You may wonder why there has been so much talk of sacrifice, persecution and hard times as necessary phases of the spiritual way of life. History reveals that the inspired yet practical teachings of the Bible continued to be observed during the early centuries after Christ. But soon religion became more secularized, leading to variations and departures from Jesus’ original teachings. Later, the feudal systems during the Middle Ages assured wealth only for the privileged few. During this period, the teachings of “poverty and penance” were offered to the masses as the only way to salvation, in order to keep people in poverty, and to make lack and privation a supposed “Christian virtue.” Unsuspecting millions were led to believe that it was “pious to be poor,” a belief which was useful in forestalling revolution among the masses. Some of those old feudal ideas about poverty as a spiritual virtue have persisted until today, but they are false, man-made ideas and not God’s rich Truth for you and me.
Thus, make no further excuses to yourself or others for wanting to be prosperous. It is a divine desire that should be given divine expression. You can boldly give thanks that prosperity is your diving heritage; that the Father’s desire for you is unlimited good, not merely the means of a meager existence.
1962 by Catherine Ponder. All rights reserved. From the book “The Dynamic Laws of Prosperity”.