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As ’n mens jouself vergelyk met die rykes in die wêreld of selfs ’n vriend of kollega wat meer as jy het, val ’n mens soms in die versoeking om jaloers te word of om jouself baie jammer te kry omdat jy nie dieselfde het nie of. Die Bybel sê egter in 1 Timoteus 6 die volgende:
(6)Die godsdiens is ’n groot wins as iemand tevrede is met wat hy het, (7)want ons het niks in die wêreld ingebring nie; ons kan ook niks daaruit wegneem nie. (8)As ons dan kos en klere het, moet ons daarmee tevrede wees. (9)Maar dié wat ryk wil word, val in versoeking. Hulle loop hulle vas in die strik van baie sinlose en skadelike begeertes waardeur mense in verderf en ondergang gestort word. (10)Geldgierigheid is ’n wortel van allerlei kwaad. Party het geld nagejaag en toe van die geloof afgedwaal; daardeur het hulle hulleself baie ellende op die hals gehaal. Die goeie stryd van die geloof (11)Maar jy, man van God, moet van hierdie dinge af wegvlug. Streef na opregtheid, toewyding aan God, geloof, liefde, volharding, minsaamheid.
Alles is egter relatief – hoekom begin jy jouself nie te vergelyk met mense wat minder as jy het nie?
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If the world had only a 100 people
If we could shrink the earth’s population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look something like the following:
There would be:
57 Asians
21 Europeans
14 from the Western Hemisphere, both north and south
8 Africans
52 would be female
48 would be male
70 would be non-white
30 would be white
70 would be non-Christian
30 would be Christian
89 would be heterosexual
11 would be homosexual
6 people would possess 59% of the entire world’s wealth and all
6 would be from the United States.
80 would live in substandard housing
70 would be unable to read
50 would suffer from malnutrition
1 would be near death; 1 would be near birth
1 (yes, only 1) would have a college education
1 would own a computer
When one considers our world from such a compressed perspective, the need for acceptance, understanding and education becomes glaringly apparent.
The following is also something to ponder…
If you woke up this morning with more health than illness…you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.
If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation ..you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.
If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death…you are more blessed than three billion people in the world.
If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep…you are richer than 75% of this world.
If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace …you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy.
If your parents are still alive and still married … you are very rare, even in the United States and Canada.
If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing in that someone was thinking of you, and furthermore, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world that cannot read at all.
Why do we complain?
As jy ongelukkig is oor die lewe wat onregverdig is, dink aan hierdie mense. Wees eerder dankbaar vir onregverdigheid, want jy kon een van hierdie mense gewees het.