In the world of eastern philosophy, Confucius taught that comfort and prosperity have their place, but they should never be placed above our moral duty to others. Confucius acknowledged that “riches and honors are what men desire,” but he immediately cautioned: “If they cannot be obtained in the proper way, they should not be held.” (Source) In Confucian thought, it was not inherently wrong to have money or a high position, provided these things were attained with integrity and used to ease other people’s economic burdens, practice charity, and live modestly. The ideal Confucian leader “keeps propriety (the right way to act in every situation) even in wealth” and “shares it with the people.” Confucianism views wealth as morally neutral but dangerous: it is acceptable and even beneficial if gained and used in accordance with virtue, justice, and helping others, but it becomes a vice when pursued at the expense of righteousness or when it leads to arrogance and moral complacency.

In Hinduism, the framework for a good life is called पुरुषार्थ (Puruṣārtha), meaning “the purpose of a human being” or “the object of human pursuit” (Source) In Hinduism, there are four goals that are necessary for a fulfilling and happy life:

1. धर्म (Dharma) - Living according to virtue

2. अर्थ (Artha) - Material wealth and security

3. काम (Kama) - Pleasure and beauty

4. मोक्ष (Moksha) - Freedom from ignorance

Material prosperity is recognized as a legitimate goal in life, but is a part of pursuing a larger picture of living a good life. The Encyclopedia Britannica summarizes it by saying “As the immoderate pursuit of material advantage would lead to ruinous excesses, artha must always be regulated by the superior aim of dharma (righteousness).” (Source). Wealth is seen as a positive when it is the fruit of the pursuit of virtue, and enables generosity. Gandhi summarized it this way: “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, not every man’s greed.” (Source)

Siddhartha Gautama - The Buddha - was born a prince and was surrounded by luxury for much of his early life. He famously renounced his wealth in the pursuit of enlightenment. In Buddhism, craving and clinging to material things is an impediment to spiritual liberation. The Four Noble truths (चत्वारि आर्यसत्यानि) are the key tenets of Buddhism. They are considered by Buddhists to be the proper view of reality. They are:

1. दुःख (Duhka) - Life is suffering

2. समुदय (Samudaya) - Suffering is caused by craving external things we cannot control

3. निरोध (Nirodha) - Suffering can be ended when we stop craving external things

4. मार्ग (Marga) - To stop these improper cravings, we must practice the “Noble Eightfold Path”: “Right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration.” (Source)

The central thought of Buddhism is that life is suffering, and our suffering is caused by improper desires. It’s worth mentioning here that the Buddhist idea of suffering is not how we define suffering in the West. Suffering is more of a synonym for dissatisfaction. If we are dissatisfied for long enough, or in a significant enough way, this can certainly lead to suffering. So, life is dissatisfaction. Dissatisfaction is caused by craving external things. Dissatisfaction is ended when we stop craving these things.

Greed for money and possessions is an example of this type of craving. Buddhist teachings caution that the pursuit of wealth for its own sake increases dissatisfaction. Inner contentment is to be valued above everything else. A person who is content and free from greed is considered truly rich in spirit. Buddha himself said that “Health is the greatest gift, contentment is the greatest wealth, a trusted friend is the best relative, Nirvana is the highest bliss.” (Source) There is also a series of teachings called the Sigalovada Sutta in which a merchant sought the Buddha’s advice on how to live life virtuously. In these teachings, Buddha discusses obtaining and managing wealth. He says that “the wise man gathers wealth as a bee collects honey.” A bee is able to collect pollen and cultivate honey without destroying flowers, or other bees. And the bee slowly collects it bit by bit. Once wealth is collected, Buddha gives four steps to balancing money:

1. Enjoy it and consume it to balance your needs.

2. Invest it and use it for your education and growth.

3. Save and deposit it for the future.

4. Support friends, family, the community and religious causes.

Wealth is not meant to be used in ego-driven, or unhealthy ways, and comes with moral responsibility. Attachment to wealth, stinginess and greed are spiritual poisons that bind a person to a life full of suffering.

tl;dr

The Bible, eastern and western philosophy all converge to a singular point: wealth is a useful servant and a terrible master. Wealth is a double-sided coin. It can support a virtuous life, and create a more ethical world for everyone to live in. Or, it can corrupt us, and greed creates a worse world for everyone. The goal of living is to seek virtue and wisdom, prosperity is a tool, not an outcome.

Traditions on prosperity attempt to answer this question: “how can I embrace prosperity and deny the love of money?” Now that we understand the nature and origin of traditions, let’s look at how they have progressed throughout our history. Although we have defined prosperity in a bigger context than money. Most ancient thinking - like ours - about prosperity is centered around the accumulation of physical wealth.

Let’s start with the Old and New Testaments. In the Old Testament, prosperity was seen as a sign of divine favor for following God’s commandments. From the beginning of Abraham’s journey, the Israelites sought prosperity - a promised land from God. God promised to bless them if they followed His commandments. There is no doubt that God enabled people all throughout the story of the Old Testament to achieve prosperity in all its forms and that it was a sign of God’s hand on their life. In the New Testament, prosperity is something meant to help others through generosity. The New Testament doesn’t deny prosperity. If the Old Testament tells us that prosperity comes from God, the New Testament tells us the purpose of prosperity. Every person who receives the “good news” and comes out of a poverty mindset has a responsibility. The responsibility attached to the prosperity God gives us is to help other people prosper. There are parts of the New Testament that are critical of prosperity. All New Testament criticisms on prosperity have the same core issue: prosperity without the purpose of generosity. The problem in the New Testament world was not rich people. It was rich people who did not see the purpose of their wealth attached to the responsibility of generosity.

non-biblical perspectives

What were the ancient non-biblical perspectives on wealth? What are the views of western and eastern philosophers who were living in and around the same time period? The Bible, eastern and western philosophy all converge to a singular point: wealth is a useful servant and a terrible master. Wealth is a double-sided coin. It can support a virtuous life, and create a more ethical world for everyone to live in. Or, it can corrupt us, and greed creates a worse world for everyone. The goal of living is to seek virtue and wisdom, prosperity is a tool, not an outcome.

In Plato’s Apology, Socrates declares that “virtue does not come from money, but from virtue comes money and all other good things to man” (Source). His perspective was that financial wealth was not essential for a good life, but the pursuit of virtue is. Chasing money without virtue corrupts the soul, but chasing virtue instead of money brings all good things into our lives.

In The Republic, Plato portrays both excessive wealth and poverty as threats to social harmony and virtue. His solution is to eliminate the majority of private property. He believed that “None must possess any private property save the indispensable,” and the leaders of society are told they already have “gold and silver of divine quality in their souls, so they have no need of the metal of men…since many impious deeds have been done because of [mortal] gold” (Source). Plato argues that physical wealth is not inherently evil, but must be held in check by justice and virtue. Wealth is a potential vice unless it is held in check by wisdom. Prosperity is only acceptable when it does not compromise ethical conduct, or the well-being of others.

Aristotle saw wealth as a means to an end. In the Nicomachean Ethics, he says: “The life of money-making is one undertaken under compulsion, and wealth is evidently not the good we are seeking; for it is merely useful and for the sake of something else” (Source). Like his teacher Plato, and Plato’s teacher Socrates, Aristotle sees the pursuit of wealth for the sake of wealth as not good. Wealth was a tool that could enable virtue or vice depending on the ethics of the wealthy person. Wealth could support a good life, but a love of riches for their own sake was a “narrowness of soul” and did not lead to a good life.

“Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:12-13 NLT)

You may think I’m wrong in my interpretation of what Jesus meant here and here. Maybe I am. There’s often a vast difference between interpretation and Scripture, and tradition and truth. To understand this difference requires us to be willing to admit that we are incapable of truly seeing things with a Divine mind.

To repeat John MacArthur again: “I know I’m wrong in my theology, I’m just not sure where.” That’s why charity/love in our approach to traditions and interpretations matters. It seems that no matter how hard we try to lay hold of truth, there will always be a nagging problem. Our mind makes sense of things through the lens of interpretation. Postmodernism tells us that truth is not universal or objective. It is constructed in some way through the lens of human perception. Many postmodern thinkers suppose that truth is not absolute, and is always shifting based on biases, interpretations and power dynamics. However, at the heart of postmodern thinking is a self-defeating paradox: the statement “absolute truth does not exist.” If this statement is true, then at least one absolute truth does exist. That truth is not absolute. Which contradicts itself.

Truth and wisdom often go hand in hand. Socrates believed that wisdom was recognizing our ignorance of truth: “All I know is that I know nothing.”

Plato believed that truths were eternal “forms” that governed the physical world. He believed that the physical world was a shadow of forms. For instance, the “form” of a chair exists in all of our minds. So does the wheel. As far as we know, no one invented these things. People have created their own versions of these eternal forms, but what we create as a “chair” is the shadow of a form of a chair that is an eternal idea. Similarly, he believed that a person could approach the form of wisdom, but the physical world consists of shadows. A person could never be fully wise, because human wisdom is a shadow of the “form” of Divine wisdom.

Aristotle made this idea even more practical. He talked about the difference between σοφία (sophia) - theoretical wisdom - and φρόνησις (phronesis) - practical wisdom. Sophia is about understanding and thinking about eternal truths. Phronesis is about practically applying the knowledge of eternal truths to our lives. In Aristotle’s perspective, truth could be somewhat known. What matters more than knowing truth however, is the application of truth. In Aristotle’s mind, we become wise when we apply truth to our life through the pursuit of virtue, reason and the right kind of habits.

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The Stoics believed that living by virtue was our highest goal. Fully living by virtue was impossible, but there could be no better pursuit in life.

Augustine and Aquinas both argued that God is the creator of truth and wisdom. Through our pursuit of God, we can get closer to wisdom, but in our lifetime we will only partially grasp it.

The common thread we see through philosophy and theology is the idea that there is truth, and the pursuit/application of truth. Knowing truth is different from applying truth. Where postmodernism - the dominant approach for much of culture - seems to get it wrong is when it asserts that truth is not objective. Where postmodernism does seem to have clarity is on the subjective nature of truth. For human beings, truth is often unevenly, individually and subjectively applied to our lives. Truth will always be absolute, but its application will always be subjective. The postmodern idea of subjective truth then starts to make sense. Because even if objective truth exists, we are not able to be objective about the truth. That makes sense. However, that does not mean that truth becomes subjective.

This is where the pendulum often swings too far. Objective truth is like a bullseye on a target. Objective truth gives us a standard of measurement that is independent of our subjective application. The closer we align with truth, the better our lives become. A beginning archer can find hitting the bullseye difficult, but with training, they may be able to get close, or even hit it. Scoring more points, ie, living a better life. If we deny the existence of absolute truth, we don’t remove the bullseye. We give ourselves permission to move the bullseye to wherever our arrow happened to go. Even if we didn’t hit the target at all. In an archery competition, this could be frustrating, but is also not that consequential to life. However, imagine an archer in an ancient battle who had been trained to think that anywhere their arrow went would be the bullseye. They would be incompetent and at worst, useless to helping us to win the battle. Learning to hit the target isn’t about getting better at practice, its about instinctively developing the ability to hit the target when it matters.

Learning how to align our lives with objective truth matters because life is not a simple archery competition. The choices we make (arrows we shoot) have consequences. Good consequences are a result of actions aimed properly at truth. Bad consequences are a result of actions aimed improperly. If this framework did not exist, neither could the concepts of good and bad.

application is the problem

Another word we can use for the “application of truth to our lives” is tradition.

One of our key issues related to everything - not just prosperity - is not truth. It is the traditions - applications and interpretations - we have attached to truth. Many people have elevated their application of truth to the level of truth itself. In other words, like the problem Jesus described in Mark 7, we have elevated man-made ideas (interpretations) to the level of the commands of God. What do your traditions say about prosperity? In the context of your life, what do your traditions say about truth? Traditions, interpretations and applications are both unavoidable and subjective. When these things are not in alignment with truth, we have a decision to make. Will we cling to tradition like Pharisees? Or will we sacrifice the safety of our traditions on the altar of truth? This is why Paul said “the greatest of these is love” and Meldenius said “in all things charity.” No human being sees truth clearly, or applies it accurately. The human mind is not the Divine mind.

We don’t seem to have the ability to be precise in both our understanding and application of truth. One day, we will see things as God sees. We will transcend human thinking and imperfection. We will leave the world of shadows and enter the world of forms. Until that day, our understanding of truth will always be limited by our human mind. That does not mean it is not worth the pursuit. If wisdom is the ability to make finer distinctions, we must be able to draw a distinction between sophia and phronesis, Scripture and interpretation, truth and tradition. People who are unable to see this distinction think that traditions are truth. In order to understand what God wants to teach us about life, prosperity and everything else, we need to make sure that truth is given its rightful place above traditions. Not the other way around.

“Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that, unless we love the truth, we cannot know it.” / Blaise Pascal

“In essentials unity, in nonessentials liberty, in all things charity.” / Rupert Meldenius

What’s an essential?

There are certain things that are essential to Biblical faith that everyone must agree on. Some theologians say that starts with the Nicene Creed. Some say that it is the Apostle’s Creed, which predates the Nicene Creed. These creeds are helpful starts to understanding what is essential. Creeds can be helpful to give us an interpretation of essentials, but a creed only has the power that the truth of Scripture gives it. Traditions, creeds and interpretations work a lot like shortcuts. Sometimes, when you take a shortcut, you miss the meaning of the journey. Each person who claims to be a Christian must decide for themselves how deep they wish to go in truly understanding their faith, or just taking someone’s word for it. When we hold on to traditions, we are taking someone’s word for it. They may be right, they may be wrong. Regardless, they won’t experience the consequences of what we believe, we will. That’s why we need to be careful about what we choose to believe. We may all define essentials differently. But I would encourage you to not consider everything essential. An essential is the difference between heaven and hell.

non-essentials + charity

A non-essential is a preference. For instance, is speaking in tongues essential to getting into heaven? Most Charismatics would say no. Yet, much of their theology is all about the “evidence” of the Holy Spirit working in our lives being speaking in tongues. It’s that actually the evidence? There’s nothing wrong with differing opinions on this issue because it’s not essential for “getting into heaven.” Wherever something is not essential to Biblical faith, that’s where we can embrace liberty. Non-essentials work like flavors of ice cream. In this metaphor, an essential would be you and I agreeing that we should eat ice cream. In order to be my friend, you’ve got to agree that ice cream is a good thing. That’s really not the problem. The problem arises when you and I both go to the ice cream shop and expect the ship to only serve our flavor and nothing else. Because our flavor is the tastiest flavor. Non-essentials are the preferences (flavors) that we prefer the essentials to be packaged in. If you like vanilla, and I like strawberry, we can still eat ice cream together without having to eat the same flavor.

Finally, and most importantly, in all things charity. Even if we disagree on essentials, we can learn to be kind, and tolerant of each other. Of course, this is the world in an ideal state. But the framework that Meldenius provides puts us on the right track in how we should probably think about essentials and non-essentials to our faith.

Whether its holiday foods, or our approach to the most serious things in life, our approach tends to be the same. We want to create boundaries and rules that keep us in a comfortable state. There is nothing inherently wrong with this. Unless, like Jesus said, we start to substitute safety in traditions for the risk of fully following God. We can often think that traditions empower us, but in many cases, they actually limit us. Many people work really hard to do the “right thing.” And end up, even with the best intentions, creating traditions that get us .1 degree off course. Over a long enough period of time, these traditions can become detached from truth enough that they hurt us instead of help us. So we must - like Bereans - always examine rules, interpretations and traditions against objective truth. As well as remind ourselves that traditions keep us comfortable, and being comfortable should not be our goal.

It is important that we analyze why and how traditions happen. There are over 45,000 Christian denominations in the world - read: faith traditions. (Source) Within these denominations there are innumerable factions and perspectives. Which means our traditions can almost be unlimited.

There is only one truth. But at the same time, there are as many interpretations of truth as there are people on the planet. Spread that out through 2000+ years of Christian history and the perspectives easily become uncountable. That’s why when we navigate all these various traditions and interpretations, we can’t be Biblically illiterate. All truth claims must be held up against an objective truth. The problem many people have is that the traditions and truth claims we experience are so effectively presented that we take them at face value. When we do that, we aren’t just ignorant. We harm ourselves by applying falsehoods to our lives and repeating them to our children. We don’t just become followers of man-made ideas disguised as commands of God, we become leaders who teach these things to others. In the Matthew 15 account of the same story from Mark 7, Jesus says this to His disciples about what they should do with Pharisees. “so ignore them. They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch.” (Matthew 15:14, NLT). This should be a concerning passage to us. When a person is convinced that their traditions are also truth, God leaves them alone to fall into a ditch, along with everyone that they are leading. That’s one of the reasons why we can say “in all things charity.” Because Jesus himself told us to leave the blind people alone and let him worry about them falling into a ditch. It’s ultimately not our responsibility to correct the bad theology and doctrine around us. It is our responsibility to correct ours and make sure we are not a blind guide for blind people.

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I’ve mentioned (more than a few times) that according to recent studies, only 4% of Christians have a Biblical worldview. I recently learned that I was not communicating that correctly. The good news is, I recently discovered that’s not true. Only 4% of Americans have a Biblical worldview. The bad news is, Christians aren’t doing that much better. Only 6% of Christians have a Biblical worldview. Unfortunately, only 12% of people who consider themselves “theologically defined born-again Christians” have a Biblical worldview. (Source)

What’s a “theologically defined born-again Christian?” A person who:

1. Have a personal belief in Salvation

   They believe they will go to heaven after they die because they have confessed their sins and accepted Jesus as their personal savior.

2. Have a high view of Scripture

   They generally accept biblical teachings on sin, grace and salvation as authoritative guides for their lives.

There are a lot of implications here. But for today, let’s say that 88-96% of us most likely interpret faith through the lens of traditions and interpretations that have been handed down to us. Not truth itself, but interpretations of truth. There’s a story I’ve heard my dad tell my whole life. There was a man whose wife would always cut the ends of the ham whenever she made ham. Now, I don’t really eat ham, but I do eat brisket. Burnt ends are some of the best tasting brisket you can eat. So, I imagine the ends of the ham are like the burnt ends of a brisket. I can imagine how it would feel to have your spouse get rid of the most delicious parts of the meal. This man asked his wife one day why she cut the ends off the ham. She said, “because my mother did.” He went to her mother, she had the same answer, “because my mother did.” He went to her grandmother, same answer. Finally, he gets to the great grandmother. She says to him, “because I never had a pan big enough for the ham to fit into.”

Not all of our traditions work this way. However, most do. They are convenient things that happened in a certain specific situation, that then became rules we have to follow. Why do we eat Thanksgiving foods on Thanksgiving? It’s definitely not because they taste good. We eat Thanksgiving food on Thanksgiving because when Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863, it was the closest thing they had to what the Pilgrims and Wampanoag tribe ate at the harvest feast in Plymouth in 1621. I would hope, just like other progress we’ve made over the past 400 years, we could progress in our approach to Thanksgiving foods. If we can discover electricity, invent the internal combustion engine, the printing press, airplanes and the internet, we should - in my opinion - progress in our culinary tastes as well. Because Thanksgiving food is the worst type of food.

You may read these words and say: “that makes sense.” But the truth is, we are all Pharisees - slaves to tradition - in some way. People go to churches every weekend across America, observe the pastor of the church and say things like: “the pastor should know everyone in the church by name.” “The pastor shouldn’t preach on that subject.” “The church should only sing hymns.” “The only proper way to pray is to pray ‘in Jesus’ name.” “A church shouldn’t use instruments or sound systems.” “ A church shouldn’t be more than 100 people.” “A church should meet in a house, not a big building.” “A church should only sing Psalms, because those are the only ‘worship songs’ in the BIble.” “Christians should observe all of the Jewish feasts because that’s what the Jews did in the Old Testament.” All of these things are real things I can remember people saying. There are so many more traditions, these are just some of the ideas I can name off the top of my head.

I grew up in the Charismatic side of Christianity. In my opinion, Charismatics are one step below “snake handlers” in the Christian-weirdness-hierarchy. One of the things I heard in children’s church growing up was that the reason we prayed in tongues was for two primary reasons.

First, when you pray in tongues, you’re closer to God than everybody else, you have the secret knowledge and ability that no one else has.

Second, when you pray in tongues, the devil can’t “steal” your prayers. What does that mean? Well, in my mind, I thought prayer worked like a pneumatic tube at the bank. There were two tubes. One was regular prayer, the other was when you prayed in your “heavenly language.” If you prayed a regular prayer, your prayer might not get to God. If you prayed in tongues, it was like an indestructible prayer tube that the devil couldn’t prevent from getting to God. As if my prayers when I spoke in tongues were given priority access directly to the VIP throne room in heaven and sealed in a golden envelope.

Both of these ideas are Charismatic traditions that many people heard growing up that are also nowhere in Scripture. Charismatic theology does some gymnastics to assert these points, but there is no concrete Biblical backing to this tradition.

Some of you got nervous I was talking about glossolalia. Some of you got excited. Some of you are still mad that I insulted your favorite food - Thanksgiving food. Well, that’s actually impossible, because no one likes that. Traditions work a lot like flavors. There’s nothing inherently wrong with having a flavor that you like. There is something wrong with saying “everything has to be my flavor, because my flavor is also God’s flavor.” The danger of traditions is that traditions often become more desirable than what’s written in Scripture. To become a Pharisee, all we need to do is want our flavor more than we want the truth written in God’s word.

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Recently, I saw these comments on a video from my podcast. I’m convinced the average Christian has some of the worst thinking on money, prosperity and what Scripture actually teaches about it.

I understand why this exists. So many people have taught success and prosperity poorly in the church. There are two extremes, and both of these camps teach wrong.

This is why I’m spending as much time as I can now writing the Vow of Prosperity.

If you haven’t read through what I’ve written so far, start at the beginning of those posts and take the journey. Eventually, I believe this content will become my next, next book.

the next book

I haven’t written much here over the last 6 weeks. That’s because I’ve been completing my first draft of my next book. This is a book I planned to write one day, but it was not on my radar. Until my agent, Rory Green at Alive Literary reached out to me and asked if I’d ever thought about working with agents and publishers.

I said no, and that I wasn’t interested for a bunch of reasons. Then he asked to do a call. I said no again. Then I thought about it, we did a few calls, and now I have an agent. This was in June of 2025.

Usually, an author with an agent has an outline, sells the outline to a publisher and then writes the book. I’m not against doing that, however, I went ahead and wrote the book. I took some focused time from January to now to get it to where I think it needs to be. Now that my first draft is complete, we’ll write a proposal, take it to some publishers and see what happens.

The Way to Live was not written as a book. It was a series of teachings I did on how to follow Jesus incorporating Stoic philosophy. It’s really a foundational book for anyone trying to get a 30,000 foot view of the practicalities of the Old Testament, New Testament and everything in between. When my dad heard my ideas, he convinced me to transform them into a book. Of course, I like my book. However, I didn’t formulate it as a book. I’m excited about this new book, because this is the book I would write if I set out to write a book. Hopefully we’ll have more details on that soon.

The book will probably release in 2027.

what’s now

Why do I tell you all of this? Because I’m now going to be working on completing the Vow of Prosperity as I imagine it.

I don’t know if it will actually be my next next book, but you’re going to see what I write long before the world does. I’m going to be spending the next few weeks and months walking through the history of prosperity in the Church, the Prosperity Gospel, how the Bible actually presents the Church, and Christianity as slavery. Wonder how it all ties together? You’ll see.

New VOP post comes this week.

Reality contains tensions that can’t always be simply resolved or even understood. The same is true in the quantum world. The way to “understand” quantum physics is not through observation, but through the language of math. However, the math behind quantum physics is incredibly complicated and hard to understand. And often says things that are counterintuitive. For instance, in our daily lives, solid objects can’t pass through each other. They are solid after all. However, in quantum physics, they can. Imagine learning your whole life that up is up and down is down, but then observing that what you think is up is actually left, and what you think is down is actually up. How does this work? There are three dimensions that make up objects. Length, width and height. All three of these dimensions go certain directions. A one-dimensional object is a line. It can only go one direction, forward or backward. That motion makes a line. If we add a dimension to a line, we get a square. The shape can now move forward and backward and left and right. That motion makes a square. If we add another dimension, we create a three-dimensional object called a cube. That shape can move forward, backward, left, right, up and down. Those are the three dimensions that we understand.

What if we added another dimension? Is that possible? The math says that it is. This forms a shape called a tesseract. It moves in an additional direction within a fourth dimension. We can’t describe this direction, or say what the direction is, but the math says it’s there. This dimension is inaccessible to our senses but has been rigorously described by math. A tesseract is to a cube what a cube is to a square. It has a name, a mathematical definition, size, and measurements, but we also can’t understand or imagine the shape of one. It doesn’t exist in the physical world as we know it, but it does exist in mathematics. We can’t see this fourth dimension, but we can describe it. If that wasn’t enough to bend our minds, we can’t visualize a tesseract. We can represent it through a 3d projection. But that visualization is limited. If you held up a cube to a light source it would cast a 2d shadow. A 3d rendering of a tesseract is a shadow of the 4d object. Quantum physics shows us that there is much more than what we know. In fact, there is more than we can understand.

What do quantum physics and tesseracts have to do with the meaning of life? To be great philosophers requires us to embrace a lack of direct experience. It also requires us to embrace a great experiment called life. Our knowledge and experience will always be limited by our humanity. Math can describe an object that exists that we can’t perceive. Truth also describes for us a reality that exists that we often can’t perceive. It is hard for us to perceive a world where free will and determinism are both true. Where God has a plan and we also have responsibility. These are two seemingly opposing ideas that we are being asked to hold in our minds at the same time. The idea of both things existing at the same time can feel the same to our brains as the existence of a tesseract. But the truth and the math both agree that it’s possible. Similarly, think about this duality: truth is objective and application of truth is subjective.

Truth – like the laws of physics – isn’t something we created. It exists independently of us. We can know the truth, but we can’t change it, only interpret it. Our interpretations of truth are subjective. Our interpretations of truth are our theories about life. The theories we have about life determine the decisions that we make. The decisions that we make have consequences, also known as fruit. Fruit is what happens when our subjective interpretations of truth (theories) collide with reality (truth). This is experimentation. In physics, theory and experimentation meet to produce results. In life, our theories and experimentation meet to produce consequences.

Theory is tested by reality and belief is tested by fruit. Like a tesseract we can only perceive through math, the meaning of our life is first held in our beliefs. No one can see or percieve it, but we can. The way we reveal the meaning of our life is through experimentation. We must embrace the uncertainty of experimentation with truth to see if we can produce the right kind of outcomes in our life. This will always feel uncomfortable. Like trying to imagine the shape of a tesseract or the movement of the fourth dimension. Yet it is necessary for us to discover whether our beliefs align with truth. Truth is perfect, our application is not. When we are willing to embrace experimentation, we are also willing to allow fruit to correct our beliefs. When we see fruit in our own life, our confidence is strengthened that we are headed in the right direction. When we see the fruit of another person’s life or philosophy we might disagree with, we are forced to reconsider our own philosophy. When we see a lack of fruit in our life, we must be willing to abandon theories that don’t align with truth. Living a meaningful life isn’t about getting everything right the first time. It is more about making sure that when we don’t get it right, we pay close enough attention to change our theories and try again.

Results aren’t just how mathematical theories work, this is how life works. Each of us has theories about life. Your theories about life can also be called your philosophy. The life we live is the experiment that determines whether our philosophy has good results. Our philosophy is our criteria for making decisions. Our decisions have consequences. The consequences of our decisions are the evidence that our philosophy is good or bad, effective or ineffective. There are theories, traditions, beliefs and even dogma that we hold to as truth. What determines whether or not these things are true? What determines the soundness of a theory in physics? Whether or not reality aligns with the theory or breaks the theory. The same kind of thing determines the truth of our beliefs. If our experience with the theory leads to a positive outcome, or our theory is broken by the reality of life. How could a theory or philosophy we have be broken by life? Jesus calls the product of our decisions fruit:

¹⁵ “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. ¹⁶ You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. ¹⁹ So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions. (Matthew 7:15-20, NLT)

When Jesus is using the term false prophet, there is both a religious and practical definition. The religious definition is someone who teaches false doctrines in the name of God. Practically, a false prophet was someone who taught lies as if they were truth. Messianic claims were relatively common in the ancient world, so were cult leaders and all kinds of political figures. Many people will rightly use these verses to assess the fruit of another person’s belief system. That’s good, but it’s also doesn’t solve our real problem. The problem is not the false beliefs “out there” it’s the ones “in here.” Our lack of good outcomes in our own life is a result of the things we do – on-purpose or accidentally - that lead to bad outcomes. This is a product of our own false beliefs.

This reminds me of the main character Ricky Bobby in the movie Talladega Nights starting Will Ferrell. Early in the movie, his absentee father shows up and gives him one piece of advice: “If you ain’t first, you’re last.” He becomes a successful racecar driver but eventually loses everything after he crashes during a race with his rival. When he hits rock bottom, he reconnects with his father and says that statement guided his life. His dad says: “I was high when I said that, that doesn’t make any sense at all. You can be second, third, fourth…even fifth.” Ricky then says “what are you talking about?! I lived my whole life based on that, now what am I supposed to do?”

The danger of false prophecy is when we live our lives based on theories that someone told us, or we created for ourselves that lead to our downfall. A false belief may have come from someone else, but it was our choice to believe it and live our lives according to it. The fruit we have – or don’t have – in our life is a direct reflection of what we believe and therefore do.

This is why fruit matters more than opinion, argument, debates or traditions. In physics, its one thing to have a theory, its another thing to demonstrate the theory in the real world and have the evidence support your theory. In life its one thing to have a theory, its another thing to have fruit. It’s easy to argue theory, we can’t argue with fruit. Fruit is the visible and sustained results of a person’s beliefs. A person who has never been married before may have many good theories on marriage. A person who has been happily married for fifty years has good fruit in their marriage. The only effective way to measure whether what we believe is true – and leads to a good life, is by the results of decisions made according to those beliefs over a period of time. Jesus said thousands of years – lifetimes – ago, that we will know what works by the fruit of it. One of the problems that we have is that we only get one life, and it takes a lifetime to bear some fruit. By the time the fruit shows up, sometimes it can feel like its too late to go back and start over. We all have theories, and we know fruit takes time to develop. So how can we increase our chances of having fruit?

Over the long arc of history, truth has always been true and lies have always been lies. Sometimes it takes more time than we think. But lies are always eventually revealed as lies. And true things have always been true. Another way of saying something is true is if it produces fruit. Truth ultimately always leads to good outcomes. False prophets can fake a lot of things. They can be skilled and eloquent salesmen. They can be charismatic and likeable. They can even manufacture testimonials that show their “fruit.” Over a long enough period of time, all these smoke and mirrors can and will fade away. What will be left? The outcome of that individual’s choices. A person may say they value truth, but if they make decisions according to lies, they won’t have fruit.

Some people are just good at theory and equally bad at transformation. They are like the fat person at the gym with all the information on how to work out, criticizing the workouts of people who are in better shape than them. People do not respect this person at a primal level for one reason: Their theories do not lead to transformation. The first thing we must do is take advice, feedback and direction from people who have the kind of results we would like to have. If they have fruit, we should also be able to observe whether or not they have fruit in every area of their life. For instance, a person may have “good” fruit financially and be wealthy. However, if the philosophy used to gain their wealth was a “good” one, it would also lead to good fruit elsewhere. There are quite a few people who have plenty of financial fruit that also have no fulfillment, close relationships, or sometimes even family around them. They have sacrificed those things in pursuit of money.

This could create a problem. How can we ever know someone well enough to really know if they have fruit? This comes back to what we believe about truth. If we believe truth has always been true, and there have always been people who have lived according to it. Then we gain an advantage. We can see stories throughout history of people who have applied truth to their life and the fruit they have produced. We can investigate the past and see the outcome of a person’s beliefs and decisions. Whether that’s going all the way back to ancient history, or even our own family history. A farmer knows that if he plants an apple seed, he’ll grow an apple tree. He knows this because he isn’t the first farmer to plant a seed. All fruit works this way. Theories about life are like seeds. There are certain theories about life that have been consistently tested throughout history. These theories have also consistently produced the same kind of fruit. If we want that kind of fruit, we can do what those before us did with those theories. There is always room for experimentation with theories of our own. This is another duality.

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History tells us not to reinvent the wheel. That doesn’t mean that no one has ever tried. The reason history tells us not to reinvent the wheel is because when something works and has always worked, it will probably keep working. I’m sure many people have tried to invent a square wheel, and they think they are the first people to try. This isn’t necessarily true. People who try to invent a square wheel are common, and therefore not usually worth remembering. The trash heap of history is littered with foolish ideas, theories and perspectives that only lead to failure. Experimentation, innovation and even invention are always necessary. Failure is a prerequisite for experimentation. Sometimes we will get it wrong. There are times where we will have theories and ideas about life that don’t produce fruit. There is nothing wrong with that phenomenon. In fact, it’s necessary.

Imagine driving a car with square wheels. Every time the wheel turned over, it would rise and drop. The bicycle would not have enough power to move you forward quickly. You would violently bounce. The engine would be working overtime to basically lift the car up each wheel corner instead of rolling forward. In addition, things like your suspension, axles and frame would take repeated shocks and fail relatively quickly. There are not very many people who would even try this experiment. What would be the reason to try? A person can learn a lot of great lessons from experimenting with wheel shapes.

Observing the difference between a car with square wheels and circular wheels can show us how good of a solution a circular wheel is. Often, the right way of doing something is proven by comparison. Observing this comparison also teaches us why and how the principles of motion work in a much more tangible way. By trying a square wheel, we can easily see what makes a circular wheel better. Experimentation and failure are necessary.

The willingness to experiment means that we want to go beyond what we know and explore our beliefs. Failure exposes us to where we have false beliefs that do not produce fruit. Failure isn’t a problem unless we don’t learn from it. Designing and testing a square wheel may waste some time, but lessons can still be learned. True failure is when a person decides to use a square wheel in their everyday life to “prove” that they have a better way. We should test our theories, but then be willing to abandon them if they do not produce good outcomes. We should also not attach our ego to our theories so deeply that we are not willing to abandon them when a better way reveals itself.

One of the “drawbacks” of this writing style is that I can spend a lot of time writing about something that doesn’t connect with the big picture of a book. That doesn’t make it a rabbit trail. Although, maybe it does and I just don’t want to admit that to myself. I think it’s more like an additional dot that shows up in the connections between the dots. I don’t consider this an unimportant part of the process. It’s important to me to see connections and describe them as I’m writing. However, the editing process is also important to prevent me from becoming too abstract or impractical to people who will read what I write.

I have spent the past few weeks writing a few chapters that I’m not sure are going to make the book. I’m in a really practical section of the book and they might be too conceptual. This writing may not make the book, but I think they’re a worthy exploration. Let’s take a break from talking about money and talk about quantum physics.

Living a meaningful life requires an awareness, understanding and mastery of tension. Life is filled with contradictions, dualities and paradoxes. Take intentions vs. outcomes. A person can intend to do good, but the outcome of their intentions can be evil. We believe that God has a plan for our life, its his plan, not our plan. We also believe in the responsibility and freedom that we have to make choices. Both seem to be true at the same time. We must learn to have faith in God, but not allow that faith to prevent us from working diligently. We are individuals who need to learn how to think and act for ourselves. Yet at the same time, our lives cannot be fully meaningful outside of being meaningful to others. We shouldn’t be people-pleasers. But we also should worry about pleasing key people in our lives, like spouses, children, clients and bosses. Some things require immediate action, but some require patience. We must plan and prepare, but we must also learn to adjust our plans when necessary. We need to develop self-confidence, but we also must be open to correction. Some things in our lives need to be stable, and some things need to always be changing.

There are times where life seems ordered, structured and planned. There are also times where life seems chaotic, random and out of control. Has the outcome of our life already been predetermined, or do we have free will? Is it one, the other, or both?

As long as physics has been studied, physicists have been trying to understand the universe. A simple question they ask is: “is the universe chaotic, or is it ordered?” Initially when people study physics, they study everyday objects. They study balls rolling down hills, waves in the ocean, and physical objects interacting with each other. The laws of physics work everywhere we can see. At the scale of life experience, physics appears predictable. The apparent structure and order of the universe is what allows life to exist. However, when scientists look beyond the atomic level, things get less predictable. A problem arises once we enter the quantum world. The word “quantum” means the smallest possible amount of something. Particles can appear and disappear seemingly at random, and the math can only tell what is likely to happen, not what will happen. Quantum physics is one of the hardest things for human beings to understand. Physics at a quantum level is counterintuitive and unpredictable. There is no way to visualize what is happening.

A physicist often lives in the world of paradoxes. As does a philosopher. We often find ourselves stuck in a tension between two opposites that both seem to be true. One of the reasons we can often feel this tension is because we think that we are presented with a binary choice. Like a light switch in a dark room, we can only have maximum brightness or no light. The more we approach life as binary, the more tension we will feel between the “on” and “off.” What if we didn’t approach this tension this way? When a person wants greater control over the amount of light in a room, they install a dimmer switch. That way the light isn’t completely off, nor is it full brightness. Life most often isn’t “either/or” its “both/and.”

Life is not a series of binary choices. It is a spectrum of infinite possibility. When we treat our life like its binary, we limit our choices. And if we limit our choices, we limit our destiny. The challenge of navigating duality is choosing to embrace life as a reality to experience, not a problem to solve. Every situation that we will experience is unique and calls for a completely different response. Understanding this is simple but applying it is difficult. Knowing how to respond to the right person, in the right measure, at the right moment, for the right reason and in the right way is the challenge of a lifetime. To do this consistently is true mastery.

Life is not rocket science. It’s more like quantum physics. Rocket science is about finding the solution. Physics is about exploring the possibilities. Approaching life as a reality to experience is about understanding this duality, and making the best choice you can, for the situation you are in, with the information that you have.

The world of physics is both math and application. There are theories, like Einstein’s theory of relativity that are put together on chalkboards. Physicists use math to describe how they think the universe works. Einstein’s theory was developed using equations and reasoning long before it could be tested fully. After developing theories, scientists design experiments to see whether the universe works the way the math predicts. If experiments match the theories, then the theory helps us understand some of the inner workings of the universe. Experiencing the reality of life means that we see life as a great experiment. We can think things through in our head, we can see these dualities and think about them however we want to. We can ignore them, judge them as binary choices, or see ourselves as falling in a range between them. We also don’t have to think about them at all. We will then make decisions based on how we think (or not). Our thinking is like a theory, and our decisions are like experiments. Theories lead to experiments. Thoughts lead to decisions. Decisions and experiments both have outcomes. Experiments lead to results. Decisions lead to consequences.

We all have traditions. Traditions are unavoidable, and in many cases they are good things. We have cultural traditions, family traditions, national traditions, holiday traditions and more. Is our goal to completely abandon tradition? That is probably an impossible proposition. I think our goal should be to clearly delineate the difference between tradition and truth. Why? Scripture + your interpretation = your traditions. Traditions are not inherently bad things. But when we hand traditions down as if they are truth, we create problems for those that come after us. It seems as though traditions are a part of how we make sense of the world and create safety and security within our lives and families. We all have beliefs and actions that have been handed down to us that we also hand down.

Interpretations are how we make sense of truth. And interpretations combined with truth in some way seem to create traditions. We all have interpretations. It’s how the human mind works. There’s nothing wrong with having interpretations. There’s nothing wrong with having traditions. Traditions are where we tend to get rules from. Proverbs 29:18 gives us this perspective that when we don’t follow rules, we run wild. But when we follow God’s law, we live a joyful life. Most of the traditions and rules that we create come out of our intention to live a good life. However, there is something wrong with doing what Pharisees do with traditions. Pharisees make their interpretation of truth more important than the actual truth.

The Pharisees were fond of using this term: “the traditions of the elders” when telling people what they were required to do. This sounds similar to the Catholic idea that we are saved not just by grace and faith. They believe that our salvation requires the following of “sacred tradition” that has been handed down through the centuries by church leaders. That’s why in the Protestant church there are“ordinances” and in the Catholic church there are “sacraments.” There are seven sacraments in the Catholic church; baptism, confirmation, the Eucharist (comunion), reconciliation (confession and penance), anointing of the sick, holy orders (ordaining priests, etc to serve the church) and marriage. Each of these sacraments have different requirements for different reasons. Baptism is something required by Catholicism for salvation of all Catholics. It’s one of the reasons why Catholics practice infant baptism. This tradition mostly comes from the interpretation of Church fathers like Origen and Augustine. Protestants believe that baptism is not required for salvation, and should be chosen once a person is old enough to make the decision. The Protestant tradition of baptism is different than the Catholic tradition of baptism. Catholics believe that if you are not baptized as a “sacrament” you are not saved. Protestants believe that baptism is important, but salvation is grace and faith alone. This thought may be an oversimplification for some Catholics who are reading this. Theologians have debated this for centuries and that’s not the topic of this book, but it is worth mentioning. Because where there is not Biblical clarity, interpretations are created. To paraphrase Jesus in his discussions with the Pharisees, He is trying to tell them - and us: “Don’t get so focused on your own traditions and rules that you miss what God actually wants.” Does God want infants baptized or people baptized when they are adults? Is that His focus or ours? God wants everyone to be saved and reunited with Him. I’m not sure how much he cares about our human traditions and interpretations. If we’re not careful, we can think that following traditions and rules is God’s desired outcome. Traditions, interpretations and rules are not bad things, but they can be dangerous. Because if we get too focused on them, they prevent God from doing what He actually wants to do in our lives.

I have a theory that no one actually likes Thanksgiving food. There’s a reason we only eat it one day a year, and that’s because it’s awful, and it’s a tradition. If we actually enjoyed things like stuffing, green bean casserole and cranberry “sauce” we’d probably eat it more often. I say “sauce” in quotes, because the majority of us eat congealed jelly from a can that we cut into disks and call it “cranberry sauce.” Think about the average American household on thanksgiving. It’s a bunch of people who don’t want to be together, eating food they don’t want to eat. Why do we do this? Because we have to. It’s called tradition. I have a personal definition for tradition: peer pressure from dead people.

Life’s been lifin’. Podcast is going amazing. I’m taking some of this content and Nick and I are talking about it there. Make sure that you’re subscribed on your preferred platform.

I’ve got a literary agent for the first time in my life. I’ll have to tell that story sometime. But I’ve been spending most of this year writing a new book (not the Vow of Prosperity…yet). Hopefully it’ll be out by 2026. Along with the twins we’re having in May. Did I say life was lifin’?

I’ve still also got so much to write about on the Vow of Prosperity. If you’re new and reading this, welcome! I’d encourage you to start at the beginning of the VOP section on the site to get caught up.

“When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is joyful.” (Proverbs 29:18)

The truth is, we’re all trying to navigate the love of money. Especially if we want to do life God’s way. I believe that we have the best of intentions. Like Proverbs 29, we are trying to do our best to not run wild and accept God’s “law” in our lives. The majority of Christians want to do what God says. So, what’s the problem? Ask yourself this question: “how many of the rules you follow are actually written in Scripture, and where are they written?” This can be a dangerous question. Like me, you’ll probably see how much of what you do is based on what other people have said that Scripture says. Many of us have created rules for life that are not based on truth, they are based on another person’s interpretation of truth. We go to church, we hear the Pastor tell us what to do, we go home and do it. However, there’s a step we miss. A step that the Bereans didn’t miss. We don’t verify the “truth” we are being handed, and carelessly do what someone told us to do because they happen to be some kind of authority figure.

Let’s go back to Jesus and his discussion with the Pharisees in Mark 7.

“8 For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.”

9 Then he said, “You skillfully sidestep God’s law in order to hold on to your own tradition.

13 And so you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others.” (Mark 7:8-9,13 ESV)

The Pharisees are the bad guys of the New Testament. Believe it or not, like most things, they started out with good intentions. Their intention was to please God by following all of the laws written in Scripture. Then, they made a mistake. Their mistake was in believing that their interpretation of Scripture was the only true interpretation. In their minds, they were smarter, wiser, and followed God more intentionally than everyone. This entitled them to require everyone to interpret Scripture their way. The truth is, Pharisees have always been around. You can see them in every church tradition and denomination that exists.

Pursuing deeper knowledge is an incredible thing. There are way more benefits to having knowledge than not having it. One of the problems with pursuing knowledge however is what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 8:1 (NLT): “while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church.” Other translations say that it is knowledge that “puffs up” but love that “builds up.” All of our search for knowledge and truth must be balanced with a desire to use our knowledge in service to others. That’s where Pharisees - ancient and modern - tend to make their mistakes. There’s nothing wrong with seeking knowledge. The problem arises when we begin to think that our knowledge is now something that needs to be imposed on others. Pharisees weaponize their knowledge. Instead of using what they know to encourage, inspire and uplift others, they use it to criticize, judge and damage others.

Why was Jesus so hard on the Pharisees in Mark 7 and throughout his life on earth? The Pharisees spent most of their time telling people about all the traditions(rules) they needed to observe that weren’t written in Scripture. In Mark 7, the word tradition is παράδοσις (parádosis) in Greek. It means a set of beliefs and actions delivered or communicated to another person. The problem Jesus seemed to have with the Pharisees is that they were handing down their own beliefs and actions, not the truth behind those beliefs and actions. In some cases, the difference between truth and traditions can be slight. So slight that for many people, they don’t think it matters.

Think about life in the context of a journey. If we take a road trip from Dallas - where I live - to LA, that’s roughly 1200 miles. For the sake of this example, let’s say that the journey is a straight line. If I start the journey, and deviate one degree off course, by the end of 1200 miles I would be 21 miles off target. One degree doesn’t seem like a lot. After one mile, it’s only about 92 feet. That’s noticeable, but easily fixable. What about in aviation? If we were taking a plane flight from NYC to Tokyo, that’s a journey of around 6700 miles. If we were one degree off course, after a mile, we’d be 92 feet off course. After 1200 miles, we’d be 21 miles (113,800 feet) off course. At the conclusion of our 6700 mile journey, we’d be over 118 miles (620,900 feet) off course, and depending on which direction, we might end up in the ocean instead of Japan. In 1969, Apollo 11 landed on the moon. The journey between the earth and the moon is a distance of over 238,900 miles. Over that distance, if the Apollo astronauts were one degree off course, they would have missed the moon by over 4000 miles (22 million feet). The moon itself is only 2,159 miles in diameter. The space between the astronauts and the moon would have been almost twice the size of the moon itself. In fact, if Apollo 11 was just .1 degrees off course, they still would have missed the moon by over 400 miles (2 million+ feet). What if you were .1 degrees off on your road trip to LA or your flight to Tokyo? You’d only be around 2 miles (10,000 feet) off course driving from Dallas to LA. You’d be 12 miles (62,000 feet) off course on your flight from NYC to Tokyo.

This phenomenon took place on a 1979 plane flight from New Zealand to Antartica. In the 1970’s, airlines began marketing guided low-lying flights over Antarctica as unique sightseeing experiences. These trips were popular and guided by famous explorers like Sir Edmund Hilary and Peter Mulgrew.

Before the flight, the crew corrected what they thought was an error in the flight coordinates, changing the flight’s course by two degrees. As they approached Antartica, the pilots descended to an altitude of 2,000 feet and switched to autopilot. Because of their two degree change, the plane was 28 miles to the east of where the pilots assumed they were. This difference put them directly in the path of Mount Erebus, an active volcano that rises 12,000 feet above the frozen landscape. Outside of the windows, the clouds blended with the snow-covered volcano and created a whiteout. This deceived the crew into believing that the volcano was the Ross Ice Shelf, an expanse of floating ice. They believed they were flying over flat ground. As they flew closer to the volcano, the slope of the mountain sounded the ground warning alarm. The terrain of the volcano was so steep that it was only a few seconds before the plane crashed into the side of the mountain, killing everyone on board. This terrible tragedy was caused by an error of two degrees.

Growing up, my dad taught me that “wisdom is the ability to make finer distinctions.” The journey of our lives is much more like space travel than a road trip. The distinction between truth and traditions can seem small, but over the journey of our life, even minor mistakes have far reaching consequences.

On a recent podcast episode, Nick and I talked about how we can really learn to know God’s nature and his character. A few years ago, I wrote out a reading plan to help people see God’s nature and character from the beginning to the end of the Bible.

The Bible can be intimidating for a lot of people to start reading. I get a lot of questions on where people should start.

I recommend that you start with this plan, it’s simple and each reading is not going to take a bunch of your day. There is also a practical application of each day. After you read this plan, read the New Testament and start in the book of John. John is a simple gospel that transitions easily into the rest of the NT. It reveals the relational nature of Jesus. And it’s my personal favorite Gospel - it’s the most philosophical.

Feel free to share this with a friend or save this post so you can come back to it.

introduction to the plan

Becoming who God designed you to be starts with a foundational truth: You cannot fully develop yourself until you have discovered God. True self-discovery and the realization of your potential are deeply rooted in understanding the nature and character of God. The Bible is not just a collection of ancient writings; it is the living Word of God, designed to reveal who He is and how He interacts with humanity. As you engage with Scripture, you will encounter the One who created you, loves you, and has a purpose for your life.

Romans 12:2 tells us: “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” In Isaiah 55:9, God tells us “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

These two verses illustrate some profound truths:

1. God thinks infinitely better than us.

2. His thinking transforms us into who He created us to be.

3. When you make human thinking, culture and behavior your primary source, you will not become who God created you to be.

When you read the Bible, you learn how God thinks. When you learn how to think like God thinks, you can become who He has created you to be and fulfill His purpose for your life. The primary way God wants to teach us how to think is directly through our engagement with the Bible.

This 31-day Bible reading plan is designed to guide you through key passages of Scripture from the Old Testament to the New Testament. This 30,000 foot view will reveal the character of God and His plan for you. Each day, you will explore a theme that highlights an aspect of God’s nature and how it impacts your life. By the end of these 31 days, you will have a clearer understanding of who God is, how He thinks, and how you can align your life with His will to fulfill your God-given potential. This plan will give you a foundation to know God, so you can learn to know yourself and know how to live a meaningful life.

Each day also includes the Proverb of the day. There are 31 chapters in Proverbs, and one of the best ways to establish a rhythm of daily Bible reading is by reading one Proverb per day.

This plan is an invitation to discover God and let Him transform your thinking, so you can become who He destined you to be. As you walk through these passages, don’t just read them. Apply them to your life, and allow God to shape your thinking, attitudes and actions. Once God changes you, you’ll begin to change the world.

the plan

Day 1: Creation

Passages: Genesis 1-3, Proverbs 1

Theme: God as Creator and the introduction of sin.

Application: The goodness of God’s creation and how sin - our desire to do things our way - distorts it. How does understanding original sin affect your perspective on the world, yourself and God?

Day 2: God’s People

Passages: Genesis 12, 15, 28:10–15, 32:22–32, Proverbs 2

Theme: God’s covenant with His chosen people.

Application: God calls people into a relationship with Him and keeps His promises. How has God been faithful to you, and how can you trust him more in the future?

Day 3: The Ten Commandments

Passages: Exodus 14, 19-20, Proverbs 3

Theme: God’s law as a reflection of His holiness and justice.

Application: Consider how God’s commandments reveal His desire for righteousness and justice. How can you better align your life with God’s desire for right living?

Day 4: Love-Based Obedience

Passages: Deuteronomy 6-8, 11:13–21, Proverbs 4

Theme: The connection between love for God and obedience.

Application: Meditate on how love for God is what motivates true obedience. What is your motivation for obeying God?

Day 5: Cycles of Disobedience

Passages: Judges 1-2, 3:7-11, Proverbs 5

Theme: The cycle of disobedience and repentance among God’s people.

Application: The human pattern is often cycles of disobedience and repentance. Where do you see this pattern in your own life? What concrete step can you take this week to break that cycle and trust God consistently?

Day 6: God’s People Demand a King

Passages: 1 Samuel 8-9, 10:17-27 Proverbs 6

Theme: Israel’s desire for a king and God’s sovereignty.

Application: The Israelites demanded a human solution and rejected God’s solution. Do you more often trust God’s leadership or seek your own solutions? Is God really the King over every area of your life?

Day 7: Fall of Saul and Rise of David

Passages: 1 Samuel 15-17, Proverbs 7

Theme: The consequences of disobedience and the rise of a leader after God’s own heart.

Application: Consider how God values obedience over outward appearances. Are you a person after God’s own heart?

Day 8: How God’s People Respond to Hardship

Passages: Job 1-2, 38, 42, Proverbs 8

Theme: Trusting God in the midst of suffering.

Application: Reflect on how Job’s story challenges you to trust God even when life is hard. What is your attitude towards God when life gets hard?

Day 9: Grow Your Soul

Passages: Psalm 1, 23, 27, 139, Proverbs 9

Theme: Nurturing your relationship with God.

Application: Meditate on what it means to you that God knows everything about you. Do you treat God as if he really knows you deeply?

Day 10: Suffering and Sin

Passages: Psalm 6, 32, 38, 51, Proverbs 10

Theme: The reality of sin, its consequences and repentance.

Application: Reflect on David’s repentance and God’s mercy. What should your response to your own sin be?

Day 11: Wisdom for Life

Passages: Proverbs 3, 5, 11, 16, 31

Theme: Living wisely according to God’s principles.

Application: How can you apply wisdom to your life daily?

Day 12: Israel’s Sin Against God

Passages: Ezekiel 18, 20:5–26, 26:22-32, Proverbs 12

Theme: The consequences of sin and God’s call to repentance.

Application: Sin separates us from God, but He continually invites us to return. What area of your life do you need to repent of today? Talk to God about it and take one step towards obedience - doing what you know to do.

Day 13: Jesus, The Promised King

Passages: Jeremiah 23:1–6, Isaiah 9:6–7, Isaiah 53, Zechariah 9, Proverbs 13

Theme: The promise of a Savior and the fulfillment in Jesus.

Application: Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promises. How can you live with greater confidence in that promise this week?

Day 14: The Word Became Flesh

Passages: Matthew 1, Luke 2, John 1:1–18,, Proverbs 14

Theme: Jesus as the embodiment of God’s plan.

Application: When John says the “Word” became flesh, he uses a word “logos” which for people in that time meant “plan of God.” God’s plan didn’t stay abstract — it became a person, Jesus, who lived among us. What does it mean for you to live out God’s plan - follow Jesus - in a real and tangible way today?

Day 15: Signs and Miracles of Authority

Passages: Matthew 8-9, Luke 13:10–17, Proverbs 15

Theme: Jesus’ authority demonstrated through miracles.

Application: Jesus’ miracles reveal His divine authority. Where do you need to trust His authority in your life right now?

Day 16: Jesus Fulfills the Law

Passages: Matthew 5-7, Proverbs 16

Theme: Jesus as the fulfillment of the Law.

Application: Following Jesus means aligning your life with His teachings. What specific teaching of Jesus do you need to put into practice this week? Make it your focus.

Day 17: Born Again

Passages: John 3-4, Proverbs 17

Theme: The new life offered through faith in Jesus.

Application: Being born again gives you a new identity and purpose. How will you live differently today because of this new identity? Identify one area where you need to act like a new creation.

Day 18: Jesus Gave His Life

Passages: John 18-19, Proverbs 18

Theme: The willing sacrifice of Jesus.

Application: Jesus’ sacrifice shows the value He places on you. How can you honor that sacrifice in your daily choices? Commit to one action today that reflects gratitude for His love.

Day 19: Jesus’ Death and Resurrection

Passages: Matthew 27-28, Luke 24, Proverbs 19

Theme: The victory of Jesus over sin and death.

Application: The resurrection means death and sin don’t have the final word. What part of your life feels hopeless or lifeless? How can you invite God’s resurrection power into that part of your life?.

Day 20: The Church Begins

Passages: Acts 1-2, Proverbs 20

Theme: The birth of the church empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Application: The Spirit empowered the early church to live on mission together. How can you partner with God’s mission through His church this week — by serving, giving or building relationships?

Day 21: Jesus is the Final Sacrifice

Passages: Hebrews 4, 7, 9-10, Proverbs 21

Theme: Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice for sin.

Application: Because of Jesus, no more sacrifices are needed — the price has been paid. How should this change the way you handle guilt or striving for approval? Choose one way today to rest in His finished work.

Day 22: Our Sin Exposed

Passages: Romans 1:18-32, 2:17-29, 3:9-20, Proverbs 22

Theme: The reality of sin in humanity.

Application: In both the Old and New Testaments, the Bible makes it clear sin is infectious and destructive in our lives. Humans are not inherently good. How does this perspective shape your thinking on your need for a savior?

Day 23: Grace Comes Through Jesus

Passages: Romans 3:21-31, 4-5, Proverbs 23

Theme: Salvation by grace through faith in Jesus.

Application: In spite of our sin, God gives us a gift called grace. Salvation is not something we earn, its something we receive. How does this affect your approach to your own sin?

Day 24: The War of Sin

Passages: Romans 6-8, Proverbs 24

Theme: The ongoing struggle with sin and the power of the Spirit.

Application: Although grace is a gift, it doesn’t end sin in our lives. How does following Jesus help you in the war against sin?

Day 25: Living Sacrifices

Passages: Romans 12-13, Proverbs 25

Theme: Offering your life as a living sacrifice to God.

Application: Reflect on what it means to live as a sacrifice to God. What does it mean to worship Him daily?

Day 26: New Life in Christ

Passages: Ephesians 1-3, Proverbs 26

Theme: The new identity and purpose found in Christ.

Application: Reflect on the new life Christ gives you. How should your identity in Him shapes your daily interactions and decisions.

Day 27: Life of Faith

Passages: James 1-3, Proverbs 27

Theme: Living out your faith through actions.

Application: Reflect on how faith and works are interconnected. How can you put your faith in God into action?

Day 28: Trusting in Jesus

Passages: 1 Peter 1-3, Proverbs 28

Theme: Trusting Jesus in the face of trials and persecution.

Application: The life of a Christian is not a playground, it’s a battleground. How does following Jesus equip you for life’s battles?

Day 29: The Light of Truth

Passages: 1 John 1-2, Proverbs 29

Theme: Walking in the light of God’s truth.

Application: Walking in God’s light means living with honesty, purity, and integrity. What is one specific step you can take this week to bring more of your life into the light?

Day 30: Love One Another

Passages: 1 John 3-5, Proverbs 30

Theme: The command to love one another as Jesus loves.

Application: How can you love people like Jesus has loved you?

Day 31: Promise of Eternity

Passages: Revelation 19-22, Proverbs 31

Theme: The hope of eternal life with God.

Application: How should the assurance of God’s eternal plan and hope influence your perspective on the world and your own life?

Have you subscribed to the podcast? We’re talking about a lot more than money, and if you like what I write, maybe you’ll like what Nick and I talk about. Episode 5 on truth just dropped yesterday.

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On to today’s thoughts //

¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” (1 Timothy 6:10)

I really like the Greek word for love of money. It is φιλαργυρία (philarguría). A friend of silver. Some of my favorite philosophers growing up - Chamillionaire and Paul Wall - said it best, “my money gets jealous.” You might not think that you love money. But how tight do you hold onto it? How much do you think about it? How much of your focus does money get compared to the other types of wealth you have? For most of us, we spent an inordinate amount of time thinking about money. I believe that’s because we love it so much, but we have a hard time seeing it, or admitting it.

When I was 16, my life savings was $1000. I remember how great it felt logging into my bank account and seeing three zeroes that I had earned and saved for the first time. I loved it. I loved my money, and I loved seeing it in the bank. So, I gave it all away in an offering. Fast forward to age 21. I’m graduating from college, I have saved up $10,000 through my time in school. I loved that too. So the weekend I came home from college, I gave it all in the offering. When I started working, I started giving a third of my income at church. When I got married, my dad - who is also my pastor - knew how much I was giving and told me that I shouldn’t give that much, and it was unwise. I mostly kept doing it anyway. A few years ago, I gave $100,000 over the course of a year for the first time in my life. Every year since, I continue to get closer and closer to giving $200,000 in a year. Why am I telling you this? To brag about how much money I don’t keep? No. I’ve discovered a secret along the way. Giving $100,000+ hurts just as much at 38 as giving $1000 hurt at 16, and as much as giving $10,000 hurt at 21. Every time I am generous, I am both feeling and fighting the love of money within me. Silver and I would be best friends if I let that happen.

Unless we can admit the problem, we have no hope to cure it. The desire for financial wealth is more often than not, a trap. We often don’t realize that we are in that trap. Sometimes I have gone into my savings account to give. I have foregone vacations, or nice things in my life so that I can give. Do I recommend that? No. But it helps prevent me from becoming too close with my money.

Here’s another secret. Most of the people that have the biggest problem with talking about money in a spiritual context are in love with money. They don’t like what I’m writing about because I’m talking about money. And their definition of prosperity is money. They don’t like going to church because the church is going to talk about money at the offering time. Go read a Google review of your local church. The odds are there will be plenty of people saying “all they talk about is money.” Especially if that church is seen as a megachurch. Have you ever decided to buy a car, and you have set your mind on a specific model. In the next few days, you see that car wherever you go? It feels like suddenly, everyone is driving a car. In psychology, this is called the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon, or the frequency illusion. It is the false impression that something is happening more frequently than it actually is. It’s not that the thing has become more common, it’s just that your brain is paying more attention to it. This phenomenon takes place because of two psychological effects:

1. Selective attention - Whatever you think about, your mind will unconsciously look for when you are not thinking about it.

2. Confirmation bias - Everytime you see what you think about, it reinforces the feeling that it is “everywhere.”

What does this have to do with money and churches? If I have already convinced myself that a church “just wants my money.” I will find all the reasons why that hypothesis is correct everytime I go to a church. Just like If I get a green car, I will see green cars a lot more.

People who are friends of silver always have a hard time when you ask them to not be friends with silver. The problem is not how often the church talks about money. The problem is how often we think about money. And because we think about money so often, all we hear is “the church” talking about money. One thing you’ll see in many people that think like this is that they are rarely generous, if at all. And if they are generous, their generosity has strings attached that allow them to control things with money. So, even when they give money away, they are still friends with it, because they are controlling its use. Remember earlier when we talked about substituting man-made ideas for God’s commands? About ten years ago, I spoke a message on tithing in our church. I feel bad for every 20-something that has to get on stage in a main church service and share. Why? Because many of the “adult” armchair theologians come out of the woodwork to correct your theology almost as soon as the words come out of your mouth. If you’re a person who goes to church and feels the need to address or correct the speaker on what they said, how they said it, or otherwise debate with them about your perspective on what they should have done, let me help you. If they didn’t ask you for your opinion before they preached the message, they definitely aren’t asking for it after they preached it. The motto of the church isn’t “have it your way.” That’s Burger King. If you don’t like the music, change the station. I digress…

So I preached a message on tithing. And a man I had never met, who was significantly older than me approached me in the lobby. He let me know that I was wrong about my stance on tithing and I must not have studied very well for my message. If I was going to preach from the platform in a church service, I should really make sure I know what I’m talking about. This guy must be a lot of fun at parties. I said: “can I ask you a question?” He smiled and said “sure.” I said: “tithing is the Old Testament standard, and you say that’s no longer required, so that must mean that you live by the New Testament standard then?” He looked at me blankly for a second and then said something like: “I’m not sure what you mean?” I said: “Well, in Acts chapter 2 and Acts chapter 4 the Bible says that the people in the church sold their possessions and gave everything to the church so that no one in the church had needs. You must practice that style of generosity.” He said: “I’m going to have to study that a little further,” and walked off. I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel a little smug after that conversation. I don’t tell that story as a “gotcha” to show how much I know. I tell that story because it represents the majority of interactions that I have had with you-don’t-need-to-give Christians. Past, present and future, I will say things from a stage that are worthy of correction. This just wasn’t one of those times.

What’s the goal of any generosity from God’s perspective? To get us to not be friends with money. Some people have taken this to mean we should hate prosperity. That’s what we’ll talk about in this section. First, we need to understand the core problem we have. This core problem is the desire within us to love money. To focus on all the things we want, not the things we actually need. So ask yourself how good of a friend you are to your silver? How tempted are you to love money?

It seems as though we can answer the question: “Does God want me to be rich?” In the affirmative. However, the definition of “rich” matters. What is your definition of prosperity? What is God’s? Are they the same?

^“3 If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness,
⁴ he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions,
⁵ and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.
⁶ But godliness with contentment is great gain,
⁷ for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.
⁸ But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.
⁹ But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” (1 Timothy 6:3-10, ESV)

Make sure you really read these verses. We can think that we understand God and prosperity. But Paul gives us a truth; the more we think God agrees with us, the less we understand. There are many teachings on prosperity. Some of them are more biblical than others. In verse 5 is where Paul makes a clear statement. The goal of pursuing God is not the gaining of prosperity. “Godliness,” or seeking to live according to Biblical principles is important, but so is our motivation for doing so. Intention matters.

Before we go any further, let’s all make an admission right now. We’re doing this together, it’s ok. When you saw that God wanted you to be rich, you got really excited. Because, like me, you have a secret. You probably love money a lot. Naturally, I do too. How do I know? In my experience, when many people hear the term “prosperity” their first thought is money. When you saw this book title, you probably didn’t think that it was about the vow of prosperity related to your emotional, mental, or spiritual state. Some people don’t even like the word prosperity. Because it makes them think about money. If we’re not careful, we can begin to see following Jesus as a means to an end. Proverbs 10 tells us that the blessing of the Lord makes us rich. But that does not mean that the purpose of seeking God’s blessing should be wealth.

In verse 6, Paul says “godliness with contentment is great gain.” The word for contentment there is the greek word αὐτάρκεια (autarkeia). That word means: having enough of everything, not requiring support. Other translations use the word sufficient. This word is only used twice in the entire New Testament. Once by Paul in 2 Corinthians 9:8, and once here. Remember 2 Corinthians 9:8? That’s where we got our primary definition for prosperity. “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.”

Prosperity - I have everything I need, and I have enough to meet other people’s needs.

Don’t just read this, pay attention to it. Sometimes when we read the word “need” we confuse that with “want.” Biblical prosperity is not having everything you want. It starts with having everything you need. Then, you have enough to meet other people’s needs. Need. Not want. There’s a big difference when we think about that. Let me ask you another question. How broad is your definition of wealth? When God talks about prosperity, sometimes He talks about money. But much of the time - as in Paul’s case - He’s talking about everything. Not just one thing. In his book The Five Types of Wealth, Sahil Bloom describes five key components of wealth: time, social, mental, physical, and financial. I would also add spirituality as a kind of wealth. Think about your life in the context of these things. These forms of wealth are meant to work together to form a prosperous life. When God is talking about having what you need, and enough to meet other people’s needs, do you have that in all five of these areas? To have true prosperity means that we have a balanced approach to life that gives us wealth in every area of our life. When we look at wealth, do we view it the same way as God? Or do we merely see wealth in financial terms?

Sora did a number on the AI image this week. Hilarious. So I’m keeping it.

It seems as though we can answer the question: “Does God want me to be rich?” In the affirmative. However, the definition of “rich” matters. What is your definition of prosperity? What is God’s? Are they the same?

“3 If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness,
4 he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions,
5 and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain,
7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.
8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.
9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” (1 Timothy 6:3-10, ESV)

Make sure you really read these verses. We can think that we understand God and prosperity. But Paul gives us a truth; the more we think God agrees with us, the less we understand. There are many teachings on prosperity. Some of them are more biblical than others. In verse 5 is where Paul makes a clear statement. The goal of pursuing God is not the gaining of prosperity. “Godliness,” or seeking to live according to Biblical principles is important, but so is our motivation for doing so. Intention matters.

Before we go any further, let’s all make an admission right now. You and I are doing this together, it’s ok. When you saw that God wanted you to be rich, you got really excited. Because, like me, you have a secret. You probably love money a lot. Naturally, I do too. How do I know? In my experience, when many people hear the term “prosperity” their first thought is money. When you saw this book title, you probably didn’t think that it was about the vow of prosperity related to your emotional, mental, or spiritual state. Some people don’t even like the word prosperity. Because it makes them think about money. If we’re not careful, we can begin to see following Jesus as a means to an end. Proverbs 10 tells us that the blessing of the Lord makes us rich. But that does not mean that the purpose of seeking God’s blessing should be wealth.

In verse 6, Paul says “godliness with contentment is great gain.” The word for contentment there is the greek word αὐτάρκεια (autarkeia). That word means: having enough of everything, not requiring support. Other translations use the word sufficient. This word is only used twice in the entire New Testament. Once by Paul in 2 Corinthians 9:8, and once here. Remember 2 Corinthians 9:8? That’s where we got our primary definition for prosperity. “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.”

Prosperity - I have everything I need, and I have enough to meet other people’s needs.

Don’t just read this, pay attention to it. Sometimes when we read the word “need” we confuse that with “want.” Biblical prosperity is not having everything you want. It starts with having everything you need. Then, you have enough to meet other people’s needs. Need. Not want. There’s a big difference when we think about that. Let me ask you another question. How broad is your definition of wealth? When God talks about prosperity, sometimes He talks about money. But much of the time - as in Paul’s case - He’s talking about everything. Not just one thing. In his book The Five Types of Wealth, Sahil Bloom describes five key components of wealth: time, social, mental, physical, and financial. I would also add spirituality as a kind of wealth. Think about your life in the context of these things. These forms of wealth are meant to work together to form a prosperous life. When God is talking about having what you need, and enough to meet other people’s needs, do you have that in all five of these areas? To have true prosperity means that we have a balanced approach to life that gives us wealth in every area of our life. When we look at wealth, do we view it the same way as God? Or do we merely see wealth in financial terms?

Last time we talked about how poverty is a mindset, a way of thinking. And Jesus healed the sick, raised the dead and preached good news to the poor. Jesus could have cured poverty with a miracle. Why didn’t he? Because it’s a mindset. Click here if you didn’t read the last post or want to catch up.

In John 10:10, Jesus says this: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” The Greek word that Jesus uses here - περισσός (perrisōs) - means: That which is not ordinarily encountered, extraordinary, remarkable. Beyond what is necessary, to overflow, to make over-rich. Jesus says he came to the earth so that you can have a life that is not ordinarily encountered, extraordinary, remarkable. God wants us to be “over-rich.” He doesn’t just want to meet our needs, he wants us to have more than what it necessary, and to live in a perpetual state of overflow.

1) permission to prosper.

For some of you, you are seeing for the first time with fresh eyes that it is ok for you to want to win in life. God is not mad at you and I for wanting to be prosperous in every way. Go back to the question I asked when we first started this journey. Do you believe God wants you to have:

1. Less than enough

2. Just Enough

3. More than enough

What you believe about this question is important. I hope you decide to agree with God about it. He wants you to always have more than enough. One of the signatures of God is abundance - more than what is necessary. In Genesis, Abraham just wanted one son. God told him that his descendants would outnumber the grains of sand on the earth, and the stars in the sky. Abraham never asked for that, but that’s what an abundant God does. In Luke 6:38, Jesus says that when we give, it will be given back to us “pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap.” When Jesus fed the 5000, he started with five loaves and two fish, and they didn’t just feed all the people. They had twelve baskets left over. When He fed the 4000, they had seven baskets left over. In Malachi 3:10, God says this: “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!”

In Joel Osteen’s book Your Best Life Now, he tells this story:

Years ago, a famous golfer was invited by the king of Saudi Arabia to play in a golf tournament. He accepted the invitation, and the king flew his private jet over to the United States to pick up the pro. They played golf for several days, and enjoyed a good time. As the golfer was getting on the plane to return to the United States, the king stopped him and said, “I want to give you a gift for coming all this way and making this time so special. Anything you want. What could I get you?”

Ever the gentleman, the golfer replied, “Oh, please; don’t get me anything. You’ve been a gracious host. I’ve had a wonderful time. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

The king was adamant. He said, “No, I insist on giving you something so you will always remember your journey to our country.”

When the golfer realized that the king was resolute, he said, “Okay, fine. I collect golf clubs. Why don’t you give me a golf club?”

He boarded the plane, and on his flight back home, he couldn’t help wondering what kind of golf club the king might give him. He imagined that it might be a solid gold putter with his name engraved on it. Or maybe it would be a sand wedge studded with diamonds and jewels. After all, this would be a gift from the oil-rich king of Saudi Arabia.

When the golfer got home, he watched the mail and the delivery services every day, to see if his golf club had come yet. Finally, several weeks later, he received a certified letter from the king of Saudi Arabia. The U.S. professional thought that rather strange. Where’s my golf club? he wondered. He opened the envelope, and to his surprise, inside he discovered a deed to a five-hundred-acre golf course in America.

The story is told that one day a beggar by the roadside asked for alms from Alexander the Great as he passed by. The man was poor and wretched and had no claim upon the ruler, no right even to lift a solicitous hand. Yet the Emperor threw him several gold coins.

An attendant was astonished at his generosity and commented, ‘Sir, copper coins would adequately meet a beggar’s need. Why give him gold?” Alexander responded in royal fashion, ‘Copper coins would suit the beggar’s need, but gold coins suit Alexander’s giving.”

If these stories illustrate the power of human abundance, what does God’s abundance look like for you and I? God isn’t the God of “less than enough” or “just enough.” Ephesians 3:20 gives us a glimpse into the mind of God: “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” If you want just enough for you, you don’t want what God wants for you.

2) the power to prosper.

“You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.” (Deuteronomy 8:18, ESV)

The Hebrew word for wealth here is חַ֫יִל (hayil). It means financial wealth, strength and influence to have and grow your dominion. When we apply Biblical principles to our lives emotionally, mentally, spiritually, physically and financially, we gain the power to take dominion and grow that dominion in all of those areas. Our problem with a lack of prosperity will always be attached to our ignorance, or unwillingness to do life God’s way.

3) purpose for prosperity.

As we have discussed, 2 Corinthians 9:8 gives us guidance for God’s definition of prosperity:

“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” (2 Corinthians 9:8, ESV)

In my current research, I believe the best way to define Biblical prosperity is: I have everything I need, and I have enough to meet other people’s needs.

The NLT version of 2 Corinthians 9 goes on to say:

“10 For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you. 11 Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God.”

Ephesians 2:10 tells us that God we are “God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Matthew 5:16 tells us to “let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.” Without prosperity, these things would be impossible. Prosperity is required for generosity. And when we are generous, God gives us more so that we can always be generous. This is where a lot of the “rich people” I know tend to struggle the most. They think prosperity is all about them, their family, their dreams and their desires. They think that the purpose of their wealth is for them. They believe that they have permission to prosper, but they often misunderstand that God has given them the power to prosper. And they especially misunderstand the purpose behind their wealth. That’s still a poverty mentality.

But there’s also the mentality that says we shouldn’t desire prosperity. A lack of desire or drive to prosper is also poverty thinking. It is not virtuous. Not desiring prosperity is small minded, selfish, and even sinful. Biblical prosperity isn’t selfish, and it isn’t “me” focused. It is the desire to live in an overflow so that you can always be generous. If we are not pursuing prosperity, then we are also not pursuing generosity. If we are not pursuing generosity, we are not living life God’s way.

Some of us have overcomplicated the idea of prosperity. We think that because some pastors have used money poorly, we can’t give to the church. We think that because some people have been selfish in their prosperity, that prosperity is bad. We have allowed our own “man-made ideas” to take the place of the commands of God. Jesus didn’t say that the poor will always be among us as a resignation. Once God lifts your thinking out of poverty of any kind, you have a responsibility to help other people.

The Bible does not qualify poverty as a good thing, but it also tells us that we have a responsibility to give to the poor. If you are emotionally healthy, you have a responsibility to give to those who are struggling emotionally. If you are physically healthy, you have a responsibility to model, and help people become spiritually healthy. If you are spiritually thriving, how can you help others in their journey? Once you are prospering financially, how are you giving financially to the poor through your local church? But it doesn’t just stop there, how are you helping the “poor” in your world hear the good news that they have permission, power and purpose in prosperity God’s way?

We all have a lot of thoughts on money, next time let’s talk about where our thinking on wealth and money came from.

The Dialog, my new - and first - podcast launched today.

I’d love if you went to Youtube, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify and like and subscribe. Do all three platforms if you like!

the background

One of the things I’ve learned from my dad my whole life, is the power of alignment. I’ve been asked about doing a podcast for a long time, and I’ve wanted to do one for a long time, but I just didn’t have the right alignment.

What you want to do is important. But what’s more important is who you have in your life. The greatest problem we face is not what we want to do, or what we are doing, but WHO. If we get the right people in our lives (the right who’s) the whats will work. The problem we have most often is not what we are doing, it’s who we are doing it with.

I am grateful that some of the greatest WHOs in my life, Garrett Unclebach and Nick Surface have come alongside to help me get this podcast going. It could not, and would not be happening without them. Especially Nick. The nature of the format I am envisioning requires a great co-host, and I couldn’t think of a better person than him to help me. This podcast is going to be amazing because he’s going to draw out the best parts of our conversation.

We’re going to have great conversations about big questions. Thank you for being a part of what I’m doing, and I can’t wait for you to be a part of this!

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Jesus’ mission was not just to change our state of being. It was to change our thinking. In Matthew 3:2, he says: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” What is Jesus wanting when He’s asking for repentance? He uses a Greek word μετάνοια (metanoia). This word wasn’t a religious term until Jesus used it in a religious context. It was a philosophical word that meant to change your perspective, to change your mind. Later, it took on a deeper meaning relating to our moral and spiritual transformation, but that doesn’t mean that it lost its original meaning. Repentance is fundamentally a change in how we think.

Jesus establishes clearly that the way out of poverty is to hear the good news. To repent, to change your thinking. God created this universal concept and idea that has been repeated and restated by just about every religious, philosophical and spiritual school: when you elevate your thinking, you elevate your life.

This line of thinking seems insensitive when we apply it to finances. So let’s apply it to our mental, emotional or physical state. If you are emotionally broken and traumatized, how do you get free of it? Therapy and counseling? That’s one way, what’s the main goal of going to therapy and counseling? Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is one of the leading therapeutic methods in the world and has its origins in ancient philosophy. CBT is all about learning how to think differently about our lives and experiences so that we can ultimately live better lives. What about physically? If you are physically obese, can someone cure you of it? Or do you need to learn to rethink your relationship to food and exercise. The physical “state of being” of obesity is a result of a mindset - a way of thinking. Until the way of thinking changes, the state of being won’t change. That’s what makes poverty different from the sicknesses, diseases and death that Jesus healed. Poverty of any kind is a state of being that is the result of a way of thinking. The “good news” is that you and I can change our thinking. And when we change our thinking, our state of being will change. My dad has said it this way: “God will do for you what you cannot do for yourself, but he won’t do what you can do for yourself.”

Despite the truth of the problem being how we think, there are plenty of people who think that their emotional, physical, spiritual, mental and even financial state is not their responsibility to fix. Its someone else’s fault, therefore it is someone else’s responsibility. Jesus knew this, and this is why He said to us “you will always have the poor among you…” (Matthew 26:11). Why will we always have poor people among us? Because as long as humans are on the earth, some of them will have poor thinking. And their poor thinking will keep them poor emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and financially.

Some of us can believe that God will heal people and raise them from the dead, but when we hear that God wants us to prosper materially, our response is: “God doesn’t care about that.” Or maybe we have misquoted the Beatitudes for so long that we don’t know what the Bible actually says. Some people may say that Jesus himself said “blessed are the poor.” Those people will find themselves squarely in the 96% of Christians who do not have a Biblical worldview. Jesus said in Matthew 5:3; “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The Greek words Jesus uses in Matthew 3 are, πτωχός (ptoche) and (πνεῦμα) pneuma. When put together, these words mean “spiritually inadequate.” Blessed are those who realize that, by themselves they are inadequate to succeed on their own.

Well, maybe Jesus actually believed that poverty is a good thing. If poverty is a good thing, we should congratulate the next homeless person we see on the street. If poverty is somehow more spiritual than prosperity, why wouldn’t we celebrate them for being closer to God than those of us who have enough food to eat, or a place to live? That makes as much sense as congratulating a morbidly obese person on their heart disease and inability to go up stairs without losing their breath. I’m not saying that to make light of these people, I’m saying it to illustrate how our ideas on prosperity, poverty and God make no sense. Even if we didn’t have the Bible, the modern Christian approach to prosperity is foolish and illogical. The idea of poverty making us closer to God comes from Benedictine monks in the 16th century who took vows of poverty and were supported by wealthy benefactors. We’ll talk more about that later. But, even for the monks, a vow of poverty would have been impossible without the prosperity of others.

Poverty is meant to be a temporary condition attached to not living God’s way.

There’s one of two ways for us to live. We can live according to truth, or we can live according to lies. We can do things God’s way, or we can do things the wrong way.

Poverty of any kind is a symptom of a larger issue; either we are living life with the wrong motives, or we are not doing something God’s way. Poverty is not God’s blessing. Poverty - emotionally, spiritually, mentally, emotionally - is a warning sign that we are not thinking right about that part of our life. This is a good time to mention, prosperity is not the same as having a lot of money. So if you have a lot of money and you’re reading this, you’re not off the hook. Yes, according to Proverbs 10, the “blessing of the Lord makes rich.” That doesn’t mean that God’s blessing is the only way to get rich. Prosperity means having money. But having money doesn’t always mean we have prosperity. If poverty is a mindset, so is prosperity. A person can seem like they are prospering and still not have a prosperous mindset. People who think in order for them to win, someone else has to lose also have a poverty mentality. God is not the God of the zero sum game. It is a poverty mentality that says that in order for us to win, someone else has to lose. Or that in order for you to have a lot, someone else has to get a little bit. This isn’t about unbridled capitalism that is often destructive. That would be like saying that in order for you to be physically healthy, someone else’s health must be sacrificed. God invites us into a world where everyone can win. And that’s what the good news is about.

So, what is the good news that needs to be preached to the poor? More next time.

After the last post, there were quite a few people more than willing to show me how foolish I was to assert that Jesus was financially wealthy. The truth is, we can’t know for sure. Most people have just taken what they have been told as truth. Instead of searching Scripture - like Bereans - to see what it actually says, they prefer to defend a traditional position. There is nothing wrong with tradition. We’ll talk about it a lot more some other time. There is something wrong with assuming that what we have been told is true without examining whether or not it is. The idea that Jesus was poor is an opinion based on how some people interpret the facts of Jesus’ life. The idea that he was rich is an opinion based on how some people interpret the facts of his life too. The problem with the opinion that Jesus was poor is that there is more evidence that he wasn’t.

You might have a lot more questions or thoughts now. Questions about a camel and the eye of a needle, a rich young ruler walking away sad, and the love of money being the root of all evil. I will do my best to get to as much of that as I possibly can. However, there are some questions that only God can answer. But we still have a lot of ground to cover.

There’s a statement that Paul makes in 2 Corinthians 8:9 that’s worth thinking about as it relates to the wealth of Jesus.

“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 by his poverty might become rich.” // 2 Corinthians 8:9, ESV

So many people read this verse and take it to mean that Jesus was rich in heaven and came to the earth to live in poverty so that we could become “spiritually wealthy.” As you have no doubt seen, when we simply look at the face value English translation of a verse, we often miss the true meaning. So what is Paul really saying here about Jesus? The word that Paul uses for rich in 2 Corinthians 8:9, for both Jesus’ riches and ours, is one I listed in chapter 1.2; πλοῦτος (ploutos): To make someone rich both materially and spiritually. To be granted abundance (more than you need in every area of life).

If you disagree with the perspective that Jesus was rich on the earth, this is a verse you might use to support that point. The only problem with that logic is that it doesn’t change what Paul says in the second part of the verse. Maybe Jesus was never wealthy in His time on earth, and lived his life as a homeless nomad. The evidence doesn’t seem to point that direction, but let’s say that He was. Paul doesn’t just stop there, he tells us the purpose of Jesus’ poverty. No matter what we believe about Jesus’ prosperity in his time on earth, we must arrive at the conclusion Paul makes in the second part of the verse. “so that you by his poverty could become rich.” Let’s make that clearer using the definition of πλοῦτος:

““For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich (both materially and spiritually, and had more than he needed in every area of life), yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich (both materially and spiritually, and had more than he needed in every area of life) .”

In the church tradition I grew up in, this was rarely, if ever taught. Everything was about the potential wealth we would accrue in eternity. If you did something virtuous, you were getting “jewels in your crown” in heaven. Your life might be really awful right now, but one day you’ll walk on streets of gold, and live in a mansion in heaven. What is so interesting to me is how much we equate heaven with prosperity and wealth. We seem to do this automatically, without even thinking about it. There’s this theology that has been developed that in some way sounds like this: “your life on earth will be horrible, but one day, when you get to heaven, it will all be worth it.” There won’t be any crying in heaven. There won’t be any physical pain in heaven. There won’t be any poverty in heaven. Only mental, emotional, physical and spiritual prosperity.

Is this what Scripture teaches? Or is this another one of those “man-made” ideas being substituted as an idea of God? Scripture clearly tells us that God isn’t just talking about eternal, spiritual prosperity. He’s talking about prosperity on earth. Human beings have created this idea that it is somehow either/or. Either you can prosper right now, or prosper in heaven. God doesn’t work like that. God is about both/and. You can prosper right now, and you can prosper eternally. Both are not just possible, both are planned. But God has even more in store for us than that. That’s the “and” part. We haven’t even started talking about John 10:10 yet and how God defines abundance. We’ll get there.

Poverty is often preached as a good thing. Poverty has been transformed into spirituality. There is a doctrine that we have created that says the poorer you are, the closer you are to Jesus. We’ll talk later about where that comes from, but it doesn’t come from Scripture. The idea of poverty as spiritual - or beneficial in any way - is completely antithetical to any kind of Biblical thinking about life. There is not one place in the Bible, not one place in the Old Testament, New Testament, or the life of Jesus where poverty is presented as a good thing. Human beings have imagined poverty as a virtue, but that’s not a God idea. The Bible doesn’t say Jesus became poor, so you should be like Him. It says he sacrificed his riches, his own life, so that you could be rich. Now and in eternity. At the beginning of his ministry, he steps into the synagogue, opens up the scroll of the prophet Isaiah and quotes it:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free,” // Luke 4:18, NLT

These are the first public words of Jesus. Later on in the story, he actually adds to what Isaiah had written. Matthew 11 tells the story:

John the Baptist, who was in prison, heard about all the things the Messiah was doing. So he sent his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?” Jesus told them, “Go back to John and tell him what you have heard and seen—the blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.” (Matthew 11:2-5 NLT)

good news is preached to the poor?

In Luke 4, he quotes Isaiah to say that captives are released and the oppressed are set free. Then in Matthew 11, the lame walk, the blind see the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life and the “Good News” is preached to the poor. Some translations translate this as “the Gospel is preached to the poor.” Again we need to look at the Greek. The Greek doesn’t use the word “Gospel.” It uses the word εὐαγγέλιον (euangélion). In the ancient world, this word was primarily used in warfare, to announce that a victory had taken place, but it also means that the messenger views themselves joyfully as the bearer of the good news. The word literally means “good news” in greek, and the word “gospel” is an old english translation of this word. When Jesus said this, He was saying something different than we think. Why? Because in the world today, “The Gospel” is different than the “gospel” back then. The Gospel we know - the Good News - is that God loves humanity and has provided a way to overcome sin and death through Jesus Christ—who lived a sinless life, died in our place, and was raised, offering forgiveness and eternal life to all who believe.

Jesus could not preach this “Gospel” yet, because it hadn’t happened. He was preaching a different good news. Good news about healing, deliverance, and freedom from captivity - and poverty.

Because of Jesus, the lame could walk, the deaf could hear, the blind could see, the dead were raised to life, and the poor people were…preached to? Couldn’t Jesus just heal poverty like He did everything else? He healed every disease, He raised Lazarus from the dead, and delivered people from everything, except poverty. If the evidence shows us how much money and resources he had, why didn’t he just solve poverty by giving it all away to poor people? That’s what a lot of people - including Judas - would recommend. Jesus gave the poor good news because He knew, just like we do, that more money doesn’t cure poverty. Being lame is a state of being. Being deaf is a state of being. Being blind is a state of being. Being dead is a state of being. Poverty is not a state of being. The government might say it is, culture might say it is, our human thinking might say it is. But God doesn’t say it is.

More on poverty on friday.

We often think that we are more advanced than people who lived thousands of years ago in every way. We’ve built rockets that can take us to other planets and we’ve mapped the human genome. We have figured out how to live longer than our ancestors and have access to almost unlimited information in our pockets. We find ourselves at the dawn of a new age where all of us know that AI is going to change everything, even if we disagree on how. Yet, some things still haven’t changed.

Today, we doomscroll our phones and distract ourselves endlessly with hours of entertainment and content. In the ancient world, gladiatorial games kept people entertained and distracted from the real problems that faced them. Juvenal, a Roman writer said that the people of Rome had traded their freedom for “bread and circuses.” In the ancient world, kings and nobles used to flaunt their wealth with palaces, jewels and monuments. Their selfish pursuit of status often drove injustice and oppression. In the world we live in, we fixate on designer brands, luxury cars, and mansions. Only the symbols have changed. The obsession with image remains.

Tens of billions of dollars are spent on self-help, therapy and wellness, yet anxiety and depression are at historic highs (Source). Yes, we are more advanced in many ways than our ancestors. But, the questions that we are asking about how to live a good life are not much different from the questions people were asking thousands of years ago. With our access to information, resources and technology, we should have more access to a good life than ever. That’s not really our experience though. Lies - now known as “misinformation” - become more viral than truth and culture rewards those who can make something trend, not those who identify what is true. Leaders of every type are often chosen for charisma more than character. Influencers sell people curated feeds, crafted messages and packaged lifestyles that they pretend to live. This is not new.

In ancient Athens, there were Sophists. A sophist was a professional teacher of wisdom and rhetoric – persuasive speaking. Athens was the world’s first real democracy. Every free male citizen could speak in their version of Congress/Parliament – the Assembly – and had a vote. The way to be successful in Athens was to convince the most people to vote for your idea. Rhetoric – the art of persuasion – was one of the most valuable skills a person could have. Sophists were paid a lot of money to teach people how to become persuasive speakers. This would help them to live a successful, and “good” life. Sophists knew how to capture people’s attention and tell them what they wanted to hear. What did people want to hear? The same kinds of things they want to hear today. The secrets to success, happiness, and wealth. The good life is living a curated life that looks good. If it looks good, it is good. They even used persuasive testimonials and flashy lifestyles to prove their credibility. Sound familiar?

Sophists measured their success in the applause from the public. Today, Sophists measure their success by followers, likes and clicks. Both are rewarded for looking wise, not for being wise. This isn’t a takedown of all influencers. There are many people who have good lives and influence. The problem is not in having influence. The problem is the pursuit of influence at the sake of truth. The world is filled with Sophists. There are people everywhere telling us what to do and how we should live. What all of these Sophists have in common is their measurement of success is external. Success – the good life – is wealth, reputation, status and power. If a person does certain things, they will gain these external things. If they gain these external things, they will feel better about themselves and their life.

There is a key question about happiness. Do you want to feel better, or do you want to be better? How you answer this question will determine whether happiness is in external things, or internal things. Pursuing wisdom, virtue, truth, and self-mastery will take us in a radically different direction than the pursuit of wealth, reputation, status and power.

truth hurts (and heals)

In The Discourses Epictetus compares talking to a philosopher with going to the doctor. Most people then - just as now - were used to hearing what they wanted to hear. Modern self-help may give us easy answers. Those answers also may be the answers we want to hear. The danger of that is hearing what we want to hear ≠ truth. Jesus said “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” Gloria Steinem added the human perspective: “The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.” The problem with truth is that is has a way of destroying beliefs that we really like. Truth doesn’t care about our culture, our environment, our personal convictions or our preferences. Truth doesn’t change because we want it to. It stays true, even when we don’t like it. Truth only cares for truth.

There are sophists and philosophers. A sophist will tell you what you want to hear. A philosopher will tell you what you need to hear. “If you go to the doctor, do you expect to leave feeling cheerful? Do you not expect pain from the treatment, burning, cutting, and dieting?” (Discourses). Epictetus says that the problem that we have is that we come to the philosopher as though they were a shopkeeper or a sophist. The world of philosophy is not a world where the “customer is always right.” “If you hear yourself being reproved, do not take offense; just as one who submits to surgery does not take offense at the surgeon’s knife.” (Discourses)

Epictetus tells us that experiencing philosophy is like surgery. It will help us, but also, the application of the cure will be painful. A life saving surgery can help us live, but we will also need to recover. The medicine will not always be what we want to hear or feel. Correction, rebuke and discipline will harm our ego. The purpose of this is not just to make us feel pain: “For just as a doctor has no other end in view than the health of his patient, so the philosopher has no other end than the health of the soul.” (Discourses)

Philosophy wants us to be better.

Sophistry wants us to feel better.

If you break your arm, a doctor can set the bone and walk you through the healing process. Or, you can never really fix it, take pain killers and just try to feel better.

The biggest problem that we have is not that we don’t feel good enough. The problem that we have is that we have brokenness that must be fixed. In the world of healthcare this is called functional medicine. Functional medicine will treat the pain, but will also treat the root causes of the pain. Cicero, a Roman philosopher and orator said: “There is, I assure you, a medical art for the soul. It is philosophy, whose aid need not be sought, as in bodily diseases, from outside ourselves. We must endeavor with all our resources and all our strength to become capable of doctoring ourselves.” (Tusculan Disputations, 3.6). What is Cicero saying? We all have issues, sicknesses and suffering. Our primary issues are not external diseases, but internal struggles. The only way to cure this kind of sickness is to do the work ourselves. Philosophy is what teaches us to be doctors to ourselves. To cure our internal ailments.

“It is not events that harm us, but our opinions about events.”

The greatest problem that you and I have starts with our opinions, our thinking. The problem is not what we experience, it is our response to what we experience.

Musonius Rufus said that philosophy “is nothing more than searching out by reason what is right and proper and by deeds putting it into practice.” You’ve probably seen me write this before. Philosophy is simply the criteria that we have for every decision that we make. The greatest problem that we have is our philosophy. Our philosophy - criteria for making decisions - is broken. Therefore we won’t make good decisions. Bad decisions lead to bad outcomes. Bad outcomes lead to feeling bad.

Instead of changing our philosophy, we have a temptation to seek out just feeling better. But we won’t ever feel good about our bad decisions. And we won’t know our decisions are bad until we interact with philosophy and learn to change our criteria for making them. To change our philosophy, we need to first allow ourselves to be corrected, challenged and critiqued by those who are wiser than us. Then, we learn to correct ourselves and become better people.

be your own doctor (you probably don’t need more self-help)

To live a good life, we ultimately must learn to be doctors to ourselves. I know so many people who go from book to book, seminar to seminar, church to church, mastermind to mastermind and their lives don’t get better. Why? Not because they aren’t investing in themselves, but because they aren’t doing the hard work of applying what they know. Most people’s problem is not that they don’t know enough, its that they don’t do enough of what they know.

Why do we need to learn to do when we can just read another book or get more advice? It’s one thing for me to give you directions, its another thing for me to teach you how to read a map. Advice helps until it doesn’t. Ultimately, the quality of your life - and my life - is up to you. Our lives are singular. We will all reach a point where what worked for one person doesn’t work for us. We are entirely unique. That means that we must learn to live OUR singular life well. Philosophy teaches us the wisdom to live our life well. Advice teaches us how to live like other people. Advice is helpful, but it’s also limited. The wisdom of philosophy is unlimited.

Before you freak out… this picture is bloody, but you really can’t see anything.

Leonid Rogozov was a Soviet doctor on an Antarctic Expedition in 1961. He was the only doctor on the expedition. As winter rolled in, he began to feel pain on the right side of his abdomen accompanied by fatigue and nausea. It was obvious to Leonid that he had appendicitis. He had operated on it many times, but the only problem was that he was the only doctor within thousands of miles. Winter had set in, there was no way to leave, and he knew that if his appendix burst, he would die.

He decided that he would do surgery on himself. At first he tried a mirror, and he couldn’t see, so he decided to take his gloves off and work by touch. After nearly two hours he completed the surgery and stitched himself up. Two weeks later, he returned to his normal duties. He eventually returned home and went on to live a full life.

At the end of the day, the only person who can save you is you. Develop the self-mastery to be a philosopher - a doctor to yourself. And come to your own rescue when you most need it.