If you’ve been struggling to make ends meet or wondering how to live in abundance, it’s time to make the switch over to prosperity! The answer is found in the profile of a prosperous Christian.
Do you know what a prosperous Christian looks like? Maybe you’ve met some but wondered how they seem to advance by leaps and bounds, while you struggle to move a spiritual inch. The answer lies in the unique way prosperous Christians act, think and live.
Prosperous Christians aren’t the norm. They don’t subscribe to the world’s ways, and they don’t use natural means to get where they’re going. Though they are different people from different backgrounds, they all share the same characteristics, behaviors, values and habits—they have the same profile.
Where Do You Find the Profile of a Prosperous Christian?
There are two passages of Scripture—one in the Old Testament and one in the New Testament—that outline the profile of a prosperous Christian. In them, you will find the secrets, the habits and the lifestyle of the one God has made rich.
Psalm 112:1-9 is one profile of a prosperous Christian. Within the description of how this man lives, it clearly states that he is “blessed” and that “wealth and riches will be in his house.” Most people have the idea that you cannot be wealthy and be righteous at the same time. Here is a man with a house—a nice house—filled with wealth and riches. And his righteousness is intact.
He has a big house full of riches and his righteousness endures forever. That’s the definition of godly wealth—and it is God who gave him the power to get that wealth (Deuteronomy 8:18).
The second profile is found in 2 Corinthians 9:6-15. This describes a prosperous Christian as one who has “all sufficiency in all things” and “an abundance for every good work.” He is prospering in every area of his life.
The word prosper does not mean money. It includes money. It includes assets. It includes influence. It includes all those things, but it doesn’t mean those things. The word prosper in the Hebrew language comes from the word peace or wholeness—nothing missing, nothing broken.
Now that we know what it means to be a prosperous Christian, we will look at the profile of the man described in Psalm 112 and 2 Corinthians 9 and learn to apply it to our own lives. Know this—the prosperous life isn’t just for some—the sun will shine on anyone who will go outside. God is no respecter of persons. If you live like the man in the profile of a prosperous Christian, you will become prosperous, too!
1. A Prosperous Christian Is Aware of His Inheritance
“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” –2 Corinthians 8:9 (NIV)
There was a man who saved for years to buy a boat ticket to America. Once he had purchased passage on the ship, he brought along cheese and crackers to sustain him, as he had spent everything he had on the ticket. Every evening at mealtime, he would look into the dining room at the other passengers enjoying their food, and then return to his cabin and eat his cheese and crackers.
The day the ship docked at the New York Harbor, a steward came to him and said, “Sir, have we offended you in any way? I noticed that you didn’t eat any of your meals in our dining room.” The man answered, “Oh, no! You see, I didn’t have enough money for meals, so I ate in my room.” Then the steward said, “But sir, your meals were included in the ticket!”
So many Christians receive the “ticket” of salvation, but don’t understand that they have an inheritance in Christ. Some even believe God withholds from them. Others simply don’t realize that everything the Father has belongs to them, once they are born again. A prosperous Christians knows this:
You are an heir to a vast fortune.
Galatians 4:7 says, “You are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ” (NKJV).
You were made the righteousness of God in Christ! You were made a joint heir with Him. According to Strong’s Concordance that term joint heir refers to “a personal equality based on an equality of possession.”
Jesus went to the cross to give you what He already possessed. He became as poor as we are, that we might become as rich as He is. A prosperous Christian knows this and has had spiritual revelation of its truth.
Watch Gloria Copeland and Pastor George Pearsons teach about Divine Prosperity.
2. A Prosperous Christian Is Generous
“He has dispersed abroad; he has given to the poor.” –Psalm 112:9 (NKJV)
Traditionally, the Church has been led to believe that prosperity is bad or ungodly. However, John writes that we should prosper and be in health (3 John 2). You see, there’s a big difference between having money and loving money. The Bible does not say that money is the root of all evil. It says the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10). There are people so poor they don’t have two cents to rub together, but they are so in love with money they’ll literally kill to get it. That is loving money.
One way you know you don’t love money is your willingness to give it away. We aren’t to avoid being rich, but instead, we are called to prosper while keeping our eyes on God. That means we love Him, love people and live to give!
We are called to prosper so we can always be ready to give, not just at church, but everywhere—all the time. Second Corinthians 9:11 says, “Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous.” That’s true prosperity—being able to look a man in the eye in his moment of impossibility and take his needs as your own. A truly prosperous Christian would give everything away in a heartbeat if God told him or her to do so. A prosperous Christian is a very generous man or woman.
3. A Prosperous Christian Is a Tither and a Sower
“He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” –2 Corinthians 9:6 (NKJV)
A prosperous Christian knows one very basic, but critical, biblical principle—tithing plus sowing is the cornerstone to real biblical prosperity. He or she knows that a person who fails to tithe disqualifies himself from receiving his inheritance of abundance.
It’s amazing how many Christians waste their energies arguing whether or not tithing is a New Testament doctrine, claiming it is under the Law and we no longer have to keep the Law. People who think this way are self-deceived.
Before the Law even existed, Abraham “gave him tithes of all,” (Genesis 14:19-20, KJV). Additionally, tithing is seen throughout the New Testament because people knew what we know now—tithing activates THE BLESSING of God in our finances.
The Word of God is clear that the act of giving alone is not the path to blessing, but the heart behind your giving. “You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. For God loves a person who gives cheerfully” (2 Corinthians 9:7).
In other words, don’t just put your tithe in because the bucket went by. Jesus is the Lord of the tithe, so go before Him with it, and pray over it. You can say something like this:
Thank You, Father for Your provision. I offer this as a tithe to You with thanksgiving. Bless it, Lord. And now, I expect what You said in the Book of Malachi. You have rebuked the devourer for my sake. And Satan, I remind you, you are rebuked in the Name of Jesus. Keep your dirty hands off my money, my job, my goods and all my affairs. I have the favor of God. Now get out of here!
Tithe and sow wherever the Lord instructs you. And do it cheerfully, remembering that when you sow just a little, that’s what you’ll reap. But if you sow generously, like a prosperous Christian, God will “make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8, NKJV).
This scripture is not just talking about money. You can have money, be saved and have a well body, but if there is strife in your family, you’re not prosperous. You would have a form of poverty in your household.
God is talking about “all sufficiency in all things.” This is the New Testament definition of a born-again, Holy-Ghost baptized, tongue-talking, healing-believing, totally prosperous believer. Amen.
4. A Prosperous Christian Uses Good Judgment
“He will guide his affairs with discretion.” –Psalm 112:5 (KJV)
A prosperous Christian “guides his affairs with discretion” (Psalm 112:5, KJV). That means every decision he makes is done carefully and with wisdom.
How does he do this? By delighting greatly in God’s commandments (Psalm 112:1). Good judgment (or wisdom) can only come from the one true source of all wisdom—the Bible.
A prosperous Christian knows the Word of God and obeys it—all of it. He doesn’t see God’s commandments as restrictive or holding him back. And he doesn’t see them as optional. He loves others—fulfilling the second greatest commandment (Matthew 22:39). He isn’t easily offended or angry. He doesn’t hold onto grudges. He loves others the way God instructs (1 Corinthians 13:4-13). He makes the Word of God final authority in his life.
Find A Recipe for Your Daily Quiet Time here.
When you walk in wisdom— delighting in God’s commandments and using good judgment— the Lord will make you rich, and you won’t experience any sorrow in it (Proverbs 10:22). You’ll see the wicked prosper financially in the world, but the Bible says that type of prosperity has sorrow in it. The righteous prosper in God, and He adds no sorrow. Why? Because it comes from His grace. Everything you have and all that you could have comes from the grace of God.
5. A Prosperous Christian Is Not Fearful
“He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.” –Psalm 112:7 (ESV)
With all that we’ve seen working in favor of the prosperous Christian up to this point, it’s no wonder that Psalm 112:7-8 goes on to say, “They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the Lord to care for them. They are confident and fearless and can face their foes triumphantly.” Now, that’s prosperous living!
Fear opens the door to the enemy to rob you of your blessings—financial and otherwise. So, as the prosperous Christian keeps his mind fixed on the Word of God, he keeps himself out of fear—and out of the sights of the devil.
This man is in a secure position, both in heaven and in the earth. Satan is under his feet. What could he possibly fear? His mind and his heart are fixed on the Word of God. Nothing can move him.
How did he get to that place?
It’s by a constant, steady, persistent pursuit into those things in God’s Word that we know belong to us—our healing, our peace of mind, the salvation of our families, our children’s protection and our financial prosperity. Even when it looks like everyone else is prospering but us, when it looks like everyone else is getting healed but us, we must remain fixed on the Word and press on.
If someone throws in the towel and says that this profile of a prosperous believer doesn’t work, what they’re really saying is, “I’m not willing to press.” After we have pressed and stood in faith awhile, even the toughest situation will have to give in. Why? Because our pressure is always greater than the devil’s pressure. All his weapons are from the world.
When you live out the traits that make up the profile of a prosperous believer, you’ll be well on your way to living in prosperity yourself! Keep your mind on God and His promises. Don’t look back for even the slightest moment. Meditate on God’s profile for you. Don’t call yourself anything other than what this profile says you are. “I am blessed. My profile is to prosper, and I fit the profile!”
Related Articles:
The Confession of a Prosperous Christian
God Delights in Your Prosperity
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