Is it OK to want to be rich?

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oyster67

oyster67

Senior Member
#1
May 24, 2014
11,887
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#1
IS IT OK TO WANT TO BE RICH?

1 Timothy
6:6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.
6:7 For we brought nothing into [this] world, [and it is] certain we can carry nothing out.
6:8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.
6:9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and [into] many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
6:10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
6:11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
 
B

Bbrdrd

Banned
#2
Apr 2, 2020
1,144
425
83
#2
oyster67 said:
IS IT OK TO WANT TO BE RICH?

1 Timothy
6:6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.
6:7 For we brought nothing into [this] world, [and it is] certain we can carry nothing out.
6:8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.
6:9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and [into] many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
6:10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
6:11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
Click to expand...
When you have Christ how could you possibly be richer?
 
SoulWeaver

SoulWeaver

Senior Member
#3
Oct 25, 2014
4,889
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#3
1 Timothy 6:17 Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;

People jumping off buildings during the great depression trusted in riches. It is wise to set apart some savings for the old age as to not be a burden to the church when we are too old to work, but money is not any means of safety and while we have "insurances" these are not true insurances, when markets crash and the merchants of the earth start wailing people see there is no one to keep us except God.
 
S

soggykitten

Well-known member
#4
Jul 3, 2020
2,322
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113
#4
oyster67 said:
IS IT OK TO WANT TO BE RICH?

1 Timothy
6:6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.
6:7 For we brought nothing into [this] world, [and it is] certain we can carry nothing out.
6:8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.
6:9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and [into] many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
6:10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
6:11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
Click to expand...

I am of the mind, if I think it is wrong to want to be rich, I should sell all I have and go ask the nearest homeless person how to work the streets so that I may survive there.
 
B

Bbrdrd

Banned
#5
Apr 2, 2020
1,144
425
83
#5
soggykitten said:
I am of the mind, if I think it is wrong to want to be rich, I should sell all I have and go ask the nearest homeless person how to work the streets so that I may survive there.
Click to expand...
The issue with wanting to be rich is the same as a lot of desires, many are quick to sabotage, cut, and tear down others in the process of satisfying those desires. I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting to live a safe, comfortable life without want but to desire wealth for the sake of wealth is to place your love in something other than God. Once someone learns to be content with what they have they will always be rich, but if they look to what there will never be enough wealth to satisfy.
 
MessageOfTheCross

MessageOfTheCross

Senior Member
#6
Sep 3, 2016
6,344
530
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#6
If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? Matthew 7:11

Keep Asking, Seeking, Knocking
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Matthew 7
 
Blain

Blain

The Word Weaver
#7
Aug 28, 2012
19,212
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#7
Even though I admit I would love to have money I cannot be trusted with it I used to have to have my money out of reach because I just gave it all away I am not good at saving money even with what little I do have I have this giving away or spending it on others kind of mentality.

I believe what good is having money if I can't help people with it, but you klnow while it isn't fair people who are poor are far more grateful for things than those who have much. I was remembering this horror series I used to watch before I was saved called saw, honestly I never liked blood and gore but I liked the story. This man did all he did to teach people to value their lives he had terminal cancer but I saw something that I was thinking about recently I saw how he treasured something as simple as a glass of water.

That is profound to me, I mean we take everything for granted and it is almost as if it is human nature to only know what we have when it is gone. But wow.... to treasure something as simple as a glass of water like that.... that is something money cannot buy
 
MessageOfTheCross

MessageOfTheCross

Senior Member
#8
Sep 3, 2016
6,344
530
113
#8
MessageOfTheCross said:
If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? Matthew 7:11

Keep Asking, Seeking, Knocking
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Matthew 7
Click to expand...
And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his Commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the Earth (Deuteronomy 28:1)

In this tremendous Chapter, we have a promise of Blessings which are absolutely unparalleled. Some may argue that the Lord did these things for Israel under the Old Covenant, but will not do them for modern Christians under the New Covenant. There is nothing in the Word of God that even remotely lends credence to such an idea. We presently have, in fact, a much better Covenant, based on better Promises than anything in the Old Covenant (Hebrews 8:6).

In this panoply of Promises, five great things are said.
They are:

1. "And all these blessings shall come on you, and overtake you": This literally means that the blessings of the Lord will literally chase down the individual. What a promise! (Deuteronomy 28:2).

2. "The LORD shall command the Blessing upon you": At this moment, if we will only believe it, the Lord is commanding blessing upon us. We must believe it, expect it, and receive it (Deuteronomy 28:8).

3. "And the LORD shall make you plenteous in goods": "Plenty" is what the Lord here promises. The word "goods" means everything that we need, whatever it might be (Deuteronomy 28:11).

4. "The LORD shall open unto you His good treasure": The Lord here tells us that we Believers literally have access to the treasure house of Heaven. Again, what a Promise! (Deuteronomy 28:12)

5. "And the LORD shall make you the head and not the tail": To use an earthly vernacular, someone, regarding an Alaskan dog-sled team, has well said, "if you're not the lead dog, the view never changes." To continue to use the earthly vernacular, the Lord intends for His People to be the "lead dog" (Deuteronomy 28:13).

All of this is made possible by the Cross!

JSM
 
Blain

Blain

The Word Weaver
#9
Aug 28, 2012
19,212
2,547
113
#9
MessageOfTheCross said:
And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his Commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the Earth (Deuteronomy 28:1)

In this tremendous Chapter, we have a promise of Blessings which are absolutely unparalleled. Some may argue that the Lord did these things for Israel under the Old Covenant, but will not do them for modern Christians under the New Covenant. There is nothing in the Word of God that even remotely lends credence to such an idea. We presently have, in fact, a much better Covenant, based on better Promises than anything in the Old Covenant (Hebrews 8:6).

In this panoply of Promises, five great things are said.
They are:

1. "And all these blessings shall come on you, and overtake you": This literally means that the blessings of the Lord will literally chase down the individual. What a promise! (Deuteronomy 28:2).

2. "The LORD shall command the Blessing upon you": At this moment, if we will only believe it, the Lord is commanding blessing upon us. We must believe it, expect it, and receive it (Deuteronomy 28:8).

3. "And the LORD shall make you plenteous in goods": "Plenty" is what the Lord here promises. The word "goods" means everything that we need, whatever it might be (Deuteronomy 28:11).

4. "The LORD shall open unto you His good treasure": The Lord here tells us that we Believers literally have access to the treasure house of Heaven. Again, what a Promise! (Deuteronomy 28:12)

5. "And the LORD shall make you the head and not the tail": To use an earthly vernacular, someone, regarding an Alaskan dog-sled team, has well said, "if you're not the lead dog, the view never changes." To continue to use the earthly vernacular, the Lord intends for His People to be the "lead dog" (Deuteronomy 28:13).

All of this is made possible by the Cross!

JSM
Click to expand...
 
Nehemiah6

Nehemiah6

Senior Member
#10
Jul 18, 2017
26,074
13,777
113
#10
oyster67 said:
IS IT OK TO WANT TO BE RICH?
Click to expand...
It depends on whether you want riches for their own sake, or as a means of propagating the Gospel and doing the work of the Lord.

To "want to be rich" indicates covetousness, which is idolatry. To accept riches as a gift from God means that you have received a stewardship, and it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful.

Wealth when properly applied and invested in the Kingdom of God is a blessing, since it brings blessings to countless others. Wealth which is hoarded and used selfishly is a curse.

But today we have a very anomalous situation. The majority of well-known billionaires have dedicated their enormous wealth to the destruction of lives and societies, as well as the destruction of civil liberties. This confirms that they are serving Satan, whose goals are to steal, kill, and destroy.
 
JaumeJ

JaumeJ

Senior Member
#11
Jul 2, 2011
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#11
Did any of the Twelve seek wealth in order to enhance each's effectiveness in propagating the Gospel of Jesus'Yeshua?
 
U

UnoiAmarah

Junior Member
#12
Jul 28, 2017
907
141
43
#12
oyster67 said:
IS IT OK TO WANT TO BE RICH?
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I don't hear anyone saying they want to be poor forever.

If one defines the term rich by those things of this life like friends, health, possessions or money amongst those things that make one rich then those are the things which they are going to value.

Of course one needs to define for themselves what they are going to put their heart into.
 
GandalfTheWhite

GandalfTheWhite

Senior Member
#13
Jan 25, 2015
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#13
soggykitten said:
I am of the mind, if I think it is wrong to want to be rich, I should sell all I have and go ask the nearest homeless person how to work the streets so that I may survive there.
Click to expand...
The Bible teach us if we don't work we should not eat, so you will be wrong.
 
p_rehbein

p_rehbein

Senior Member
#14
Sep 4, 2013
30,704
6,892
113
#14
oyster67 said:
IS IT OK TO WANT TO BE RICH?
Click to expand...

IMO, it is a sin to desire to and strive to be rich, for that would be placing ones personal desires above God....

IF one works hard, and is successful in their works, and wealth comes from their works, that is not sinful in and of itself. It would be sinful IF one placed that wealth above their service to and love of God. What one does with such wealth may or may not be sinful............
 
P

pottersclay

Guest
#15
#15
There is nothing wrong with being wealthy. In fact I believe those that are financialy wealthy are only that because of the Lord.
It's what you do with that wealth that counts.
The saying is that a wealthy person is not counted by the things they possess but by the things they can afford to give away.
The love of money is the root of all evil.
The Lord knows that money is needed to survive in this culture and world today. Yes he can sustain us with out it if he chooses. Jesus teaches us on stewardship and accountability.
Instead of those capital one commercials that quote "what's in your wallet" one should ask "what's in your heart".
Little is much when God is in it. Some say how wonderful it would be if they had a abundance to give to the poor and needy. Jesus says that giving out of abundance is not true giving but giving out to the need as much as you can offer is all that's required.
You can't out give the Lord. He sees and rewards.
Good stewardship and accountability start with trust and obedience.
So what does your wallet say about your heart??
 
oyster67

oyster67

Senior Member
#17
May 24, 2014
11,887
8,705
113
#17
soggykitten said:
I am of the mind, if I think it is wrong to want to be rich, I should sell all I have and go ask the nearest homeless person how to work the streets so that I may survive there.
Click to expand...
Psalms
37:23 The steps of a [good] man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.
37:24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth [him with] his hand.
37:25 I have been young, and [now] am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.
37:26 [He is] ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed [is] blessed.
 
oyster67

oyster67

Senior Member
#18
May 24, 2014
11,887
8,705
113
#18
Blain said:
Even though I admit I would love to have money I cannot be trusted with it I used to have to have my money out of reach because I just gave it all away I am not good at saving money even with what little I do have I have this giving away or spending it on others kind of mentality.

I believe what good is having money if I can't help people with it, but you klnow while it isn't fair people who are poor are far more grateful for things than those who have much. I was remembering this horror series I used to watch before I was saved called saw, honestly I never liked blood and gore but I liked the story. This man did all he did to teach people to value their lives he had terminal cancer but I saw something that I was thinking about recently I saw how he treasured something as simple as a glass of water.

That is profound to me, I mean we take everything for granted and it is almost as if it is human nature to only know what we have when it is gone. But wow.... to treasure something as simple as a glass of water like that.... that is something money cannot buy
Click to expand...

Amen, my brother. I know I would be a mess if I got whatever I wanted. I didn't see it then, but I see it now. Money can be a strong chain and a cruel taskmaster.
 
oyster67

oyster67

Senior Member
#20
May 24, 2014
11,887
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#20
UnoiAmarah said:
I don't hear anyone saying they want to be poor forever.
Click to expand...
No need to worry about that for anyone that is found in Christ at His Glorious return.

"He is no fool who gives that which He cannot keep in exchange for that which he cannot lose."
-Elliot
 
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