Building Wealth & Stewardship in the ChurchSample

DAY 1 - A Poverty Mindset

A poverty mindset is a system of beliefs that overtakes our thoughts and plagues our lives to result in limited performance and restricted success. Unfortunately, even in the church, some yet maintain a mindset that has been programmed for poverty.

You might question, how can this type of mindset be prevalent in the church. Well, first, there are some who wrestle with feelings of being unworthy of prosperity. Although they’ve been washed in the Blood of The Lamb and trust their sins have been forgiven, they secretly believe they have done too much wrong to ever be considered worthy of experiencing financial blessings and prosperity here on Earth. That type of benefit is reserved for when they make it to Heaven, after having lived a life of penance for all of their wrong.

Then, some hold fast to thoughts that this is as good as it gets and they shouldn’t even entertain expectations of more. Whether a believer or unbeliever, churched or unchurched, pain and suffering are a fact of life. People can be so devastated by trials and tribulations that they lose all hope. They take two steps forward and five steps backward. While riding the bus, they save enough money to purchase a car and it turns out to be a lemon. These sorts of consistent setbacks can result in a pattern of thinking that their life is just not destined for better.

Believe it or not, there are others who become comfortable with living paycheck to paycheck. They believe if God wanted them to have more, He would simply give it to them. They feel if they are going to accumulate any wealth to leave an inheritance for their children, it will come from an unknown rich relative or rain down in the backyard like the miracle of manna to the Israelites. Folks with this mindset have no budget and no plan, not even a burial policy.

Finally, in this technological age known as the information highway, even more live a life filled with a lack of information when it comes to money. This group holds tightly to misconceptions about how to make and grow money, but also about God’s view of money. Some Christians believe we are cheating on God if we take any interest in that “filthy lucre”. Their favorite quote is “the love of money is the root of all evil”.

While the Bible is not silent about money, wealth, and possessions, and the stewardship of all these things, it is also not quiet about the blessings our Faithful God has in store for us while we’re yet in the land of the living. The truth of the matter is God will provide economic prosperity for His children, but we must possess it. The Lord has no problem with us saving and accumulating finances as long as it doesn’t have us.

My prayer is that you will stay with me this week as we dig deeper and explore the topic of “Building Wealth & Stewardship in The Church”.