O you who believe! If you have fear of God, He will give you a
criterion [by which to judge between right and wrong] and erase your
bad actions from you and forgive you. God's favor is indeed
immense.(Qur'an, 8:29)
Old Testament
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His
precepts have good understanding. To Him belongs eternal praise.
(Psalm 111:10)
NOT HOARDING WEALTH
... As for those who hoard up gold and silver and do not spend it in
the Way of God, give them the news of a painful punishment. On the Day
it is heated up inthe fire of Hell, and their foreheads, sides, and
backs are branded with it: "This is what you hoarded for yourselves,
so taste what you were hoarding!" (Qur'an, 9:34-35)
[He] who has amassed wealth and hoarded it! He thinks his wealth will
make him live for ever. No indeed! He will be flung into the
Shatterer. And what will convey to you what the Shatterer is? The
kindled Fire of God reaching right into the heart. It is sealed in
above them in towering columns. (Qur'an, 104:2-9)
God expands provision to anyone He wills and restricts it. They
rejoice in the life of this world. Yet the life of this world,
compared to the Hereafter, is only fleeting enjoyment. (Qur'an, 13:26)
Those who are tight-fisted with the bounty God has given them should
not suppose that that is better for them. No indeed, it is worse for
them! What they were tight-fisted with will be hung around their necks
on the Day ofRising. God is the inheritor of the heavens and Earth,
and God is aware of what you do. (Qur'an, 3:180)
New Testament
[Now listen, you rich people!] Your gold and silver are corroded.
Theircorrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire.
You have hoarded wealth in the Last Days. (James 5:3)
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on Earth, where moth and rust
destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for
yourselves treasures in Heaven, where moth andrust do not destroy, and
where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21)
Command those who are rich in this present worldnot to be arrogant nor
toput their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their
hope in God, Who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.
(1 Timothy 6:17)
Old Testament
Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is
never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless. As goods
increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to
the owner except to feasthis eyes on them? (Ecclesiastes 5:10-11)
Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the
day of the Lord's wrath. (Zephaniah 1:18)
The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are
destroyed by their duplicity. Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath,
but righteousness delivers from death. (Proverbs 11:3-4)
This is what the Lord says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom
or the strong man boast of his strength or the richman boast of his
riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands
and knows Me, that I am the Lord, Who exercises kindness, justice and
righteousnesson earth, for in these I delight," declares the Lord.
(Jeremiah 9:23-24)
SHUNNING AVARICE
God has made a metaphor for them of a man owned by several partners in
dispute with one another and another man wholly owned by a single man.
Are they the same? Praise be to God! The fact is that most of them do
not know. (Qur'an, 39:29)
To mankind the love of worldly appetites is painted in glowing colors:
women and children, and heaped-upmounds of gold and silver, and horses
with fine markings, and livestock and fertile farmland. All of that is
merely the enjoyment ofthe life of this world. Thebest homecoming is
in the presence of God. (Qur'an, 3:14)
New Testament
No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the
other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You
cannot serve both God and money. (Matthew 6:24)
For the love of money is the root of all evil. Some people, eager for
money,have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many
griefs. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue
righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. (1
Timothy 6:10-11)
TO BE HUMBLE
O you who believe! If any of you renounce your religion, God will
bring forward a people whom He loves and who love Him, humble to the
believers, fierce to the unbelievers, who strive in the Way of God and
do not fear the blame of any censurer. That is the unbounded favor of
God, which He gives to whoever He wills. God is Boundless,
All-Knowing. (Qur'an, 5:54)
...Your God is One God, sosubmit to Him. Give goodnews to the
humble-hearted. (Qur'an, 22:34)
New Testament
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another
in love. (Ephesians 4:2)
But He gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes
the proud but gives grace to the humble." (James 4:6)
Old Testament
Hear and pay attention, do not be arrogant, for the Lord has spoken.
(Jeremiah 13:15)
Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what He
commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility... (Zephaniah 2:3)
ARROGANCE ON EARTH LEADS TO DEBASEMENT IN GOD'S PRESENCE
He [God] said: "Descend from Heaven [O Iblis(Satan)]. It is not for
you to be arrogant in it. So get out! You are one of the abased."
(Qur'an, 7:13)
Do not strut arrogantly about the land. You will certainly never split
the land apart nor will you ever rival the mountains in height.
(Qur'an, 17:37)
Do not avert your face from people out of haughtiness, and do not
strut about arrogantly on the land. God does not love anyone who is
vain or boastful. (Qur'an,31:18)
New Testament
The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts
himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
(Matthew 23:11-12)
Old Testament
To the arrogant I say:"Boast no more," and to the wicked: "Do not lift
up your horns. Do not lift your horns against Heaven; do not speak
with outstretched neck." No one from the east or the west or from the
desert can exalt a man. But it is God Who judges: He brings one down,
He exalts another. (Psalms 75:4-7)
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