GodÆs Financial Blessings
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There are numerous references to money, riches, and wealth in the Bible. In the New Testament, Jesus is concerned about wealth in two primary ways. The first is how money or wealth is acquired and the second is how that money or wealth is used. The Old Testament also demonstrates these concerns over money and wealth. In Proverbs 22:16 it expresses the ultimate condition of those who acquire and use money unjustly, ôHe who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and he who gives gifts to the richùboth come to povertyö (Money 2003, 1). The Bible and Jesus do not condemn wealth for its own sake or equate being wealthy with being sinful. Rather, the life of Jesus and the Bible deem wealth that is unjustly acquired and unjustly used as being sinful and damning. Only when wealth is acquired in a just manner and only when wealth is used to show commitment to the values of Jesus Christ by aiding the needy are individuals using GodÆs financial blessings properly. As written in Psalm 41:1, ôHappy are those concerned for the poor; The Lord will help them when they are in troubleö (What 2004, 2). This analysis will examine the views on GodÆs financial blessings found in the Bible and the life of Jesus. The Bible, God, and the life of Jesus demonstrate that money is neither good nor evil but neutral. For it is up to the individual to use money as a tool to affirm commitment to the values of the Kingdom of Heaven. Money becomes go
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any references to the rich and the poor. Those who used wealth unjustly were highly condemned in the Bible, and Rae (2002) maintains such practices were common in ancient societies which is why the Bible includes so many references about the rich and poor and the dangers of loving wealth at the expense of and instead of GodÆs commitment to the needy. As Rae (2002) explains about the debtors and tenant farmers, ôThis form of taking advantage of the poor occurred regularly in the ancient world and is one of the reasons why the Bible so frequently condemns exploitation of the poorö (2).
While God wants us to have abundance and riches, we must maintain the recognition that everything we have we owe to Him. However, we must use our money in GodÆs service in order to obey His will. When money becomes our salvation or our preoccupation, when money we have is used for selfish purposes, and when money is not given for the purposes God intends us to have it, then we are not working in GodÆs service or for the love of God but for the love of riches and self. This is against His purpose for bestowing the blessing of riches upon us, riches we must always remember are given by Him to do for Him. As Snipes (2004) maintains, ôEverything t
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Approximate Word count = 2863
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)
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