“Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you.” (James 5:1)
How does one know if he or she is abusing their wealth in such a way that this rebuke is reserved for them? James gives four ways wealth can become wicked.
- Wealth Becomes Wicked When It Is .
“Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days.” (James 5:2-3)
“’Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.’” (Matthew 6:19-21)
2. Wealth Becomes Wicked When It Is .
“Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.” (James 5:4)
3. Wealth Becomes Wicked When It Is .
“You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.” (James 5:5)
“But whoever has the world’s goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?” (I John 3:17)
4. Wealth Becomes Wicked When It Takes of the Righteous.
“You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.” (James 5:6)
Honoring God With My Wealth
“Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.” (I Timothy 6:17-19)