The American Dream is the idea, popularized by James Truslow Adams in 1931 during the Great Depression, that every U.S. citizen has the opportunity to succeed and improve their life through hard work, determination, and initiative. It’s also the belief that the US is a land of opportunity where people of all classes can achieve freedom, equality, material wealth, and upward mobility. The American Dream suggests that success is not limited by class structures like race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status, as long as there is access to education and healthcare.
For I envied the proud when I saw them prosper despite their wickedness. They seem to live such painless lives; their bodies are so healthy and strong. They don’t have troubles like other people; they’re not plagued with problems like everyone else. – Psalms 73:3-5 NLT
When we are self-reliant rather than God-reliant, envy and jealousy make us bitter and resentful. Competition may be a good driver to work harder, but it also pits people against other. Where competition is present, so is war and division.
WHOSE DREAM IS IT THAT AMERICANS ARE AT WAR WITH ONE ANOTHER?
My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever. Those who desert him will perish, for you destroy those who abandon you. But as for me, how good it is to be near God! I have made the Sovereign Lord my shelter, and I will tell everyone about the wonderful things you do. – Psalms 73:26-28 NLT
When we are a nation sold on self-reliance, what happens to those who are not as physically or mentally strong as the others? Can the United States of America stand united in adversity if our strength is viewed as being in only those who are physically, mentally and emotionally strong?
GOD VALUES EVERY ONE OF HIS CHILDREN, CAN AMERICANS VALUE EVERY PERSON ENOUGH TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER, TOO?
Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them. – James 4:13-17 NIV
The self-reliance of the American Dream is all about planning ahead, but who among us knows how many days we will have to live? Work and work, some will do, but to what end? Aim to buy a big house that is left empty when the person dies? Store up money that is left behind when our bodies are buried in the ground? Earn a title or status that is soon forgotten as the position gets filled by someone else?
Living a life with God-reliance means doing good things to care for others, encouraging one another, and living in peace and unity of Spirit. God-reliance is eternal, while self-reliance is short-sighted.
THE AMERICAN DREAM IS DESTROYING AMERICA, WHILE OPENING OUR EYES TO GOD’S REALITY COULD KEEP OUR NATION STRONG… GOD STRONG.
(Originally posted on Facebook on August 24, 2024 by Steph)