What does the Bible say about rich people? Are all rich people evil?
Many of us have been told that rich people are evil and that if you become wealthy as a Christian you’ll turn into someone evil.
But is that really true?
There are a lot of emotions and beliefs that come up when you think about being rich.
If you believe that rich people are evil you’ll find yourself playing small, feeling guilty, or getting rid of the excess money as fast as possible when you start making a lot of money in your business.
I’m going to show you a couple of verses that sum up what the Bible says about rich people so you can know for certain if it’s ok for you to be rich as a Christian and begin to shift your beliefs about being rich just 3%.
There are 3 categories of rich people in the Bible
- Evil Rich People
- Godly People Who Became Rich and Forgot God
- Godly Rich People
You’re going to want to hear all these definitions because as you do, I guarantee you
Let’s take Evil Rich people and see what the Bible says about them
James 5:1-5
Come now, you who are rich, weep and wail over the misery to come upon you. Your riches have rotted and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and consume your flesh like fire.
You have hoarded treasure in the last few days. Look, the wages you withheld from the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.
You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts on the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous, who did not resist you.
Full of pride, Violence and oppression
Ezekiel 28 talks about wealthy businesspeople of Tyre who were caught up in pride, violence, oppression, and little regard for human life on the path to becoming wealthy.
These people have no respect for God and they have a complete disregard for human life, from their employees to care for the poor and needy.
They don’t care about who they take advantage of or step on in order to become wealthy. When they do acquire wealth, they hoard it for themselves and live in self-indulgent luxury.
It’s no wonder you get the creeps when you think about being rich if this is what you picture in your mind.
Unfortunately, there are many examples both in the Bible and in the news of wealthy business owners who are using their riches in evil ways.
This right here, is what most Christian women know about being rich and you don’t want any part of it.
But if you stop with this one definition of being rich from the Bible you have an incomplete picture of why God created riches and what the purpose behind money is.
This view of rich people will keep you from serving as many people in your business and creating as much impact in this world as you desire.
Godly People Who became Rich and forgot God
In Isaiah 38, we have King Hezekiah, a godly man who was wealthy. He became sick and was told that he would die, so he pleaded with God to give him mercy since he had lived a life devoted to God.
Well God healed him and gave him 15 more years to live.
In the VERY next verses of chapter 39, we see Prince Merodach-baladan from Babylon come to visit Hezekiah. Hezekiah shows this pagan king everything in his possession, including the sacred treasures of the temple of God.
Isaiah comes and chastens Hezekiah with a word from the Lord that everything Hezekiah has will be taken from him because of what he did to show this prince everything under his dominion.
Hezekiah, like so many in Scripture, was a godly man and when he became wealthy, he forgot God who gave him all this wealth.
We need to go a little deeper into the text to understand why this happened.
Merodach-baladan’s name in Hebrew means your rebellion, self-deification, confusion, and lord chief deity. This has important meaning for the whole context.
Not only that but the rulers of Babylonian were in complete opposition to the God of Israel.
Hezekiah became proud of all the wealth he had and gloried in everything he had. He trusted in his riches and in human allies instead of trusting in God.
Hezekiah rebelled against God by entertaining someone who was in total opposition to God, bringing confusion, devastation, and slavery to his whole kingdom.
Wondering if you are to become wealthy or rich will you turn into a selfish jerk and forget God?
I know this is what many of you struggle with, and I have too,
Wondering if you are to become wealthy or rich will you turn into a selfish jerk and forget God?
I don’t have time to go into all the ways you can become wealthy and continue to walk humbly with God. I’ll create another video on this topic, but real quick.
- You can become wealthy and stay godly by remembering that God was the one who gave you the power to create wealth and understanding His purpose for wealth to be a blessing to others.
Who is Godly rich
Alright let’s move on to the final category, Godly Rich
Right after the verse that we all have heard, the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil we get to I Timothy6:16-19
Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be conceited and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in God, who richly provides all things for us to enjoy.
Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, and to be generous and ready to share, treasuring up for themselves a firm foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.
Enriched to be generous at all times
2 Cor 9:6-15 talks about God enriching you in every way, so you can be generous for every need at all times.
In this video, I told you the reason God does want Christian business owners to be rich so that you can be a blessing to others and create a massive legacy that reflects God’s goodness.
All of these things combined are what it means to store up treasures in heaven.
Godly rich have their hope in God not in uncertain riches which can be here today and gone tomorrow. They humbly recognize it was God who gave them their wealth as they partnered with Him to serve others and make the world a better place.
The Godly rich also know and understand God’s purpose for money, to provide for your family, to enjoy, to fund/do many good works and to be extremely generous.
Their greatest desire is to honor God with their wealth and to make sure He gets all the glory.
This is God’s design for rich people to be like and don’t you think the world would be such a beautiful place if all the rich people were like this?
Wealth of the Wicked being transfered to the Righteous
The Bible has numerous passages and parables Jesus shared that talk about how the wealth of the wicked is going to be given to the godly.
Wouldn’t you want wealth to be in the hands of the godly rich, who will do massive amounts of good with the wealth?
Isn’t it time to change the narrative that only evil people are rich and as Christian businesswomen live lives that show off what it looks like to be Godly rich?
I told you at the beginning of this video that I would help shift your belief about being rich so that you can know for certain that it’s ok for you as a Christian woman to be rich and that it’s possible to be rich and godly
That’s exactly how I love serving my clients in giving them proven Biblical tools and strategies to shift old money beliefs so that you can become a godly rich business owner and can create a massive legacy that reflects God’s goodness!
Your legacy matters!
Pay attention to the business trends causing Great amount of wealth to be transferred
Now that you know there are three types of rich people in the Bible, as a Christian business owner, you’re going to want to be paying attention to the powerful business trends that are going to cause great amounts of wealth to transfer hands in the next 10 years.
If you want to become a godly rich person who is enriched to be generous and give God all glory, watch this video next to find out about these wealth-transferring business trends and also to hear my 5 predictions for women of faith in business. # 4 is my favorite!
