Better to be poor and honest than to be dishonest and rich!

1) Worldly rich:

The love of money can motivate any evil on this earth.Rich sometimes get rich by oppressing the poor. There are many wicked rich people in this world who have hardened their hearts filled with arrogancy, selfishness, harshness, cold-heartedness throwing rich parties wasting their money on useless things, who are overfed and has no pity nor concerned about the poor but are hoarded with wealth, pride and refused to pay their workers, who do not even defend the rights of the poor nor share their wealth or food with poor and needy. But in scriptures we see that when Jesus and his disciples threw parties they invited the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind. Luke 14:12-13 says but when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind.

There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men says Proverb 30:14.

We can remember the parable Jesus told about the beggar Lazarus and the rich man (Luke 16:19-31). Jesus says only that the rich man had great wealth and that he enjoyed his wealth while Lazarus suffered miserably outside his gate. The rich man exploited Lazarus to acquire wealth. He simply neglected to share. So God punished him (Luke 16:19–31).

2)Godly rich: Godly rich is showing our generosity in the good works such as helping the poor , needy disabled, helping the humble widows , orphans, and foreigners sharing the testimony of God with unbelievers. No matter how justly we have acquired our wealth, God demands that we act generously towards the poor.

Proverbs 22:9 says A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.

Proverb 29:7: The righteous considereth the cause of the poor: but the wicked regardeth not to know it.

3)God cares for poor: In the world today, we see only few people care about the poor. God curses on anyone who looks down on poor and needy. Proverb 28:27 says He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse. When we give the poor, we are lending it to God. Prov. 19:17 says He who is gracious to a poor man lends to the LORD, and He will repay him for his good deed.

4)Another kind of poor: Some people are poor because they make sinful choices because of lack of Self Control by being disobedient to the will of God by pursuing a life of pleasure and hypocrisy. Proverbs 28:19 reminds us that He who works his land will have abundant food, but the one who chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty and some people become poor because of unwise in their financial usage like buying things they don’t need, not saving for emergencies, buying a lot of things by making to many debts. People can bring poverty on themselves by refusing to follow wise counsel. Proverbs 13:18 says Poverty and disgrace come to him who ignores instruction, but whoever heeds reproof is honoured.Some of the choices they make are lying, stealing, willful ignorance of wise instruction, laziness, gluttony, gambling, lottery, drunkenness, negligence, waste, greediness, adultery and bad addictions. Do not be with heavy drinkers of wine, or with gluttonous eaters of meat. For the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty and drowsiness will clothe a man with rags” (Pr. 23:20-21). Drunkenness can lead to sexual immorality, anger, fighting and even murder. For such kind of poor people we should admonish them to walk in righteous godly path by helping them to quit their present life style by rebuking and encouraging them to walk rightly in the eyes of God not human standards.

God will still hold us accountable for our actions. “He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy” (Pr. 28:13). Neither thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards shall inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 6:10). The apostle Paul commanded Christians ...not to associate with any so-called brother if he should be an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler not even to eat with such a one. (1 Cor. 5:11).

Conclusion: True happiness, peace and satisfaction are there in our lives when we follow and live in God‘s ways.