Resisting Temptation of earthly wealth

Call To Prayer

Title: Resisting Temptation of earthly wealth

By: Simon Maina Nuhu

Date: 03.01.2023

”But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition”. (1 Timothy 6:9).

Temptation is a trial in which a man has the free choice of being faithful or unfaithful to God. The Bible makes us understand that it comes as a result of our own lusts (James 1:14) (With an exception of the temptation of Jesus, as He might not have been tempted because of desires of the flesh but so that through His triumph over temptation, we may overcome). Temptation itself is not a sin but falling into it results in sin (James 1:15). There are three main sources of temptations: the world, the flesh, and the Devil.

As human beings, we are bound to have desires, admirations, etc of natural or artificial things which could be necessities or luxuries. One of the many ultimate desires of people in all generations is wealth. Having a goal to be rich or affluent in material things is not bad, however, it is the motivation and the drive that matter. Different people understand the role of wealth according to their orientation, perspective, or discipline. The people of the world understand wealth as their ultimate proof of success, achievement, and pathway to accessing honor, power, fame, dignity, and accolade. But children of God see wealth as a gift of God to be used for helping the needy, for necessities (food and shelter), for promoting the cause and glory of God with moderation and godly contentment (1 Timothy 6:6). Money being the backbone of wealth becomes an idol to those who passionately love it (1 Timothy 6:10), and the love of it makes people of the world engage in various ungodly activities that lead to crimes such as fraud, rituals, theft, murder, betrayal.

Some Christians base their faith in God on prosperity and also fall for the love of money, wealth, and luxury. So much such that it drives them to forget about their salvation; they deliberately miss fellowships, worship services, and the assembly of God’s people because of overtime at work or business. As God’s children, we don’t hate money, and neither do we justify poverty as a certificate of faithfulness/loyalty to God, nonetheless, we earn and spend it with moderation through contentment. Christ said it is difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom, why? because his money can assume the place of God and therefore become his idol ( Matthew 19:24). To overcome the endless toxic quest for wealth, we need to have a divine view of it and also nurture the mindset of using it for the glory of God by total submission to Him. (This is not only limited to wealth. But any gift from God must not be exalted above God but used for His glory)

Prayer point:

Let’s thank God for the word today, let’s also ask Him to help us overcome all temptations.