John Calvin—Swiss Reformer, preaching Deuteronomy—observes that prosperity does something insidious. You stop remembering your own wretchedness. You feel exempted. No longer of the common sort. And that kills compassion entirely. You forget what others endure. Some respond by locating a minor inconvenience and suggesting the genuinely suffering simply replicate their heroism. Calvin would not have been impressed.
Sounds similar to James. The poor should remember their high spiritual status. The rich remember their poor spiritual status.
But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position; and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away. (James 1:9-10, NASB)
Personally, I find it to be a rule that when I start to think I am doing well, I almost immediately fall flat on my face both spiritually and financially.
Greg Johnson
Wulfhart