Developing A Prosperous Mindset

The word rich amongst many believers has become almost a dirty word. Many think that being rich is borderline sinful because money is the root of all evil. But this is not correct. Money is not the root of all evil; the love of money is the root of all evil. We all need money to some extent to be able to buy/sell and interact in our world. The problem is when we become obsessed with money – that’s when we’re moving into dangerous territory.

Furthermore, who said it's wrong to be rich? In fact the bible says ‘For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich’ (2Co 8:9 NKJV ). Some people respond to this by claiming that Jesus made us spiritually rich. Well yes, that is true but that’s not what this verse is primarily speaking about. If you read this verse in the context of the entire chapter, the discussion is about money and collecting an offering that was promised. So when it says that Jesus became poor that we might become rich, it’s talking about financial/material increase.

The word rich used in the scripture is the Greek word ploosios which is almost always used to describe someone with significant net worth (check out how ploosios = rich is used in the following verses: Luke 12:16; 16:1; 16:19; 21:1. In every case it is talking about financial/material abundance.). In other words Jesus not only died for our sins but according to 2 Corinthians 8:9 He also died for our lack.

God wants us to live a prosperous life; that’s a life of fruitfulness in every area – physically, emotionally, intellectually, socially, financially. But if we’re going to be prosperous then we’re going to have to establish a prosperous mindset. And the first step in establishing a prosperous mindset is to destroy strongholds of pauperism. This means destroy thoughts of not having enough, barely getting by, always doing it tough. If we stay in a place where we believe we will barely get by then we’ll experience barely getting by. The pauper mentality affects us all in different ways and we must be diligent to identify and destroy this debilitating way of thinking.

What are the characteristics of a pauper mentality? Firstly, Paupers supply for themselves. What’s wrong with that? you may say. Paupers don’t see God as their provider or supplier; they see themselves as their own provider. If they’re going to get anything in life it’s going to be through their own hard work and determination. Paupers will often say things like ‘I can’t afford that’ or ‘Do you think I’m made out of money?’ The reason they say things like that is because they don’t see supply coming from anywhere else except their own hard work and so they become defensive and protective of everything they get. The bible says that God will supply all of our need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Phil 4:19). God’s supply is not dependant on the sort of job you have, how smart you are or how much you get paid; God’s supply is dependant upon His riches – and He’s very, very rich in every way!

Now, there have been many people that have done well through their own efforts but the level of success God wants to bring our way is so great that it would be humanly impossible for any individual to achieve without God’s help. If you think you’ve been successful without God then you haven’t seen how much more God has for you in terms of success with Him. If we’re going to reach these levels of success then we’re going to need to change the way we think and recognise that God is our supplier. We can give just as easily as receive because we recognise that God provides over and above anything we can earn.

A second characteristic of a pauper mentality is Paupers are governed by price. They’re always looking at the dollar value as the bottom line of any transaction. If God is our supplier, we don’t need to be intimidated by the price tag of anything. This doesn’t mean that we’re always going to pay exhorbitant amounts for things; in fact, living the prosperous life brings you under God’s favour and so you will experience many great financial deals. What I’m saying is that when we get a glimpse of the life God desires for us to live, we won’t worry about the cost because whatever it is, our God is more than able to supply it.

Paupers however, struggle to get past the price tag. They will often say things like

• What a waste! I’d never pay that much for something like that’
• They spent all that money on one thing. They could’ve easily got something as good for less than half the price
  
• I’d never do that. I’d never pay that much; that’s just a waste of money

If you choke at the price of things then you’ll never live at the level God desires to take you. I remember one time I was choking over the cost of something that I wanted to do and the Lord spoke in my heart ‘What’s wrong? Don’t you think I can afford to pay that?’ I had spent so much time thinking what a big amount it was that I lost sight of how much bigger our God is.  We need to eradicate the way of thinking where we’re governed by the price and start seeing that God is our supplier so that we can do anything He tells us to do.

The two messages below go into a lot more detail about how to destroy the pauper mentality and establish a prosperous mindset.

Part 1: Destroying the Pauper Stronghold

Part 2: Establishing the Prosperous Mindset

 Recorded at Transformers Christian Church