False Prosperity

If you were pure and upright, surely now He would awake you, and prosper your rightful dwelling place. Job 8:6

Being prosperous is something that most people dream of and aim for. While all will aim for it, many, in their own minds, will never really make it there. In order to be considered prosperous, most believe that they must own a large home, have several cars and a very large income with no bills. And all of this must be at least as much as their neighbor has or more, regardless of how much that is.

Bildad tells Job that if he were really pure and upright, God would make him prosperous right away.

The belief that prosperity makes one better is all about having more physical things rather than having good character. Having more tends to be seen as having greater favor.

Inside the church, this false belief has crept in and taken over the mindset of many believers. Along with seeking bigger, better, and more things, many also believe that if one is faithful to God, He will automatically give them all of those things. Although God can bless a believer with many physical things in this life, He does not always do that. God only gives a believer what is best for him.

Physical prosperity is seen as a sign of one’s holiness bringing on God’s great favor, and those not prosperous are seen as failing in their walk with God.

Many believers have been blessed with great prosperity only to forget about God and their original mission to serve God. They begin to serve things rather than God.

One must believe in and follow God, trusting God with all that God provides, whether little or great. God may or may not provide a lot of physical things, but either way, He provides true life and true prosperity.

You may or may not have a lot of things in this life. One thing that you can have that is free is forgiveness of sins and an abundant life that will last for eternity.

Do not allow yourself to be caught up in the false belief that following God will automatically make you physically rich. That is a choice God makes based on what is best for you personally. The things of this world will pass away, but the life Jesus provides will last for eternity and nothing is better for you than that.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will know the riches of God’s grace in your life; that you will see how prosperous you are with the eternal life God is giving you; that you will seek God above all things; and that you will seek to be like Jesus, rather than like the world.

This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Insights from Tom

Featured Image by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash

About the Author

Tom Arn is happily married for 30 years to his wonderful wife Cammie. They are blessed by God with eight wonderful children and one grandchild. Tom has worked as a children’s pastor, senior pastor, and many times (and currently) as a Sunday School Teacher. He has a General Ministries degree with a Bible College. He started doing a short devotional type Bible study on Facebook in 2014, going through the books of the Bible chapter by chapter, section by section. Tom writes what he feels God is placing on his heart.

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