We Are Blessed

It is hard to argue that Americans are rich? But maybe you don’t agree. Maybe you look around and from your vantage point you don’t have that much because you see people that have even more. That’s because being rich is a moving target.

Many people equate being rich with having a surplus of money and a whole lot of stuff. That image is perpetuated by the media which inundates us with advertising for all the newest models and the latest styles. It naturally seems, after a while, our stuff, seems kind of average, outdated, or not-good-enough.

Let you remind you of a point I made in the kickoff message of the Be Rich teaching series on Sunday. There is nothing wrong with money or stuff. In fact, I highly recommend saving money because it is a commodity that is pretty difficult to live without. And our earthly possessions aren’t inherently sinful, but they are temporary.

Most of us know of the passage in Philippians 3:7-8, where Paul writes, “But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.” In the Christian’s life, “considering everything as loss” is a process of giving up the temporary joy that I found in our “stuff.”

The joy that I find in my possessions is in knowing that anything that I do have is simply a physical expression of God’s love for me. I want to handle what God has given me the right way. I want to thankful, but I do not want to be attached to it. The right way as found in 1 Timothy 6: 17-19 is to be generous.

When Jesus talks about his followers, he talks about people who are generous, people who clothe the naked, take food to the hungry, take water to the thirsty, people who visit the prisoner, people who invite the stranger in, and people who give their time, people who give their energy, people who give their money. That is what it means to be generous.

Questions:
1. How do you define “rich”? How much money does someone have to make in order to be considered wealthy?
2. What can you do to be more generous?
3. You have been blessed. Who are you going to bless?