Is It Wrong for a Christian to Want to Be Wealthy?

Speaker A00:00:37

You want to do well financially, but somewhere in the back of your mind, this quiet voice asks, is it wrong for me to want to do this? A lot of believers carry guilt about wanting wealth. Today, let's bring that question into the light and answer it honestly.From Scripture, this is a thing that tangles up good hearts, and it hinges on one word. So stay with me today, and let's settle this together. Hello and welcome to Financially Confident Christian. I'm Ralph Estep Jr.Thank you so much for joining me today. And today we're going to go a little deeper than we normally go. We're going to talk about guilt over gaining wealth.We got a great question from a listener who is sincere and wants to build wealth, but they feel this guilt over that desire and they felt these mixed church messages. So today we're going to talk about a sincere faith question. Now, maybe you've got a question.Maybe it's not quite as deep as this one, but it's a question. You're like, ralph, I really wish somebody would help me with this one. I want you to send it to me. You can go to financiallyconfidentchristian.com/questionWe'll put a link right in the show notes. We'll make it super simple. Just click the link and type it in there. Again, that's Financially Confident Christian.Well, let's get right to today's listener question. And I want to start with the subject line, because I was scrolling through and I saw this like, wait a minute, this is one we got to cover.Is it sinful that I actually want to be wealthy? So that's where we frame this. That was the subject line. But then he writes this. Hi, Ralph. I've wrestled with this for a long time.I work hard, I'm ambitious. And honestly, I would love to build real wealth, enough to be generous, to take care of my family and not stress about money.But I grew up hearing money is the root of all evil and that wanting to be rich is greedy and worldly. So every time I set a big financial goal, there's this guilt that creeps in, like I'm being a big Christian for even wanting more.I don't want to love money more than God, Ralph, but I also don't think that being broke makes me holy. I'm genuinely confused about where the line is, Ralph. Is it wrong to want to be wealthy, or is it okay as long as my heart's in the right place?I'd really value your perspective on this. Well, thank you so much for saying in that question. This is one of those questions that consistently ties people up in knots.And I'm going to get into the scripture, but we're going to unwind this today because it's really not a question about wealth. It's a question about the heart. We talked about heart the other day. When it comes to generosity, it's the same thing here.It's all about, what are you putting on the throne. It's not your desires, but let's untangle it Biblically. So let's start with this. We got to fix the most misquoted verse about money. You've heard it.Many of us have heard it. It's this famous misquote, the love of money. Now, notice what it says there. Not money, just one word, love. It doesn't say that money is evil.It says the love of money. It's all about worshiping. That's the problem when money becomes an idol and not a paycheck. I talk about it on the show all the time.If money is a tool, it's being used wisely. If it's become your throne, we've got a problem. It's not money that's the root of evil. It's the love of money. And I want to show you something here.Scripture is full of wealthy, faithful people. Scripture is not anti wealth. Abraham had wealth. Job had wealth. What do we see in both of those people? But they were faithful and they were wealthy.Wealth became a tool for them. It wasn't about how much they had. It was about who they trusted. At the core, they were wealthy and devoted.Friend, God has never been impressed by your bank balance, whether it's high or low. So to answer today's question, you gotta check the throne, not the number. Ask yourself sincerely, what's on the throne?Because I think scripture does say you can't serve both. So if you're serving the money and that's become your throne, then you got a problem. But now you're saying, ralph, how do I unwind this?Answer this question for me. Would you follow God without the wealth? Would you follow him? Are you chasing money or you chasing a mission? If God is first in all of these things.And listen, your question today is exactly what I'm thinking about. If God is first, then wealth is serving God. But you gotta guard that throne.As I've said on this show many times, money makes a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. But now I want to get real practical. You got to let your why purify your want. Your why in your question tells me Almost everything I need to know.Not once did I hear you. Well, I'm building this up to impress people. If you're hoarding money, if you're doing it to impress people, it goes wrong.But what I heard you say is, Ralph, I want to provide. I want to provide for my family. I want to give. I want to fund missions. Those things are all holy things. They are good things. You named a good. Why?What you're actually doing is you want to be a good steward of the blessings that God has given you. That's not about greed. It's not about how much you want. It's about why you want it. So you got to hold it with open hands.Now, I've used that on my other show, Truth Unveiled with Ralph, and we'll put a link in the show notes. We actually wrote a song called Open Hands, but that's what this is all about. Build it, build the wealth, but hold it loosely.Realizing it's not yours, it keeps it off your heart. Make sure your goals are all centered on God first. You can align ambition and faith at the same time.So hold your money with open hands, and it will never close around your heart. Now, you said something. You don't think being broke makes you holy. And you're absolutely right.I'm so tired of people saying, well, I'm super poor, so I'm the holiest around. It doesn't. But here's the other thing. Being wealthy doesn't make you worldly either. I have so many people that say, well, this person's very wealthy.They're worldly. Not necessarily. God looks past the number straight to your heart. God pierces that. Now, here's what faith doesn't promise us.It doesn't promise wealth. If you follow God, there are people who are following God who will never be wealthy. I. I don't know why that is.But God gives us all certain abilities, certain strengths and all those sort of things. Now, it also doesn't promise. The desire will never tempt you.You can be serving God today and chasing after wealth, and you always have to guard your heart. It doesn't promise you some easy line between ambition and idolatry. And that's what trips up so many people.And I don't hear you asking that, but guard your heart. But here's what faith does promise us. When God truly holds first place in your heart, you're already free. You're free to build, you're free to give.And you're free to hold money loosely and to hold onto him tightly. What does the scripture say? Seek first the kingdom, so get the order right. Ambition and his tool. Dream big, go after that, but keep him first.So pursue excellence with a clear conscience. Keep God first. Hold the rest with open hands and let go of that guilt that you were never meant to carry.Like you said, I want to provide, I want to give. Those are all good things. That's not from a place of greed, so stop thinking about that misquote. Ambition and faithful can live together.Here's your win for today for everyone. Write your real why, what you do if you've gotten more.You know, we talk about all this time, people say, well, if I hit the lottery, I do this and I do this and I do this. Well, think about it the same way right now. If God gave you wealth, what would you do with it? Who'd you help? What would you fund? Write that down.Keep it where you can see it.Because as you think about that and you clarify that motive, that helps you build a clear why and helps you stay in that stewardship and guard your heart. So that's my encouragement for you today. Write your why down. Why you want to be wealthy.Well, here's our Bible verse for today, comes from First Timothy, Chapter 6, Verse 10. And I'm going to read it right straight up. This is what it says. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.And some people, some people craving money have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. Now, I just read the full verse in context. What is it telling us? Love and craving, not money. What does it say? They're wandering. They're not building.But when you see that, what it really is, it frees the guilt. And remember, you gotta guard the throne. Well, let's pray together right now.Heavenly Father, I bring before you someone who is ambitious and they're hardworking. And, Lord, they want to honor you. And you know this. They want to honor your with their life and their resources.And, Lord, they've carried guilt about a desire that may be sinful. What they've heard in the church, what they've seen around them, Lord.So today I just ask that you would bring all of us clarity and peace, Lord, because we know you are the throne that should be in our lives. Purify our motives, Lord. Free us from the false guilt of the world that lies to us.Help us to have open hands, Lord, and undivided hearts, and help us to have success that blesses many people. Because that's what true wealth does, Lord, it helps us to bless others and we ask this in Jesus name. Amen. Friend.Maybe you came in today, you felt that same guilt that the listener felt today, but I just hope in a little way you've got some freedom coming out of this. Remember, a divided heart is the enemy. Have a true heart. So today fix that misquote. Remember, it's the love of money, not money itself.You can be faithful and wealthy. It fills scripture all over scripture.But check your throne is God first and let your why purify the one and always have open hands build free grip loose. Now maybe you're struggling with some financial question or you want to share a burden that's on your heart. I would love to hear from you.The easiest thing you can do is send me a voicemail and we made it super simple. You just have to go to financiallyconfidentchristian.com/voicemail we'll put a link in the show notes.Just click on the link and go right there and record your message again. That's financiallyconfidentchristian.com/voicemail thank you so much for joining me today. I want you to stay financially savvy.May God bless you and you have a great day. You.