Yes, God Does Love the Rich

Many believe the pursuit of wealth is wrong and that the wealthy are evil.

I know this because I have received thousands of very angry and abusive emails and comments over the years from individuals in response to one of the many media articles on me or my Rich Habits research. There is no shortage of hatred for rich people.

Many of those angry emails/comments, oftentimes referenced some Bible passage, as if their Bible knowledge somehow invalidated my research.

What my haters didn’t know, however, was that I knew a little bit about the Bible too. At one point, very early in my life, I was on the path to become a priest. So, for many years I had studied the Bible, almost on a daily basis.

The Bible is not black and white on the topic of wealth. In fact, within its pages are many passages that seem to shine a favorable light on wealth, especially the Book of Proverbs.

• Proverbs 13:11 – Whoever gathers money, little by little, makes it grow.
• Matthew 25: 14-30 – Parable of the Talents
• Proverbs 10:4 – Lazy hands make for poverty, but diligent hands bring wealth.
• Proverbs 22:7 – Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender.
• Proverbs 21:20 – The wise have wealth and luxury but fools spend whatever they get.
• Luke 6:38 – Give and you shall receive. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.
• Deuteronomy 16:17 – All must give as they are able, according to the blessings given to them by the Lord your God.
• Proverbs 10:15 – A rich man’s wealth is his strong city; the poverty of the poor is their ruin.
• Proverbs 28:20 – A faithful man will abound with blessings, but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.
• Proverbs 23:21 – For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty; and slumber will clothe them with rags.
• Proverbs 21:5 – The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.

Growing up, I was taught by my mother that the pursuit of wealth was a mortal sin. As a result, I was programmed into believing the wealthy were sinners.

And, almost daily, my belief was validated by the media and many politicians, who almost unanimously, vilified the rich.

My belief system came crashing down in 2009, however, after completing my five-year study on the daily habits of the rich and poor. That study opened my eyes for the first time. I discovered that wealthy individuals were not the evil people I had been brainwashed into believing them to be.

According to my data, 72% of the self-made millionaires in my study were involved in some charitable organization. And 61% were on the boards or committees of a charitable organization.

These charities they supported helped feed and shelter the poor, paid medical bills for the poor, built homes for the poor, helped educate the poor, bought wheel chairs for the disabled, and in many ways, helped improve the lives of those otherwise cast aside by society.

I also learned, from my Rich Habits research, that many of the self-made millionaires who ran their own companies were very generous to their employees. They loaned them money so they could purchase a home. They helped pay college costs for their children. They bought them cars. They co-signed loans. They paid for unexpected medical expenses. And they mentored them so they could also one day become successful.

My Mom was wrong. Wealthy people are not evil. In fact, they are among the finest human beings to walk the earth.

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