Most people fail to rid themselves of the lifestyles and habits that are destructive to them. This rings true for their finances as well as other areas of their lives. We can identify such people in three groups.
The first group contains people who go through life unsaved and on their way to hell while at the same time experiencing financial defeat and its pressure and stress except for the few handouts good neighbors give them from time to time that never seem to help better their situation. Many people in this group at some point in life usually make a move toward Jesus Christ because their situation dictates that they try something to pull themselves out of despair. They must be careful to truly accept Him as Savior and LORD in their hearts instead of simply accepting Him in confession only with an aim to turn their situation around and then walk out on Him after they get the goods.
The second group contains people who are unsaved and monetarily do well or very well on earth. Though they do well financially and may even be super rich, they are in poverty because they have failed to accept Jesus Christ as Savior and LORD. They are eternally doomed no matter how much money, fame, or power they have in this life. In fact, many people that make it into this group never escape from eternal death to eternal life because their position of ease and great blessing in this world blinds them to the need of having a personal relationship with Christ.
They tend to be self-centered and success oriented at all costs with an attitude that they are self-sufficient and need no one, especially a God they cannot see with their natural eyes. They generally feel that they have made it on their own and that they can always manipulate, oppress, and abuse other people, if necessary to get what they want on this earth. They have great skill and platforms that could be used to spread the gospel and build the kingdom of God in the hearts of men, but for the reasons noted above they consider their highest priority to be amassing great wealth so they can live by their own rules.
The third group contains people who accepted Christ as Savior and are on their way to heaven, yet they are financially defeated and depressed except for the few times when someone brought them a crumb here or a dollar there to momentarily ease their state of poverty on earth. While I'd rather be in the third group than in the first two groups, I can do much better in this life than just being saved and on my way to heaven while living defeated on earth.
In this short existence on earth, I want to help fund the gospel in my community and around the world and serve as an intentional ambassador for Christ to tens of thousands of people. God planned a level of wealth for every believer! I desire to follow the Holy Spirit in putting myself in a position, through good stewardship of the money and possessions He entrusts to me, to obtain the wealth He planned for me for the glory of God and benefit of His kingdom. People in this third group must be careful not to allow their seemingly endless woes to move them to give up their confession of faith in and heartfelt belief in Christ. They should seek to know Him better in order to better steward his possessions and receive the rewards thereof.
Due to the earthly and/or eternal calamity awaiting people in the first three groups who are unrepentant of their sin and/or ignorant of their need for Christ’s power in their lives, I have chosen to be part of a fourth group: those who accept Christ and position themselves to receive heavenly treasures for the up-building of His kingdom.
There is also a danger to people in this group. They must not let the deceitfulness of riches, power, fame, and position captivate them so much that they throw away humility toward God and man and begin to seek wealth at any cost or fail to use it according to God’s will. Otherwise they may wind up like Demas, who followed the Apostle Paul for many years, but then left that great ministry because he loved the things of the world much more. Oh, what great position would he have had in eternity had he not turned his back on the LORD and His people!
In scripture, God laid out principle after principle concerning how you must handle money to be truly blessed. However, you must study His word and then show yourself approved by using biblical principles in order to better yourself and your finances. Otherwise, you will perish! Either on earth or in eternity and dependent upon the grouping you’re in you may suffer in both realms. So quickly commit to an ongoing personal relationship with Jesus Christ and seek to move into the fourth group, so that God may use you in ever greater ways to bring His will to pass.
Psalms 2:11-12, Proverbs 29:18, Matthew 8:25, 1Corinthians 8:10-13, 2Peter 3:9
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