I chose the title of my book, Should Christians Prosper, because this is a question that many if not all those of the christian faith struggle with. This struggle is in many areas with the word itself.
The first struggle is with the word as it pertains to scriptures. There are many scriptures dealing with the subject however I will note just one for now and that is 3 John 2- Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. You will note that prosperity in all things is conditioned upon the prosperity of your soul. So, the center of prosperity is your soul, or spiritual being. that is where we find true prosperity. This is where is found peace, happiness and well being. If your soul is not prospering then no matter what physical possessions, wealth we obtain they will never provide for us peace, happiness and well being. After all this is what we all really want out of life. We just look for it in all the wrong places.
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The question now is, how do we get prosperity in our soul? The answer to that question is found in the chapters of the book linking one chapter to the next. Only when you get through all the chapters will you get the complete picture of exactly how the prosperity is directly related to our physical prosperity. The soul prospers when we are one with our maker.
The second major struggle is with the confusion of the word prosperity in scriptures as it relates to what we normally consider physical prosperity or success. The worldly view of physical prosperity does not see the relationship with the soul. This causes us to look only on the outward appearances such as income, possessions, financial security. When we look only through those eyes we can only see the outward manifestations of what we consider success. If we don’t have much we look at ourselves as failures and have very low self esteem. If we do have a lot of possessions,we are lured into a false sense of security of thinking that things will provide us with peace, happiness and well being. Those are the three main that we live for and cannot find them in things. When we see that they cannot provide for them we continue to seek more things instead of looking to the place where true prosperity is found. That is within our souls.
The title that I have chosen is chosen with a lot of struggles and concerns. Realizing it can be controversial with Christians and non Christians alike. With non Christians because of what they consider success. Success and prosperity are interchangeable and both found in the bible in a positive light. This brings me to the title being controversial with Christians.
There is a movement among certain christian beliefs referred to as the, prosperity doctrine. This doctrine places self in the forefront and the reason for giving. Give so we can have. This is a well meaning but misguided reason for giving. We don’t give to get for ourselves. This is an indication that the transformation of our minds has not taken place yet in placing the reason for our giving because there is a God lead need. When we put God first as the sole reason for giving He follows through with His word in giving back to us. In other-words we do not give for God to serve us, we give to serve God.
There are many who are turned off by the title because of the reasons given above. However I believe it is the best title to describe true prosperity and reveal the false conceptions. If you are one of those that are turned off by the title, I would encourage you not to judge the book by it’s cover. Give it a read. I know you will be truly blessed and encouraged. If you are searching for true answers to your financial struggles as well as struggling with applying God’s word to your lives you WILL be blessed by reading this book. You will not be disappointed.
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