"Jesus was poor, so I should live poor to be like Him."
How it sounds in your head: I hear at church that Jesus had nowhere to lay His head and didn't own anything. If I want to follow Jesus, maybe I'm supposed to be broke too. Maybe having nice things means I'm not really sold out for God.
"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich."
-- 2 Corinthians 8:9Religion romanticizing poverty and misreading Jesus's three-year ministry as His entire existence.
Verses about Jesus having no place to lay His head (Luke 9:58) get quoted constantly. Pictures show Jesus in rags. Missionaries are praised for being poor, so poverty seems like the badge of true devotion.
Job lost everything—wealth, children, health—but when God restored him, 'the LORD gave Job TWICE as much as he had before' (Job 42:10). God didn't just bring Job back to zero; He DOUBLED everything instantly—14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 oxen, 1,000 donkeys—all in one day.
I REFUSE the lie that Jesus stayed poor or that I should stay poor to honor Him. IT IS WRITTEN in 2 Corinthians 8:9 that Jesus became poor so I could become RICH. Jesus took my poverty on the cross the same way He took my sin and sickness. I don't honor His sacrifice by staying broke any more than I honor it by staying sick. IT IS WRITTEN in Galatians 3:29 that I am Abraham's seed and an heir according to the promise—the BARAK blessing that protected and prospered liars, deceivers, and murderers covers me in the BETTER covenant. I receive the wealth Jesus purchased for me.
Jesus didn't die to keep you barely scraping by—He became poor so you could step into Abraham's blessing. Your Father is running toward you with the DOUBLE PORTION, the overflow, the 'more than enough,' just like He did for Job after his suffering ended.