Overcoming - Poverty Mentality - Break the Cycle
EPIC CONQUERORS PODCAST:
OVERCOMING POVERTY MENTALITY - EPISODE 6
Break the Cycle
A mentality of poverty consists of very short term goals and instant gratification. We can fall into the traps of depending on others to provide for us or relying on others to feel secure.
Self-sabatoge continues without restraints. The idea that everyone owes us because of our current situation breeds entitlement; which isolates and then consumes a person with bitterness.
God designed us to know we are loved and wanted by Him and by our natural and spiritual family.
Since the garden of Eden, sin has access to humanity. It has sown weeds among the tares and has spread like leaven in a lump of dough until the whole loaf is infused and puffed up.
Can we escape this dilemma?
God has provided a way for us to live a healthy life in spirit, soul and body.
Poverty Mentality vs. Balanced Mentality
Some real life examples:
- My daughter is a school teacher and one of the students shared that they didn't have a refrigerator. The teachers pooled their resources and gave the family money to buy one.
Because a poverty mentality lives only for today as tomorrow is uncertain, the parents chose to take the money and go to Disneyland. They had a great time but upon returning home they, of course, had no refrigerator for the long term.
- If someone shares in a mid-week testimony service that the Lord has been good and blessed them with a tip of $100 from one of their customers...before the lights are out different ones will approach the "blessed one" and ask if they can share their blessing because they have need of (fill in the blank). The "blessed one" dare not refuse as he/she may be in need one day and not have anyone they can rely on who would be beholden to help them out. The cycle continues.
A balanced mentality knows that life has ups and downs. Therefore, we know to have a budget and prepare ahead for lean times. God sent Joseph to be in charge of all of Egypt's grain as he would wisely save it in storehouses for the famine that was to come.
- Our family likes the television show "Survivor." The tribes are usually given a bag of rice for their time on the island. You can easily spot the poverty mentality folks. They figure life is short. I might as well eat as much rice as I can pilfer. The balanced mentality rations their portion and allows some rice for each of the remaining days.
In the church community it's easy to see the "poverty mentality" at work. Folks show up only when there are meals served or give aways like free back packs, haircuts and school supply events prior to school.
Yes, there can be legitimate people who do need that kind of help, however the number of those who could and should budget and plan for their own children's needs far outnumber those who come to take.
School happens every year so its very possible to plan wisely and find bargains at garage sales or second-hand stores, if need be.
Also, church leadership (like many government leaders) often perpetuate that mentality under the umbrella of being generous so that there's an intended expectation of the one receiving being beholden for a future ask. It also looks good on the resume to try and impress others with generosity.
It's a lot easier to feed our ego with good deeds by having these one time events than to actually spend time with people to disciple them to become mature, responsible, balanced individuals.
It costs us very little, if anything, to give handouts, as often it is done through using funds/resources gathered or taken from others. However, it costs the person on the receiving end a lot as we become an enabler to their way of life.
The cycle of poverty mentality continues and infects families, children and friends to stay stuck in a system designed to rob us of our strong, resilient, creative God-given mandate to work and provide for ourselves and our family. It puts us in a position of slavery to others.
BREAK the CYCLE of a poverty mentality:
- Personal Responsibility for one's self and family.
- Personal Preparation for the long game.
- Personal Investment into the lives of others.
We'll talk about #2 and# 3 in a future blog.
Let's look at the starting place and begin to tackle the first one.
Personal Responsibility for one's self and family.
- Believe - renew your mind to choose a new way of thinking and acting.
- Repent - of any poverty mentality thinking and actions to date.
- Corresponding Action - stop yourself when tempted to fall back to a poverty mentality. Flip the script. Take balanced mentality Choose God's design to live a balanced life in Him.
Action Challenges:
- Ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate where you have had a poverty mentality. Write it down. Look at it. How can you flip that script? Write that down.
- Reflect on your first thoughts when you wake up and your last thoughts at night before going to bed. What are they? Begin the process of changing your belief/mindset to a balanced one.
- Recognize change is a process.
Dr. Judy Bauer
