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Life of Luxury or Suffering?
Dear Community,
I've been wondering about this for a few days, as is my custom when facing a religious dilemma. Normally I'd now go to a religious leader and ask for instructions, but I can't do that right now.
So here I am and my question is as follows:
Does God want us to live an uncomfortable life? Is having a luxurious life wrong?
The Bible glorifies the poor and needy, and seems to dislike riches and wealth; story of Lazarus the sick and the rich man, our Lord Jesus himself, the Widow of Naen, the disciples (I think), and there are many other examples.
So do we have to forsake al comfort and pleasure for the sake of Christ? Are these not resources he has given us? Must we live in poverty and squalor to inherit the kingdom of heaven?
Many thanks
epshiri
I've been wondering about this for a few days, as is my custom when facing a religious dilemma. Normally I'd now go to a religious leader and ask for instructions, but I can't do that right now.
So here I am and my question is as follows:
Does God want us to live an uncomfortable life? Is having a luxurious life wrong?
The Bible glorifies the poor and needy, and seems to dislike riches and wealth; story of Lazarus the sick and the rich man, our Lord Jesus himself, the Widow of Naen, the disciples (I think), and there are many other examples.
So do we have to forsake al comfort and pleasure for the sake of Christ? Are these not resources he has given us? Must we live in poverty and squalor to inherit the kingdom of heaven?
Many thanks
epshiri
Comments
I feel that most people who ask this question jump to one extreme or the other. Is it a sin to be the slave of your money and spend it on useless things and forget God, of course! Does that mean God wants us on the street to be beggars, of course not! So what now? Well there is middle ground. Living a comfortable life is not a sin (note that comfortable is quite different from luxury). Being successful is not a sin, in fact we are called to do so! If we, being the children of God, are not successful then we give Him a bad image. God just doesn't want us to become slaves of luxury and success and forget him.
I'm not a leader by any means but I believe we are to lead a righteous life. That is a moral life. We follow that by obeying Christ's commandments.
In church we should be meditating on what the gospel and His word say to us, then to find peace and reconciliation.
We learn alot about ourselves through suffering because it humbles us, and alot of suffering comes from sin, whether it's jealosy, pride, or any of the things we know are sinfull. Those things are hard when they are shared with others and there is no peace in them. So living a life of luxury, can be something that is not shared with others so well as well. It could cause envy or jealosy and not be at peace with others.
So we live a righteous life. It is like Job who had everything and lost it until he made God the only one he was living his life for. In return God gave him much more than he had before.
although there are deggrees of comfortable living, living comfortably is essentially a type of luxury, since not many people can afford to do it.
i feel like the "chosen poverty", which the monastic fathers and mothers have sought after, is more rewarding.
I wholeheartedly believe that the more you give up for God, the more He'll reward you. But giving up luxury is not crucial or vital to your salvation, like giving up sin is. for that reason, it is honored more by God.
simplicity is a beautiful virtue. and with luxury, things are taken for granted, and a materialistic mindset is present. think of the monastic fathers of the 4th century, the people from the old testament, and the people from Christs' time. Life was more simple then and daily items like food and water werent taken for granted, since someone had to toil and labor for them.
of course, because we dont live in primitive or ancient times and because our soceity is technologically advanced, we all inevitably live in some degree of luxury. Work with what you have and do all things to glorify God, because yes, he has made it possible that you buy this nice house or drive this nice car. If you keep Him in your mind at all times, you will be able to use your luxury to serve Him and others.
So we live a righteous life. It is like Job who had everything and lost it until he made God the only one he was living his life for. In return God gave him much more than he had before.
Job always had God as the only one He was living for. This is exactly the reason why all the tragic events happened to him. After God saw his determination and perseverance and never-ending hope he blessed Him again.