GIF The Poverty Syndrome

“If I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing”
(1 Corinthians 13:3)

The Poverty Syndrome
by Larry Burkett

Since the world puts so much stock in material success, many Christians have naturally concluded that the opposite extreme is God’s way and Christians should be poor. Or, if they aren’t poor, at least they ought to look that way.

Satan is very tricky. Those he can’t trap into his plan he tries to drive through and out the other side. So he naturally perverts one of God’s blessings so that God’s people will be careful to avoid it.

Poverty is a reality in Scripture, but it certainly is not a promise. God said there always would be poor in the land, but He never said they would be His people. The norm taught in God’s Word is either “enough” or an “abundance” for those who believe and follow.

Many Christians believe that giving up something makes them spiritual. Although they may not believe they earned their salvation, they now believe that by self-sacrifice they must earn God’s acceptance.

Surely the apostle Paul laid this deception to rest once and for all in his letter to the Corinthians (see today’s Scripture verse above).

God is not looking for martyrs; He’s looking for believers (literally, doers). We are to be doers of the Word and not hearers only.

Daily Scripture Reading:
Numbers 1-2