, I render my duty to the Lord as it pleases Him, and there is great liberty for I may divest myself of possessions and money at any time. I have done this more than once, which is what precedes leaving one place and arriving at another. I liberate myself of whatever will burden me on the road. I give it away to whoever wants it.

I am at liberty to do this but my brother who has a wife has the greater responsibility, so he must be wise in what he does for her sake. You cannot be judged according to my place on account of the liberty I've been given in the Lord! If a husband does not consider his wife and children, he is a wicked steward; if I do not consider brethren who have husbands and wives (and children), then I am also a wicked steward of what the Lord has given. We both forget the needy charged to our care.  

 

[Ani Tefillah]

18 minutes ago, ladypeartree said:

Love the bargain bit ..If I think of buying something on line I will almost always leave it in the " basket " and go back a few days later to see if I still think I need it before I push that button ..most of the time I just empty the basket 

That's wise. 😊 Thank you for the tip. 

[Marathoner]

An example of liberty in the Lord.

My brother struggles to make ends meet so learning of this, I give him a sum of money to help with expenses. He will say, "Oh! I'll repay you as soon as I'm able, I give you my word." But I say, "This isn't a loan, and you owe me nothing. It was yours all along; I was just holding on to it for you!"

The mother in front of me at the checkout line is scrounging for pennies, so it's my joy to approach the cashier and pay her bill. Does this make me righteous? Holy? Nope. I'm just happy to do it so she and her children will have food on the table. I have it to give, so why not? 

I don't need much. A tuna sandwich drenched with ghost pepper sauce is a wonderful meal, but I'm the only mouth I have to feed.  

[TheBlade]

 ...getting wealth is not bad not evil. The streets in heaven.. yeah we walk on the purest gold there is. Sorry how is it in heaven? It was God through Christ that said on earth as it is in heaven. You have no needs there.. you have anything everything you want. I think for some you have not because you ask not or your asking wrong. Try not looking around you but try asking Him what He wants for you. As long as we say I want nothing... He won't go against our will. Hmm maybe when He (if we let Him) really truly blesses you.. not just for you but others. Some can handle it and He keeps blessing them. 

So again there is nothing what so ever wrong with getting/wanting wealth. Then the OP that for me never reply's left out so many scriptures on this. So its easy to make the word say what we want when we pick and choose..no offense. 

Edited June 2, 2022 by TheBlade

[*Deidre*]

I don't think that the OP was implying there is anything wrong with 'getting wealth,' but rather having an unhealthy concern over it. Money isn't evil in and of itself, it's when it becomes an idol, and when we seek it above our relationship with God, that it becomes a problem. It's a very subtle thing. No one really sets out to say ''Money is the most important thing to me!'' In a culture obsessed with consumerism, it's very easy to become obsessed with wealth, and always wanting more money.

Edited June 2, 2022 by *Deidre*

[Ani Tefillah]

Maybe one should study what the Lord says to and about the rich, and how He Himself lived when He was living down here? 

[Sower]

7 hours ago, Starise said:

Those who have worked hard and are in retirement should not feel guilty if they do not work. They have saved for these days and now they reap the benefits of it. During these years the body grows weary and honestly isn't capable to do what it once did for many elderly. Sometimes having a job of some kind is really more the Lord's will for some elderly since it's good for them. Staying busy is tied to staying healthy.

Having wealth received is good. To enjoy it, and accept what is received, is a gift from God, that not everybody receives.

The Fruit of Our Labor..(toil)

"Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil
with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot.

And it is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life—this is indeed a gift from God.

For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.

                ********************* * *************************

There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind:

a man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them. This is vanity; it is a grievous evil.

If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with life’s good things, and he also has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.
Ecclesiastes 5:18-Ecclesiastes 6:3

Finding enjoyment in what we have, is a gift from God, however much, however little......

    ( I'm the richest man I know )

[luigi]

Remember when the lame beggar asked Peter for some cash, and Peter responded that he had no gold or silver? Being head of the church in Jerusalem at the time, Peter could have had all the gold and silver he wanted.  

Edited June 2, 2022 by luigi

[Sower]

4 hours ago, luigi said:

Remember when the lame beggar asked Peter for some cash, and Peter responded that he had no gold or silver? Being head of the church in Jerusalem at the time, Peter could have had all the gold and silver he wanted.  

So you say Peter lied?  You reckon the lame man was disappointed that he was healed instead, and could now walk?

"And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple
that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple.

When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for some money.

And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.”

And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them

But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you.

In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”

And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong.

And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God"
Acts 3:2-8

I think you may have missed the point, luigi. Peter's gift to the lame man was more valuable than any money.