Financial prosperity

So, this is a topic that some people avoid discussing about. I bet we are all aware that some preachers have even been tagged "prosperity preachers" because they tell us that God wants us to be rich and we should work and pray towards acquiring the best things that the world has to offer. Just the other day, I blogged about profit in labor (Read it here) and someone commented that s/he is confused about how to serve God when rich. That comment got me thinking and I have been studying both the Bible and some write-ups about Christianity and financial prosperity.

I once read that "We have the amazing ability to overestimate how happy we’re going to be with a person, an event, or a possession" and I am in agreement with this statement. We human beings are of the mindset that when we have more money, things will get better and that our lives will turn out the exact way we dream and so we work endlessly, acquiring material possessions and the circle just never ends till we are laid to rest. 

Ecclesiastes 5: 10 - 20 also says that "If you love money and wealth, you will never be satisfied with what you have. This doesn’t make sense either. The more you have, the more everyone expects from you. Your money won’t do you any good—others will just spend it for you. If you have to work hard for a living, you can rest well at night, even if you don’t have much to eat. But if you are rich, you can’t even sleep. 

I have seen something terribly unfair. People get rich, but it does them no good. Suddenly they lose everything in a bad business deal, then have nothing to leave for their children. They came into this world naked, and when they die, they will be just as naked. They can’t take anything with them, and they won’t have anything to show for all their work. That’s terribly unfair. They leave the world just as they came into it. They gained nothing from running after the wind. Besides all this, they are always gloomy at mealtime, and they are troubled, sick, and bitter. 

What is the best thing to do in the short life that God has given us? I think we should enjoy eating, drinking, and working hard. This is what God intends for us to do. Suppose you are very rich and able to enjoy everything you own. Then go ahead and enjoy working hard—this is God’s gift to you. God will keep you so happy that you won’t have time to worry about each day.

1 Timothy 6:6-10 also states that "Religion does make your life rich, by making you content with what you have. We didn’t bring anything into this world, and we won’t take anything with us when we leave. So we should be satisfied just to have food and clothes. People who want to be rich fall into all sorts of temptations and traps. They are caught by foolish and harmful desires that drag them down and destroy them. The love of money causes all kinds of trouble. Some people want money so much that they have given up their faith and caused themselves a lot of pain".

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A research about "why good people would do bad behavior" (Read it here) also found that people tend to set their morality aside with the promise of money. 

This and many others that I read made me decide to ask these questions:

*     Does striving to have financial prosperity mean we are trying to get the world to love us? Would that mean that we are not in line with God? Because Jesus said in Luke 6: 24 - 26 that 

"You rich people are in for trouble. You have already had an easy life. 

You well-fed people are in for trouble. You will go hungry! You people who are laughing now are in for trouble. You are going to cry and weep! 

You are in for trouble when everyone says good things about you. That is what your own people said about those prophets who told lies".

 *    Does it mean that we hate God? Remember Matthew 6: 24 says "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money". 

What is your own take on this?