Are Believers Meant to Be Poor?

It’s good to know that concerning any biblical theme or discourse, the bible is our standard, guide and encyclopedia.

So, to answer this question, first of all we have to define what “riches” means in the light of God’s word.

We know that God is the Creator of all the heavens and the earth with all that is therein; angels, man, animal, plants, water, rocks etc. (Gen. 1, Heb. 1:10, Psalm 24:1-2).

However, it is also good to know that there are certain things that God didn’t create, rather they came because man fell and began to advance in the wisdom of sin like.

These things that God did not create include money, houses, cars, schools, hospitals etc. (Eccl. 7:29, Gen. 4:21-22).

But it’s good to know that in the sight of God, true riches are neither of those things (heavens, earth, materials), rather they are substances of His nature.

For example, God is rich in mercy (Eph. 2:4, Psa. 52:1), rich in grace (Eph. 2:7), rich in wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2:3), rich in glory (Eph. 1:17-20) etc.; these are substances that endure.

So how much of these substances a man has in his soul tells how rich he is before God, and poverty is measured by how much corruption a man has in his soul (Eph. 3:16).

This means that the presence or absence of material substances is neither wealth nor poverty before God, that’s a wrong gauge to measure the goodness of God in our lives.

So, when God is communicating His nature to your soul via knowledge, He is making you wealthy and this is far greater than giving you plenty of money or material substances (Psalm 19:7-10, Pro. 8:11).

It’s good to know that God is a good and caring father (Psalm 136, 1 Pet 5:7, Heb 2:6), He doesn’t just have provisions for saving the soul, He has already settled all that pertains to the natural life of His children (Matt. 6: 26-32, 1 Tim. 6:6-8, Heb. 13:5-6).

It’s God’s will that His children prosper even naturally because if that was a promise to the Jews in the Old Testament (provided they walk in the covenant), how much more for the New Testament saints (3 John 2, Deut. 7).

The Lord told Rev. Kenneth E. Hagin of blessed memory that He is not against His people being rich (materially) but He is against them being covetous.

When you acquire true riches, you would be able to handle natural riches without drowning your soul in corruption.