Abundance and Prosperity: Discerning What This Means for the Christian

Recently, I’ve been reading a book on Kindle which a person I know wrote (in Spanish). She and her family live in Mexico, and her MLM (Multi-Level Marketing) business (she is an independent consultant) has skyrocketed. They are now living an abundant, prosperous life. Her book details the lessons she’s learned in the process of becoming successful by taking the reader through various “valleys,” or obstacles, that she had to overcome and which the reader can learn to overcome, too, by following her advice. It’s an intriguing read.

For those interested in starting an MLM business from home, or who already have one, I think this easy-to-read, straightforward, intimately personal book could be helpful. It gives guidance in dealing with fear, failure, and the dreaded response, “No,” among other common challenges.

There’s just one concern I have regarding this book, though, summed up in the following question:

This sweet lady is a Christian, for which I am so thankful! We could talk about God, the Bible, and how to live a moral life and would probably agree on many things. She is very talented, smart, brave, and resilient. She loves her husband and daughters and involves them in her work by making it a family business . She has used her book and her influence as a team leader in her organization to draw attention to God and give Him glory. In fact, there are many Bible verses in her book. There is so much I admire about her! But I suspect that when it comes to the topic of money, we might disagree.

Abundance comes in many forms

Economic Abundance

Obviously, her story provides an example of economic abundance, which she and her family are experiencing right now — and I’m genuinelyl happy for them! There are plenty of examples in the Bible of believers who had great wealth, given to them by God (Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Solomon, etc.). God’s intention was to bless them and their families and to use them in a position of influence to be able to bless others. God owns the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10-12), so providing for our economic needs — even to overflowing — is nothing to Him.

Family Abundance

Then there is also family abundance:

“Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward . . . Happy is the man who hath his quiver full of them“ (Psalm 127:3, 5).

How greatly children enrich our lives! A house full of children is a house that is abounding in the prosperity of life! That is a gift many barren couples long to have and that many fertile couples fail to appreciate.

Now, what if God blessed you with the “reward” of children, but not with loads of material wealth?

First of all, it’s important to remember that the Bible teaches that God will provide for all our basic needs (not necessarily our extravagant wants): “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed [descendants] begging bread” (Psalm 37:25; see also Matthew 6:25-34).

God makes clear that the usual way He takes care of our needs is through fathers providing for their families by working hard with their own hands (Eph. 4:28; 1 Thess. 4:11; 2 Thess. 3:7-12; 1 Tim. 5:8). Mothers, on the other hand, are to be “keepers at home” (managers of their home, Titus 2:5). There is a possibility that this could include a personal business or part-time job, but it should never be at the expense of neglecting our principle duty of caring for the home and those in it. We should learn to be content with our husband’s income, since that is the way God provides for us.

If we women step in and take over for our husbands, if we interfere with their efforts, won’t we be giving them less motive to work hard to provide for us? Yes, sometimes husbands are poor providers. If this is from a lack of opportunity but not motive, then we need to give them our encouragement and support. We need to pray for and with them. We need to reassure them that they can do this! However, if this is from a lack of motive (laziness), then there may be a way we can fill in the gaps so our children don’t starve — but without overtaking our husband’s God-given role and abdicating our own.

If we don’t have loads of wealth but plenty of children, the second important thing to keep in mind is that though people often think that having lots of children will make you poor, and they may be right that this is sometimes — though not always — true in an economic sense, it isn’t true in a relationship sense: “There is [one who] maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is [one who] maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches“ (Proverbs 13:7).

Perhaps Solomon was thinking of the benefits of wisdom and straight-living (as opposed to the “gains” snatched by crooked-living) when he penned that verse. But, I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that anything we do in obedience to God is wise and that the effects of that on our life may include the blessing of children. Though children do not necessarily represent economic wealth when they are young and need care, they do provide relationship wealth, kingdom wealth (if we train them in the way they should go, Proverbs 22:6), and future stability for us because they will be the ones to support us when we are old.

Paul worked very hard to pay his own way and was not at all wealthy. As a single man, his “children” were the churches he had founded. Sometimes, he had to depend upon donations from his “children” for support, in addition to his own hard work (Acts 20:33-35; 2 Cor. 11:7-9). God did not give him an abundance of money, but He gave him the abundance of family — church family.

So, whether God gives us our own biological children or He gives us spiritual children, the gift of family abundance is something we can appreciate as one form of prosperity.

Spiritual Abundance

How could we forget to mention spiritual abundance: “Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. . . . In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence [understanding] . . . The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints” (Eph. 1:2-3, 7-8, 18).

Other Types of Abundance

Time is not sufficient to cover all the other forms of abundance, including abundance of good character (often formed on the anvil of hardship and deprivation), abundance of influence, abundance of faith, abundance of life lessons and experience, etc.

I think that by limiting our focus to the one area of economic abundance, or at least by emphasizing it disproportionately, we do ourselves a disservice. We underestimate the advantages of the other forms of prosperity that God makes available to us as believers.

A more balanced way of approaching this subject

I don’t think my aquaintance is unaware of these other forms of abundance; I just worry that by talking so much about how God wants us to prosper economically, she may be presenting a lop-sided view of life that will cause some people to feel discontent with their own possibilities. What if God doesn’t give them a lot of economic success? Have they failed in life? To expect God to abound us in this way might just be setting ourselves up for disappointment.

God’s main priority isn’t to end world poverty at this stage (Matt. 26:11). That will come later.

Instead of putting so much emphasis on economic success, why not think of it this way:

I’m going to have a small side business to supplement my husband’s income, as long as it doesn’t interfere with my duties as a housewife and mother. I will not neglect my role as homekeeper in any way, and if my home business is overtaking my other duties, I will cut back where necessary. If God does make my business successful (and I hope that He does), I will thank Him for it and use the money wisely, but I will be careful to keep economic prosperity in perspective. I will not exalt it in my own life, nor will I talk about it in an exalted way with others, since I recognize that God does not always choose to bless His servants with earthly wealth. (Jesus was not rich in this world’s goods.)

Occasionally, businesses that start out “on the side” end up being so wildly successful that some husbands decide to leave their own work in order to help their wives with theirs. I tentatively think this could be okay, as long as we find a way to continue to keep our lives balanced by not neglecting our duties as housewives and by honoring the leadership of our husbands — not treating them simply as our helpers. I understand how exciting it would be to have a hugely successful business, but at the same time I wonder if in the end it would be best for the marriage?

If that side business does not go as well as expected, we should be able to say:

• Thank you, Lord, for your abundant grace! Thank You for Your unfailing love! Thank You for Your many spiritual blessings in heavenly places!

• Though You have not chosen to give me economic success at this time, I continue to trust in Your power to do all things You will to do. This lack of money is not proof of Your inability to provide or to give me the desires of my heart, but evidence that You work according to Your own unsearchable wisdom. You answer my prayers according to Your own agenda.

• I do not see this lack of monetary prosperity as a mark of Your disfavor. I know and believe that whatever you are doing in my life right now is necessary for my growth, in one way or another, and I accept that. You are doing what’s best for me. It may be that in place of what I have been praying and hoping for, you are preparing a “Better YES” for me. I don’t need a lot of money to serve You or be successful in life.

• In times of economic stability, I will praise You. In times of economic uncertaintly, I will praise You. No matter what life throws my way, I will give You the glory, for You are God.

We should also be willing to consider that if our business isn’t prospering, it could be the result of not prioritizing God as Number One (Haggai 1 and 2) or sin in our life that needs to be dealt with (James 4:2-4; 6-10).

It seems to me that women who are successful with their MLM businesses tend to try and bring more members into their teams by emphasizing the monetary benefits that are possible, and I do think that a home-based MLM business can certainly be a way of earning money to benefit our families. Yes! However, the problem is that some of these ladies try to convince themselves and others that God wants us all to be prosperous in the economic sense; that is how they draw more people in. That is how they attempt to encourage them to keep on working toward their organization’s goals. That is how they give them hope that success is even possible in the first place. They tell them that it’s just a matter of time and effort, and their dreams will come true, because they have to; God promised it. They encourage them to claim this promise.

I’m not saying that they are intentionally dishonest, but they may be misunderstanding this topic since abundance comes in many forms, and if I understand this right, the only one promised to us as believers is the spiritual type. God will provide for our needs, if we trust Him and seek first His kingdom and His righteousness (Matt. 6:26-34). Yes, I absolutely do believe that! But He also wants us to learn to be content with what we have, even if it’s only a little (Phil. 4:11-13).

The main thing God wants us to abound in is His grace so that we may produce an abundance of good works:

If those good works include being a blessing to others financially, wonderful! The above verse, read in context, is speaking of giving cheerfully to the church and believing that God will bless us for it. Let’s just remember that there is more than one way to “abound.” Let’s be balanced in our approach and learn to appreciate the times of financial leanness, as well. We may find many hidden treasures in unexpected places if we manage to let go of our preconceived notions of what it means to be wealthy.

• How do you feel about a wife making money from home, specifically with an MLM-type business — is it good, bad, or does it depend on how one does it?
• What are some ways, if there are any, a wife can legitimately supplement her husband’s income while still being in line with the Bible’s teaching on her role?
• How do you view the abundance & prosperity issue, as a Christian?

~Jessica