Wealth Enjoyment: Aggressively Grab the Best Life Experience! | Joyful Wealth Management: A Bible Study Discussion Guide

1 Timothy 6:17-19

“Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be high-minded or to set their hope on the uncertainty of riches but on God, who richly supplies us with all things for enjoyment: to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.”

A few sentences earlier, Paul writes about “eternal life.” Here, he uses a different word. Different versions call it “true life,” “life indeed,” “really life,” or “real life.” This is about the quality of our life experience. It’s about feeling like, “This is the life!” It’s about feeling like, “This is really living!”

Consider a person who lives their life anxiously hoarding their wealth. They constantly worry about lawsuits, inflation, taxes, theft, market crashes, and other threats. They mistrust others because people might act deceptively to get at their money. They never use their wealth. They bury it. They anxiously protect it. And then they lose it, inevitably, to misfortune or death.

Would this life experience make you say, “Now, this is really living!”? Would it make you say, “Ah, now this is the life!”? Why not?

Suppose God blessed you with the ability to make wealth. (Deuteronomy 8:18). Now, you get to pick between two eulogies describing your life.

“He made a lot of money. The end.”
“He really took hold of that which is truly life! He did a lot of real good! He was so rich in beautiful, good works! He was certainly good at being generous in the best ways! He was always ready to share with his fellowship community and build the Kingdom! He really stored up for himself the treasure of a good foundation for the future!”

How does the second description reflect the kind of life that is “life indeed,” “really life,” or “real life”?
How might the way we use (or don’t use) wealth lead to one of these two descriptions being accurate?

Does this actually work? Does living life this way produce “real life” or “life indeed” right now? It does. And it’s not just a matter of faith. It’s also a matter of science. Charitable giving increases happiness and health.⁵⁴ Giving in the scriptural way is even more powerful. One secular textbook summarizes everything we know from research about increasing well-being and life satisfaction.⁵⁵ It reports only six “established interventions” proven to work.⁵⁶ Aside from forgiveness, these are: 1. Gratitude, 2. Appreciating what we have (savoring), 3. Empathy, 4. Highlighting our strengths, and 5. Meaningful purpose.

Suppose we receive all things from a close-beside, richly-providing God. He gives them for the purpose of enjoyment. We then enjoy these things by using them to accomplish beautifully good works. These good works are uniquely meaningful for us. They reflect the best parts of our own personal characters.

How would living this way help us to

Experience gratitude?
Appreciate what we have?
Feel empathy?
Highlight our strengths?
Fulfill a personally meaningful purpose?

According to modern science, what impact would this have on our personal well-being and life satisfaction?

The instruction here is to “take hold” of real life. This taking hold is aggressive – even violent. It’s the word used when the soldiers “seized” Simon of Cyrene, forcing him to carry the cross. (Luke 23:26). It’s the word used when the crowd “took hold of Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and began beating him in front of the judgment seat.” (Acts 18:17).

This is aggressive, fighting language. This instruction is like saying, “Grab life by the horns!” or “Grab life by the throat!” One commentary calls it “riding life for all it is worth.”⁵⁷

And what’s the opposite of this approach to life? It’s the burying bad steward’s explanation in the Parable of the Talents:

“So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.” (Matthew 25:25 NIV).

It’s also the burying bad steward’s explanation in the Parable of the Mina Coins:

“here is your mina, which I kept tucked away in a handkerchief; for I was afraid”. (Luke 19:20b-21a).

What’s the opposite of aggressively grabbing real life? It’s living a life of fear.

In what way does fear lead to burying our chunk of gold or hiding our coins in today’s world?
How is this different from the instruction to aggressively grab hold of real life by using wealth “for enjoyment: to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share”?

Your Big Choice

Notes and references

See summaries of research findings in e.g., Konrath, S. (2022). The joy of giving. In G. Shaker, E. Tempel, S. Nathan & B. Stanczykiewicz (Eds.), Achieving excellence in fundraising (5th ed., pp. 45-56). Wiley. p. 46; Hui, B. P., Ng, J. C., Berzaghi, E., Cunningham-Amos, L. A., & Kogan, A. (2020). Rewards of kindness? A meta-analysis of the link between prosociality and well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 146(12), 1084-1116; Choi, N. G., & Kim, J. (2011). The effect of time volunteering and charitable donations in later life on psychological wellbeing. Ageing and Society, 31, 590-610.
Professor Christian Smith and Hilary Davidson summarize, “The more generous Americans are, the more happiness, health, and purpose in life they enjoy.” [Smith, C. & Davidson, H. (2014). The paradox of generosity. Oxford University Press. p. 2.]
Giving creates happiness, health and even strength. One study found that “participants who had donated to a charity were able to squeeze a handgrip for more than 20 seconds longer than were control participants. Participants also reported happier moods after donating, but their enhanced strength did not stem from their elevated happiness. Thus, prosocial spending may have independent positive effects on both emotional and physical vitality.” [Dunn, E. W., Aknin, L. B., & Norton, M. I. (2014). Prosocial spending and happiness: Using money to benefit others pays off. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 23(1), 41-47, p. 45. (Citing Gray, K. (2010). Moral transformation: Good and evil turn the weak into the mighty. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 1, 253-258.)]
The scientific research may be new. The results are not. In the fourth century, John Chrysostom called charitable giving “the foundation of health, the abundance of light and the origin of joyfulness.” [Chrysostom, J. (n.d./1862). Homily 64.5 in Matthew. In Migne, J. P., (Ed.), Patrologia Graeca. Volume 58:615. p. 48-49. Translation from Bae, J. (2018). John Chrysostom: On almsgiving and the therapy of the soul (Doctoral dissertation, Australian Catholic University. p. 68.) Australian Catholic University.]
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Parks, A. C., & Schueller, S. M. (Eds.). (2014). The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of Positive Psychological Interventions. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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In The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of Positive Psychological Interventions, the six chapters listed under “Established areas of intervention” reference gratitude, forgiveness, savoring, highlighting one’s strengths, meaning/purpose, and empathy. [Parks, A. C., & Schueller, S. M. (Eds.). (2014). The Wiley Blackwell handbook of positive psychological interventions. Wiley-Blackwell.]
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Hughes, R. K., & Chapell, B. (2000). 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus. Crossway Books. p. 163.
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