Is it a sin to want riches and success?

Author: BibleAsk Team


Wanting Riches and Success

Riches and success in themselves are not sins. But coveting and loving them above God is considered a sin (Exodus 20:17). In Mark 10:23 we read that, “Jesus looked around and said to His disciples ‘How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!” God does not condemn anyone for having riches. But He gives crucial warnings to those who SEEK after them more than they seek after God. His greatest desire is for us to set our hearts on things above and not on things on this earth.

If Jesus equated God’s blessing with having wealth, then Jesus was not blessed because He said in Matthew 8:20 that “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” But true riches come from getting to know Jesus and His path. Let us always ask ourselves “what would Jesus do?”

In Luke 12:33-34, Jesus says the true riches in heaven will come to those who bless others with their resources. For someday, all things on this earth will be burned up but what is sent ahead to heaven will remain forever. So, let us store up treasure in heaven and not on earth “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21).

Jesus said, “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money” (Luke 16:13). Great heavenly riches are promised for the faithful, “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son” (Revelation 21:7) because “if we are children, then we are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17).

God is not against prosperity but against those who covet riches. And Paul warns, “who is covetous (asking for riches and success), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God” (Ephesians 5:5). The secret for having the right mind about riches is knowing Christ as a personal Savior and allowing the Holy Spirit daily to conform our minds and heart to His (Romans 12:1-2). The Lord assures us that we “can do all things through Christ who strengthens” us (Philippians 4:13).

In His service,
BibleAsk Team

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