What do you think God’s purpose for wealth is? I speak on this topic a lot, but it’s because it is something that God has deeply imprinted on my calling. After I became financially free and retired, I spent a lot of time playing golf and sitting on the couch. (Mind you, I retired pretty early— I still tell people I’m only 39!)

Everything I did back then in reaching my goal was entirely selfish. I wasn’t thinking about how I could serve God with my money, and I didn’t understand God’s purpose for my life. God used that selfish period in my life to move me toward something special. My wife, Becky, knew that there was more inside of me than the wealth I built, and because of that, she made me get off of the couch. Now, I am convinced that God showed me how to master my money so that I could become free to do God’s will and empower others by teaching them how to find this same financial freedom.

How the Church Gives Today

Right after God created humanity, he gave them a job. Genesis 1:28 (NIV) says, “God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”” Did you catch that? Work came in the form of a blessing! Later on, Genesis 2:15 says, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”

Out of 420,000 American churches, 62% gave away food but only 2% encouraged work as a way to alleviate poverty. Let me ask you: Would you rather be dependent on someone else to provide for your family, or would you rather be equipped with the independence to provide for yourself and others?

In the Institute for Faith and Economics book, “Love Your Neighbor,” Kathryn Feliciano writes,

“Charity is provision for the poor; it does not incentivize the poor to provide for themselves. Charity gives a person a plate of food; it does not equip them to get their own food in the future. Charity is done outside of a relationship with the poor; it does not know who it is helping and does not have the flexibility to care for each individual in the ways they need.”

This is not to condemn those who give— quite the opposite. Most people give to the poor from a good, pure place in their hearts. Instead, this is meant to educate and encourage you. With strategy, your five loaves and two fish can be multiplied even further.

When we educate people on God’s purpose for wealth and how they can attain it through jobs, the poor can recognize their inherent dignity and calling toward something bigger.

Tricord Global

One of the ways our WealthBuilders team does this is through Tricord Global. The mission of Tricord Global is to provide microcredit (small loans) to the poor in developing nations, empowering them to move out of poverty and into productivity and prosperity.

Through this method, people get a hand-up— not a handout. They receive loans that they are responsible to pay back. This endows them with ownership, creative freedom, and a hands-on learning opportunity for how to build wealth. There are teams in place to instruct loan clients on how to steward their money, which creates a sustainable impact.

Take Pastor Mugizi Denis’ story from 2020, for example. He owns Step by Step Beauty Center, which specializes in skincare and health products. Covid-19 negatively affected his sales, so Pastor Denis reached out to Tricord for a loan. With his loan, he was able to launch and fund advertising for a new immunity-boosting product. Now, his business is stable and the health of his community is being enriched during a pandemic by his products. He is also able to employ over 20 staff and has opened up two new growing branches.

The Big Picture

God’s purpose for wealth is so much bigger than charity. His vision entails change on a systematic level that catalyzes ripple effects of abundance in communities. This is how city and nation transformation occurs!

When I think about building wealth, I get excited about giving to others. But I’m telling you, it’s important to be wise in how we give. The goal is that the people we help will be able to experience the joy of giving, too. We want to equip them with the income to help others as well. The enemy wants to keep us all in a cycle of spiritual, psychological, and material poverty. God wants to keep us in a cycle of spiritual, psychological, and material abundance. We’re on the winning side. Let’s learn to invest with a kingdom vision!

Good news– investments for Tricord Global are open! If you want to make a sustainable investment that encourages the dignity of others, all while earning you 4-8% on your investment, contact investments@tricordglobal.com

If you want to make a Kingdom impact with your money but need to make a little more of it before you can invest in something like Tricord, I recommend attending our virtual Real Estate Workshop April 23-25th. You’ll learn our favorite tips and tricks on how to grow your passive income through real estate investing. For a limited time only, you can get $100 off your ticket by using the code RELIVE100 at checkout. Click here to register.