Comments on: The Biblical Prosperity debate

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 01:38:39 +0000

I hate the prosperity gospel/theology/mode of thinking. Why do people assume that you will immediately gain some sort of prosperity as a legal right to following Christ?

There is no guarantee that you will have any prosperity other than Christ (Himself). Christ should be ULTIMATE prosperity…not a means in which you get prosperity.

I completely agree with P31Woman and her quotation of 1 Corinthians 4:1-6.

Not friends, family, money, time, health, happiness, spouse or ANYTHING can be compared. I count it as loss in comparison to the glory of Christ.

Christ is the sustainer…the Ultimate. Seek him, not to give you prosperity…but because HE IS PROSPERITY.

I hate the prosperity gospel because it takes the focus from Christ to something else.

Habukkuk 3
17Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:

18Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

Make Christ ultimate for the definition of prosperity, nothing else.

By: Dick Schinke

Dick Schinke — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 22:30:44 +0000

Prosperity is a by-product of our commitment to God. However, there are spiritual principals in place that will work for or against us if we begin using them. Proverbs says that life and death are in the power of the tongue and those who use it will live by it. Say, as the Bible states that, ” I give and it is given back to me”. I recently lost my job and the first thing I thought was that I would have to stop sending my monthly gift of $50 to a particular ministry. Instead, God began speaking to my inner man saying to increase my giving to $200 monthly. I did, and was hired at the first place I applied.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 01:49:35 +0000

Amen Bob…

This is a great look at prosperity through the lens of Scripture. Prosperity as defined by the world is very dangerous and will never end up with us pursuing God.

In my opinion, there are many very popular preachers these days preaching a very dangerous message regarding worldly prosperity and Christianity.

Thanks for the message here and the Scripture to provide the context.

By: P31Woman

P31Woman — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 00:19:21 +0000

1 Corinthians 4

We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men. 10We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! 11To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. 12We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; 13when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.

14I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you, as my dear children. 15Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.

6Therefore I urge you to imitate me.

By: OLINeBooks

OLINeBooks — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 20:38:22 +0000

Just a quick note to inform you that this article was included in our November Blog Carnival of Christian Family Information Exchange. Please feel free to continue posting often, we enjoy your perspective. We also ask that you speak with a few of your family and friends and have them consider submitting a few articles, recipes, stories or anything of interest to fellow Christians.

Thank you
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http://olin.tk

By: Ella Moss

Ella Moss — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 00:47:16 +0000

Thank you for a beautiful article! Sometimes we need to be reminded that our security should always be in God and not in a job or a saving account!

By: bob

bob — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 19:36:54 +0000

@Joshua
I agree that it all is tied up in purpose. Personally, I think that prosperity is just a by-product of following after God with our whole heart – and as I have mentioned before, it really does have very little to do with money. Any mature human being will realize that the best things in life are NOT money.

By: Joshua

Joshua — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 15:50:38 +0000

Personally, I think one of the hardest things to reconcile as a Christian, is this whole concept and definition of “prosperity.”

When we look at Joseph (OT), for example…would you consider being almost killed, sold as a slave, and all the other trials as prosperity? Yet, Joseph himself accords it all to God as a blessing…. because it had a purpose!

But what about Job? No matter how you look at it, Job lost his children, and even after God “restores” Job, he still never got back all of those children that he loved. But still we look at this as “prospering” in Job’s life….. because it had a purpose.

Truly, God’s messages about prosperity get short-circuited by our own greed. We miss half the message. We hear “prosper” but don’t read “purpose” or “cost” into it.

Good post – thanks for the reminder !

By: barely getting by

barely getting by — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 02:36:12 +0000

The purpose for our financial prosperity is to bless others!

So what’s the purpose of our financial poverty? (I’m blessing my landlord with over half my income!)

By: MInTheGap

MInTheGap — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 18:36:26 +0000

Yes, our treasure is definitely in Heaven. Great post!