by Adelani Aderemi

Created on: December 19, 2009

The web dictionary defines poverty as the state of having little or no money and few or no material possessions. In this state, it might be difficult to get the basic necessities of life including food, clothing and shelter. There are many people living in poverty in the world, what with the crashing economy. In developing countries poverty rate is high with majority of the workforce being unemployed.

Wisdom

The above is the general view of poverty but not all those who have money to provide the basic needs of live are out of poverty level. There are other views. A rich man who is lacking in wisdom to make good use of the money is suffering from poverty and a nation blessed with human and mineral resources and yet lacks good leadership to make good use of her wealth will throw the citizens in abject poverty. So poverty is not always lack of money or materials, poverty may manifest in absence of wisdom

Human relationship

As an individual, at home in church or at work, your poverty level is accentuated when you make yourself an island. We all need one another. Nobody is an island of knowledge and endowment. No one has it all. Jesus needed his twelve friends and by transferred mandate, he needs us now who are his followers to continue the work of spreading the good news of God’s kingdom. So who is a mere mortal to say he doesn’t need help of others. At whatever level of the society you may be, you have a need. Not showing sufficient regards to those needs and how to get them is an indication of poverty.

Skills and Talents

In the high calling of our daily lives, poverty level is defined by lack of relevant skills, technical and social, to make reasonable advancement in the place of work. Employees are rated low when they are not compliant to company dynamics, when they show low zeal and cannot co-operate with colleagues to get good results. This is poverty. Even when there is job loss and salaries and wages stop, the ensuing poverty is only fully defined by lack of resilience and courage to face the hardship and get going as the going gets tough.

Lack of knowledge of God is the real poverty

In scriptural terms, prosperity of the soul is measured by the level at which your life readily yields fruit for the kingdom of God. In other words, the level at which your life impacts positively on others to the glory of God. Here are relevant scriptures:

1.  He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done (Prov 19:17)

2.  One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty (Prov 11:24)

3.  Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. (Jas 5:1-3)

4.  As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins."I tell you the truth," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on." (Lk 21:1-4)

And Jesus sums it up with this verse taken from Mt 16:25

5.  What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

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