Rich in God
There is a quote I heard some years ago that said, "Some of you are so poor, all you have is money." When it comes to the topic of conversation about breaking the poverty mindset and looking at it with the right perspective as the Bible addresses, I can't think of a better quote that highlights that this is more than just monetary gain. Overcoming and breaking a lack mindset is more than and deeper than money.
That is why there are people who can have everything, material possessions, fame, and comforts and be completely miserable and dissatisfied. Yet, those who have the bare minimum are grateful, appreciative, and identify God's hand of provision in everything.
People run after money.
They passionately pursue material gain.
Yet, they can be void of being rich in their relationship with God.
That is why we must start by addressing this lack mentality that causes an inordinate affection for something that can only fill a void, versus the One that can satisfy the soul.
Luke 12:13-21: The Parable of the Rich Fool
Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’
“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
In this parable, the rich man had abundance! He had more than what his barns could hold. He was storing up and storing up, all for himself, in a false belief that it would be his security and the key to ease of life.
How many of us have been guilty of being in this pursuit?
How many of us have been doing our best to save up and get with a solo focus on building a cushion?
Now, as I wrote in last week's blog, investing and savings are not bad! They are important and it is wise to do so. However, as with anything, we have to check our motives.
A poverty mindset stems from the lack of belief that God can and does meet your needs. As much as it can be reality of facing that you are in need, it can equally be the belief that you never have enough.
It is the same limiting belief and stronghold that caused the children of Israel to overlook God's daily provision of manna while they were in the wilderness. It is one of the mindsets that caused them great discontentment and caused them to desire to return to slavery under Egypt.
If you never get the root right, and the revelation that God is your source of increase, hope, and sustainability, then you will keep chasing after the vanity that more money is going to make you secure. 1 Timothy 6:17-19 is another great example of that.
This mindset is what stops people (including Christians) from being generous!
Renewing Your Mind
The process of gaining a different perspective and changing how you think always starts with getting into the Word of God. God's ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. That is why we can confess the way we've been doing something and turn to Him to ask for a better way.
Perhaps, money became an idol in your life because of conversations surrounding it.
Perhaps, it was the lack of discussions that have left your craving to get it.
Perhaps, seeing people on social media posting their lifestyle has caused a little bit of coveting to creep into your heart.
Perhaps, the fear-mongering of the media has made to anxious to get as much as possible.
This walk with God is filled with doing daily heart checks and it's the Word that resets us when we get off-balanced.
Throughout the Word, we are affirmed that God is a Provider and His will is to prosper us. We are admonished that it is not by how much we get, but what we give that is usually tied to the increase - not for a motivation, but because it's a principle. Our relationship with God has very little to do with getting!
Nevertheless, we need to come out of is this mindset of limiting God's goodness to money.
Study the Word
Without the Word rooting us and giving us a godly perspective, we are prone to teeter between limiting beliefs or inordinate ambition for more.
Coming out of lack and gaining a correct view of abundance is important because how we manage it, relate with it, teach our kids, and help our communities is going to impact them accordingly. And, we can see that a greedy "gimme" mindset is equally as damaging and foolish.
Let's continue to be rich in God above all else, and open to allow everything else to flow from there!
Until next time,
