Is Poverty a punishment from God ??

[born2hack]

In Hinduism poverty or anything you face in your life is the result of your karma, the things you did, crimes committed, donations to charity, good or bad, you get what you do.

[crowhit]

Originally Posted by Gloria

What do you think?.. are we poor because God is punishing us?.. is poverty a punishment from God?

Its not a punishment.
Indeed its a challenge for us.
He wants to see our abilities and how can we tackle these kind of challenges.

Or
according to some people its the result of bad things that we did in our previous births. So, it can be considered a punishment.

[RioKwik]

I do not think poverty is a punishment from God at all. Sometimes when we don't understand things it is easier for us to try and place blame for things that we feel we can't change.

Poverty is a result of so many things, but I don't think it has anything to do with the vengeance of a higher being. The economy, personal circumstances, education are all things that play into poverty.

[zowie]

Poverty is not a punishment from God. It is a punishment for your actions. It is the result of you being lazy and not studying well while in school. It is the punishment for you not doing your job properly. It is the result of you not being diligent enough in choosing the right politicians to represent you.

[Aleiah]

I don't think that poverty is a punishment from God. It's the end result of inadequate and bad governance, might as well say corrupt governance. If the leaders had provided and appropriated well the funds that are supposed to be for livelihood projects and monetary assistance to the poor instead of going to some people's pockets, we might just be able to lessen poverty a little. Aside from assistance from the government, people also should do their share to make their life better.

[oxis]

Poverty is absolutely not a punishment from God. Neither is it a consequence of lack of faith. Poverty is what one makes it. The standard of living that one may experience depends on the way he makes use of what he personally got for himself. The will to survive and enjoy the luxury of living the same way his fellow is enjoying surely depends on the manner he utilize all the resources he could use to get the life going. Although it sounds paradoxical, belief in God could also be the means to enjoy life satisfaction.

[siriusbg]

Aleiah, I almost agree with you on many ideas.
I also don't think that poverty is a punishment. Actually, it is too complicated to say when one should be considered poor. There are people who have almost nothing to live with and yet, they feel elated by having a life to live and opportunities ahead and do not feel poor at all.
On the other side there are greedy people, whose only aim is having more and more. The loss of something could ruin their ambitions and result in having lesser and lesser. They may have more than the people mentioned above, but they will state they are poor.

As Jerome K. Jerome said " There is no problem being poor. The problem is when the others know that you are poor".

Think on these words.

[ro1e]

I think God can not take care of all the people in the world, he created the world and we have to get by.
Many people find themselves asking that if God is omnipotent why is he not preventing wars? Why is he not stopping criminals?
I believe that God can not take care of everyone but those who pray to him get a bit more attention (:

[quester]

Poverty is a socially produced class distinction that results from the greed and indifference of societies in general. We are controlled by capitalism run a muck. Capitalism works only if a limit is placed on maximum annual income. This does seem to be dictatorial and unfair to the wealthy but who really needs to have such excess of the world’s goods leaving others without?
quester

[0099]

God has not created riches and poverty, it is us who create them. God made resources which were available equally to all but some who were stronger and more efficient knew how to make best use of them became rich and others who were naive remained poor. now once this disparity between riches and poverty developed, those who were well off never let the destitute recover from their situation. they kept on snatching their rights to pile up their own houses with luxuries and that's how this disparity always remained there and still remains. God did his job well and has nothing to do with poverty.

[ediths]

My religion taught me that God is our parent and so if God is our parent, why does He needs to punish His children? I believe that poverty is not a punishment from God but rather because of us being irresponsible and we don't love other people as our brothers and sisters. If we started to think that we are one family perhaps we would help each other as one family and poverty problem will be solved

[ultimoz]

poverty is not punishment but its a disaster from the people who are managing country.. they are like parasite, eating the wealth of country is their habit and which returns as huge loss of poor people.. politicians suck

[Ziveeman]

I don't think that poverty is a punishment from God. I think that God gives us what He knows we can handle. Some of those in poverty are given a choice whether or not to act, and get themselves out of that situation. Some eventually do, and become productive members of society, while others are too lazy and choose not to. It may not be their fault that they are in that situation, but it is their fault that they remain that way.

[jessika]

poverty is not a punishment in any sense rather it is a situation created by societies and especially it is quite not justified when someone says that it is a punishment from God. we can see that God has not differentiated humans in any respect. we are equally blessed by every thing which is natural, the disparity between humans is man made not by God.

[mteager]

I'm pretty sure if your bad you go to hell, get poor. Poverty is created by people for other people, or sometimes by the environment people live in... but it is always enforced by other people. Poverty has nothing to do with God we inflict it on ourselves.

[rvj_4u]

It is a good question you have asked. I don't think Poverty is a punishment. No person is poor from his birth.

[ferdousx]

Poverty can not be a punishment from God. Whatever your religion, think of the the holiest man in it. Was he rich? Jesus was not rich, not Hazrat Muhammad(SM), Goutom buddho left his palace in search of creator. They were poor but they were not punished by the creator rather blessed. So, how can poverty be a punishment from God? God never judge someone by his wealth nor bless someone with money! Its his blessings and love, that's what matter.

[b2breps]

That has to be the silliest thing I have ever read. Being poor is not a punishment from God. In my view God does not punisg people at all. My God is a kind and gentle God, a God of love and compassion.

Saying that poverty is a punishment from God doesn't make sense at all. Lazarus in the Bible was very poor but that doesn't mean that God was punishing Lazarus. Job lost almost everything and became very very poor but that doesn't mean that God was punishing Job. Poverty may be temptation but t that definately isn't a punishment.

Poverty is a punishment from God if God does not give free will. Poverty however isn't a punishment from God because God has given us the power to choose between right and wrong. God has given us the power to decide for ourselves. God has given us the power to choose whether to live a rich and happy life or a poor and miserable life. We suffer because we make the wrong choices.

You asked this question may be because you are superstitious. That is good and I am superstitious too. But the answer to your question is very simple. God does not create bad things. God only create good things and human beings use those good things God has already created to create bad things. In this case, money is bad because money was created by man.

I personally don't think that poverty is a punishment from God. However, I do think that God can put poverty as a test of faith. God can test you to know whether you still love Him or not. Remember Job in the Bible. God did not punish Job. Just that God allowed Job to be tested with poverty and suffering. God loves us all and He wouldn't see us suffer the way we are doing.

[zapakpro]

basically i am an atheist , meaning i do not believe in god but the question raised is very correst. Why should mankind suffer in some kind or the other in some place or the other. is there no end to this?? its upto us guys , to change the world. lets do it.

[penelope]

I don't think poverty is punishment from God. We are God's children and he would not like us to suffer.
If we are poor, it doesn't mean we can no longer alleviate our situations. We just need to work harder to alleviate our situations.

[bodil4o]

I don't think somebody will be able to answer you!
Only God knows! But he loves us and he wont give us something that we wont be able to stay...
I think it isn't punishment... For me it is result from the population and the people... (they arent generous at all!).

[kr15py]

It depends - sometimes wealth may become a curse and punishment also. Very often people become enslaved by their wealth. I think in some religions to be considered a righteous man you should be poor.

[DaughterUK]

I don't for one minute believe that God punishes people by making them poor. As a Christian I believe that God is love, therefore God cannot commit any action that is inconsistent with love. If he were to make somebody so poor that they cannot feed their family or pay the bills then this action is inconsistent with a loving God.

This said, God will not shield people (or nations) from the consequences of their bad choices. If he did so then the human race would learn nothing because we would never realize our mistakes. God is the perfect supernatural parent, he tries to guide us but ultimately he gave us free will and choice. If we make right choices then that's brilliant, if we don't then we learn the hard way.

[Dixyboy]

Well, if that's true the God is punishing me alot. No, I don't think poverty is a punishment from god. God gave us life, it's up to you how you live it. You have to take control and work hard. Go to school, get a good job and you won't be poor, simple as that. Ofcourse not all people have a chance to get a good education, I can undestand that.

[shymaaz]

Great question and sometimes it really seems so. It is worst than everything to live as a poor..all problems, all tensions , all disregard, all humiliation, all sorrows and pains are brought automatically in poverty package. I think its more than a punishment.

[Jenelle]

There are things in this world that is created with purpose. I'm sure God has His own reason behind it. Take this into an analogy with this quotation, "if you never knew pain, would you know God?'