Jesus said a lot about poverty in his day. Jesus thought that it was good to be poor and to share with others who had less. Jesus taught us that everyone is our neighbor and we should share with our neighbors. This means we should give to the needy and poor. Coming from Nazareth, Jesus was also poor. Jesus was ultimately humble.
Being poor also has advantages. Jesus says it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven. Being poor teaches humility. Poor people are more thankful for less. Most wealthy people are consumed in greed.
“My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, 'Here’s a good seat for you,' but say to the poor man, ‘You stand there’ or ‘Sit on the floor by my feet,’ have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?
If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.”
—James 2:1-9
—James 2:1-9
This next verse is one of the beatitudes.
"Blest are the poor in spirit: the reign of God is theirs." —Matthew 5:3
The first way to be blessed is to choose material poverty and to downsize our lifestyles materially and to live below our means. The word for "poor" in the Greek refers to material poverty and not merely to an attitude toward riches. The phrase "in spirit" means that we have chosen this poverty and are not just victims of circumstances. This has been traditionally called "voluntary poverty." This is the Lord's calling for all His disciples, although He calls His disciples to different degrees of Gospel poverty. Pope John Paul II taught that: "the cultural change which we are calling for demands from everyone the courage to adopt a new life-style.”
Jesus wants us to take a poor life and not value material things as the most important. He wants us to put others first. Jesus taught us to put others first during his life on earth.
I agree with your last paragraph moose. He does want us to help others, and he doesn't want us to value material things as the most important. We need Jesus no matter how poor or rich we really are.
ReplyDeleteI agree that being poor teaches humility. Our actions are what makes us who we are and they set our reputation. If your rich or poor you should be thankful no matter what. I like how you said the poor is our neighbor as well, I think we should all share and treat each other equally.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Money is not completely an awful thing. But putting material before God is. And we should live like those in poverty do which is an attitude of humility.
ReplyDeleteJesus said that the meek will inherit the earth. Your blog is good because it talks about how being poor can humble a person. In my opinion, poor people have a better chance of following Jesus because they don't have the distractions that a rich person has in front of them.
ReplyDeleteThat's totally true about the distractions! If that's what they end up being, then you should get rid of them. I try to every day.
DeleteI agree that being poor does have its advantages like being more humble. I liked the verse from James 2:1-9. You should not treat others differently just because they are rich or poor. We should treat everyone the same. Being poor allows us to have a different relationship with God.
ReplyDelete[Another semi off topic comment that most definitely pertains to the subject matter of the above post...] I think that it's great that there are people that want to give all that they own away and move to a third world country to help the poor. Here's a warning to others: There's definitely advantages to becoming poor, but I don't think that, as Christians, we are supposed to give everything we have away. That's called the Depravity Gospel.
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