I was watching a video on Youtube and I saw a comment by someone that stated something along the lines of "If you're rich it's a sign of God's blessings" and basically if you weren't then the opposite is true. She went on to say that you can tell if someone is in God's favor by the things they own. Sadly, this is a common misconception that's been running throughout many churches for a long time.
Of course God blesses His people, but what does that look like? There are many ways to be blessed. When we think about being blessed we can't think only about America, we need to think world wide. People are dying everyday all over the world from starvation, lack of water and disease. People are living under trees, in cardboard huts and some with less than that. If we look at the bigger picture we realize that if we have access to a computer/phone to read this very blog we are already blessed.
If we only look at blessings in comparison to how the wealthy live in America we will be deceived and succumb to greed. We will never be grateful. Common sense tells us this idea of wealth being a sign of God's blessing is flawed. If it was true we'd have to assume the Mafia was favored by God, also the Kardashians and other Hollywood Celebrities. Are they living a life for God? Do they even believe in Jesus? So you see, wealth is usually a sign of compromise and sin, and not a sign of living a Godly life. What about the missionaries who live off 20k or less a year? Are they sinful and unloved by God? This whole idea of measuring a person's favor with God by their material gain is broken.
Look at the world around you, so many have much less than you do. You are blessed. You are taken care of by God. He loves you. This crazy, insane wealth we see in America is usually filled with sin, scandal, compromise and a self reliance, not a God reliance (there are a few exceptions to this). At times it's easier for ungodly people to get rich because they are able to sow into the lusts and fun, evil desires of others. Sin sells. Also, they don't have the enemy trying to stop them in the spiritual world. As long as you are doing the devil's work why would he try and withhold anything form you? These are all things we have to think about. God's people do righteous and holy things with wealth. They make the world a more beautiful place with the prosperity God gives them, so of course more hindrance come with this holy agenda.
With all this said, know, God takes care of His children. God will make sure we have everything we
need. God is not going to have His kids begging for bread and
for shelter over their heads. But if we are comparing God's provision
with a Mercedes and a Hollywood mansion we may miss the goodness that's
already been given to us by our Lord or judge people unfairly. Our ideas of wealth in America are
so far in left field that we forget that rain and sunshine are all gifts
from God. That a healthy family, and air in our lungs are blessings.
That having a job, food on the table, a house (no matter the size),
access to the internet, a vehicle and more are all blessings that many live without.
This whole wealth and godliness mentality does nothing for us but feed our greed, causes people to live fake lives trying to keep up appearances, and breaks down healthy relationships in our churches since everyone wants to be around wealthy people since they are "blessed" (sad but true in many places).
The fruit I care about are the fruit of the spirit in your life. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." - Galatians 5:22 NIV I don't care what car you drive up in, what brand your clothes are, what your job title is, how expensive your purse is, or how many vacations you go on per year. As Christians we should be ashamed of ourselves if we judge others based on such temporary things. Material does not determine if a person is evil or good. As with all things God looks at the heart.
Plus, if we really look around we will see that many of us are far more blessed than we ever realized, but we are to busy lusting after a Hollywood and an upper east side lifestyle to notice.
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