Supposedly, there are over 2,300 verses in the Bible about how to deal with money, possessions, greed, investing, and so on while only 500 verses address prayer and faith. Whether these numbers are fact or fiction is not the point…that all wealth given to us or earned by us is sourced from God IS the point.

And for this reason, it is wise to look at wealth from God’s point of view — that is, what he says about wealth in the Scriptures.

Nowhere in scripture is it said that wealth is a sign of God’s favor, even though in ancient biblical times it was thought that rich people were favored by God and the poor were poor simply because they were not in God’s favor. 

Jesus set them (and us) straight in the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus [Luke 16:19-31] In short, Lazarus was dirt poor, covered in sores, lying at the door of an unnamed rich man. Both the poor man and the rich man died at the same time. The poor man was carried by angels to heaven; the rich man was condemned to the netherworld for eternity. If you’ve never read the story, read it here. 

The biblical view of wealth and riches is quite spelled out in 1 Timothy 6:17-19.

Tell the rich in the present age not to be proud and not to rely on so uncertain a thing as wealth but rather on God, who richly provides us with all things for our enjoyment. Tell them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous, ready to share, thus accumulating as treasure a good foundation for the future, so as to win the life that is true life.

1 Timothy 6:17-19

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