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Prosperity Related To Being Rich

Prosperity Related to Being Rich

First of all let me define 'Rich' as it is used here. Rich refers to having most things working positively for you in job, money, home, family, etc. It does not necessarily mean that you will have so much money that you are never in debt or with the 'Jones'.

Now that we have that out of the way we can go on to the subject of this thread. Is obedience and prosperity directly related so that one becomes 'rich'? Or is it that there are those that are obedient and still seem to always have constant battles?

Before you answer consider these two points:

1. We all have trials, but there seems to be some that can never keep their head above water, they have great difficulty living day to day for whatever the reason.

2. Someone may be wealthy as far as material wealth and never have that as a worry, but are not rich in things that really matter like a good home or real friends that care about them and not their money or it may be that to sustain their material wealth they often have to do things that are not honest.

What are your thoughts?

Rich To Related Prosperity

JB, given your defintion of "rich" I think it is directly related to obedience. Yes, we all have struggles and we always will, but if we are obedient and faithful, these struggles are manageable. If not, well.... I know some very strong members who struggle financially at times. A few of them seem to get a job keep it for a while and then get laid off, usually, not due to their own faults. Yet, these members are faithful and always seem to have what they need. They make it through these trials. Others I know just never can seem to get their heads above water as you say. I have noticed for the most part, these members are not as strong in their gospel life. Or so it seems to me.

So, based upon my experiences, I would say being "rich" is tied to obedience. Now, keep in mind, I am speaking as JB did about "rich," not in terms of money, but more in terms of spiritual things and attitude. I know some people who don't have a lot of money, yet they always have what they need and they have a positive attitude about life in general. To me, that is "rich."

Edited: tenaheff on 9th Feb, 2004 - 10:04pm

Prosperity Related To Being Rich Studies Doctrine Mormon

Good response Tenaheff. Here is a related quote I found:

"These are difficult times. The economy is struggling. There is conflict in
the world. But the Almighty is keeping His promise that He will bless those
who walk in faith and righteousness before Him."

(Gordon B. Hinckley, "The Condition of the Church," Ensign, May 2003, 6)

Rich To Related Prosperity

I will paraphrase something from a book I recently read.

When we begin to follow the Light of Christ, when we commit to be obedient to whatever the Lord requires of us, we will find that the trials will become ever greater. We won't pray that the trial be taken from us, but that we will be able to deal with it appropriately, and that we will learn the proper lessons from it.

Sometimes, those trials may take the form of becoming 'not rich' (according to the definitions already posted here). Just look at Job. He lost all of his fortune, even his children. But he was faithful.

So, while the Lord does bless those who are faithful, there may be times when it appears the opposite, for a short season.

Again, refer back to Joseph Smith. He wasn't rich, even by the JB's definition, when he was in Liberty Jail. Yet he was blessed.

NightHawk

Rich To Related Prosperity

I agree with you Nighthawk, however in this case the key words are;

We all have trials, but there seems to be some that can never keep their head above water

Since Joseph and Job both had trials, but their 'riches' were more often that their heartache. Remember Job did not die wanting, he became twice as rich after his test. However, there are members that do not have anything go right for them at all, they always seem to be in great difficulty with the world and this is not because they are fighting off bandits trying to get the Golden Plates or anything like that, it may have to do with choices?

Prosperity Related To Being Rich

It might have to do with choices. But those choices might be different than you think.

I see it as being entirely possible that a very righteous man could be in the situation that you are describing, BECAUSE he is so righteous. A good example of this is Mosiah Hancock. In his biography, you see that almost every crop he planted was destroyed. He struggled every day, it seems, just to get by. Yet he received wonderful spiritual blessings.

So, temporally, he was an abject failure. If I remember right, even one of his wives essentially rejected him. But spiritually, he was a giant.

NightHawk

Prosperity Related To Rich

Then I would have to say there are exceptions, but then we would have to analyze his life to see if each waking day was like that for him or if there were moments of riches that far outweigh his trials. Was he always beneath the water or did it just seemed so because his trials seem 'big' to us?I think it is also important to put into this 'soup' that what may be a trial to one, may not be to another and what is necessary for one is not for another because they are not ready for it. This might be an extreme example, but we can look at Christ's life, were all 33 years in agony? Or was it that moment in time when things were supposed to get difficult? Notice how in the scriptures he was constantly directed to keep his Ministry a secret until that moment of torment was to be known and his Work revealed to all.

Prosperity Related To Rich Mormon Doctrine Studies

Regarding those members who seem to always be stuggling, I have noticed, at least in my Ward and Stake, that there seems to be a failure to obey one or more commandments. Every ward has people that go from one crisis to another. Loss of job, legal troubles, kids in trouble of one kind or another, regularly needing financial assistance etc. If you analyze their lives, you almost always see something they are not doing that they should be doing, or something they are doing that they shouldn't be. Not paying tithing, not attending meetings, not accepting callings etc. Or, breaking the word of wisdom, law of chastity, or finding fault with a church leader and even questioning the Prophet.

On the other hand, even the most valiant members have occasional crisis in their lives but it is not one after the other. My wife is always pointing to families in our ward who appear to be doing well financially and says what are we doing wrong? I try to tell her, we are not doing anything wrong, just because we aren't among the wealthy in the ward does not mean we are lacking somewhere. Living the gospel does not necessarily bring you material wealth.