As Christians, and people, we can tend to have negative feelings towards wealth. We can think that it is selfish, or simply not meant for people like us. I want to challenge you on these assumptions because I believe God has a bigger purpose for wealth. This is something I speak about a lot, and have taught in my Money Mastery book, but I want to bring it to my blog readers as well because in order to get wealth, you must have a proper understanding of its role in our lives. This scripture really explains it well:
And you shall remember the Lord your God for it is He who gives you the power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.
—Deuteronomy 8:17-18
I encourage you to enter this post with an open mind and a willing heart.
Three Foundations of Wealth
Participation in the Creative Process
In the New Testament, the apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 6:1 that we are co-laborers together with God. In other words, God has His part to play, and we have our part to play. God’s part is grace, while our part is faith. So it’s grace and faith, faith and grace, working together in a beautiful cycle.
When we empower people to participate in the creative process, it’s amazing what God can do. I remember a lady in an African village who did four loans with my non-profit, Tricord Global. She took the first loan and started a business for herself. It was just a small stand that provided some dried goods and other items in her village. By the time of the fourth loan, she had a whole grocery store and employed 14 people in her village with full-time work. This lady raised the whole economic standard of that small village. She was also able to put a roof on her house, pay for her kids’ schooling, and feed and clothe her family.
We must be willing to participate with God when creating wealth.
The Accumulation of Wealth as a Virtue
In a western mindset, we tend to think of poverty as a virtue. I want to challenge you to think of the accumulation of wealth as a virtue.
If you are partnering with God and functioning with Money Mastery principles, then an accumulation process occurs in your life. If you are thinking properly, managing correctly, and stewarding honestly, you will naturally begin to accumulate wealth. Now, this isn’t the accumulation of wealth for wealth’s sake, but to partner with God in city and nation transformation.
You need to shift your mindset towards stewarding and managing wealth as being “holy in the earth”. Remember that it is the Lord our God who gives us the power to get wealth. He is our Master. We are here to serve Him, and in the process of serving God, we will become the master of our money. We do not need to be afraid of building wealth when God is the one empowering us to do so.
Caring for the Needy
Jesus made it clear when He said, “For you have the poor with you always.” (Mark 14:7)
When we look at poverty in third-world countries, there is an important distinction we need to make about caring for the needy. If we take Africa—where I’ve personally had the most experience— many studies have shown that aid from western nations has created a welfare mentality among the people. The people don’t feel the need to till their garden because they can go to a truck for a meal. Instead of giving somebody a fish so they can eat the fish, teach them how to fish. Then they will always have food.
The reason we give loans from my non-profit, Tricord Global, is because it brings people back to us every week. When we collect the loan payment, we offer training, teaching, coaching, and mentoring in order to empower them. They walk away from the deal thinking, “I paid my loan back. I’m worth something.”
I would estimate that as a result of these loans, about 95 percent of our clients break into a new level of empowerment in their lives. It changes their lives! Additionally, the money that was lent to that person now gets to be lent to another person. This perpetuates the cycle of empowerment, which is the purpose of wealth.
I hope you can see now how the accumulation of wealth if partnered with God, is a virtue, rather than a selfish sin of the flesh. We are to build wealth to help others, which is why my mission is “Making Sense of Making Money for Making a Difference”. You can learn more about God’s purpose for wealth, how to build it and how to steward it in my book Money Mastery.
What questions do you have regarding mastering your money? Leave them below!
