The Top 5 Reasons You Are Poor
In the previous chapter, I enumerated the top seven reasons people become poor.
As I explained in the previous chapter, money is not only about physical cash and coins.
Money exceeds printed papers and coins. Do you know that when there is too much-printed paper (money) in the economy, inflation takes place? Prices of goods and services become higher because of the system's excess money (printed papers).
Secondly, because of the excess money in circulation, demand for goods and services will increase because excess money increases people's purchasing power.
When this happens, the poor become poorer whiles the rich become more prosperous.
Do not allow money to make you miserable because there are various ways of making money. If you choose the right channel, you will not have a problem with the law enforcement agency in your country.
Making money the right way will not give Satan and his minions the license to control you. Get in touch with me as I share the top five reasons you are not making it financially.
Nothing happens in this world without a cause. If you know the cause of a problem, it becomes easy to solve. In the same way, I am sharing some reasons why you are not producing results in your finances.
Life is in stages. We don’t rise to the top with a twinkle of an eye. We follow tried and tested principles to advance in life. The fact that you are not making money does not mean you are a failure. Exercise patience because every seed has its germination period.
Some seeds take days to germinate.
Some seeds take weeks to germinate.
Some seeds take months to germinate.
Some seeds take years to germinate.
Be persistent, disciplined, and focused; your seeds will come out. The fact that some seeds take time to germinate does not mean you shouldn’t work. Do what it takes to make the seed retain life because the seed will die without sunlight, water, fertile soil, and protection.
Patience does not mean you should be idle. There are some things you must do to rise faster. For example, if you want to pass the school examination, you put in more effort.
You study effectively and efficiently. If you want to be sensitive to the leadership of the Holy Spirit, you must fast, pray, and feed more on the Word of God. You cannot be idle and expect success in the school examination.
You cannot live anyhow, eat, drink every day, and expect the Holy Spirit to become active in your life. In the same way, you must set achievable goals to become financially sound.
I enumerated seven biblical reasons people become poor in the previous chapter. In this chapter, I will dig deeper. Some of the points may not have a biblical root, but they are true. Get in touch with me as I share the top five reasons you are poor.
Knowing these truths will help you examine yourself.
Knowing these truths will open your eyes to understanding (the reality of life).
Knowing these truths will stretch you to reason like a normal human being.
Knowing these truths will broaden your understanding because some of the challenges we face in life do not emanate from the devil.
Take responsibility because God has given us the mind to make important decisions. Below are the top five reasons people become poor.
1. Because you have not examined your income and expenses.
As human beings, we need basic needs and wants to sustain our lives. We spend money on food, water, rent, new clothes, transportation, bills, and other expenses.
Without a proper budget, you can incur losses.
Your budget helps you spend wisely. Let’s assume you receive a monthly salary of one thousand Ghana cedis (Ghc1000.00, approximately $127.00). Considering you spend $50.00 on food and water every month, $20.00 on bills every month, $30.00
on transportation every month, and $30.00 on new clothes every month.
In total, you would have spent $130.00 every month. This means your total expenses exceed your income. You will not have some money to save, invest, and pay your tithe.
If you spend more than your revenue, you will be poor. It is a principle you cannot break. It doesn’t matter how religious you are; you will be poor if you don’t learn how to reduce your daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly expenses.
Prioritize the most important things in your life and learn to lower your expenses.
For example, if you spend too much money on transportation, find ways to cut costs.
If you spend too much money on new clothes, find ways to cut costs. If you spend too much money on things you will not need now; you will be poor. Some expenses are fixed.
For example, paying bills (water, light, dust bin collection by zoom lion, food, and personal workers) are fixed. Either you learn how to reduce the usage of your electrical gadgets, cook your food and avoid buying food outside to lower your expenses.
You can cook and prepare your yam, rice, beans, stew, soup, and other foodstuffs and keep them in the refrigerator to save money on food. If you like browsing on your electronic device, learn to cut costs.
For example, you can subscribe to a weekly or monthly internet data bundle to do meaningful research on the internet. You cannot spend money on a data bundle to watch unnecessary videos.
I remember uploading a video to one of the social media handles. I think it was Telegram. After I uploaded the video to the group, a guy sent me a private message questioning why I sent that video because he was managing his data bundle.
This guy meant business! I was sending an important video to the group. However, the guy felt he could not use his data bundle to download a video he did not like. I told myself that the guy would not have complained if I had sent a funny video to the group.
Most often, people usually watch funny videos online. I sent an important video to educate the members. However, this guy felt that the video was not important to him. I learned something from the guy because he taught me how to manage data bundles.
We are in a technological era, and people use the internet daily. You can become poor if you don’t apply wisdom to spending your money on a data bundle. Have you checked the amount of money you spend on airtime?
I mean the amount of money you spend daily to call your friends and loved ones?
Child of God, it doesn’t matter how anointed, and prosperous you are; if your spending exceeds your revenue, you will be poor. Think through.
How much do you spend on food daily, weekly and monthly?
How much do you spend on clothes weekly and monthly?
How much do you spend on fuel daily, weekly, and monthly?
How much do you spend on transportation daily, weekly, and monthly?
How much do you spend on bills weekly and monthly?
How much do you spend on airtime daily, weekly, and monthly?
How much do you spend on new shoes, watches, hair, and other unnecessary things?
How much do you spend to make your body look beautiful and handsome?
How much do you spend on your friends and loved ones?
After checking the expenses, match them with your income. You will be poor if your expenses exceed your income (salary, pocket money, and profits from your business).
It is not a curse. It is a lesson (truth) you must know. There are some things you will not or may not need now because you can’t manage them. Temporarily delaying purchasing a product does not mean poverty.
I have not seen an architect building without setting the foundation. In economics, we have what we call the scale of preference. There are some things you can do without.
You can live without the latest phone, but you cannot live without food and water for some days; therefore, prioritize food above the latest phone. At the right time, you will have enough money to buy the latest phone, car, or product you are dying for.
I have not seen a five-year girl crying desperately for a husband. Such a girl cannot handle a husband. Do not act like a five-year girl desperately crying for a husband.
Your time will come when you reach the age of marriage.
I hope you got the analogy. There is time for everything. Spend money on things that will increase your revenue and income, not on things that will increase your expenses and liabilities. If you follow this truth, you will escape the trap of the poor and become stable in your finances.
2. Because you are ignorant
One reason people become poor is because of ignorance. Ignorance is a great limitation to man’s productivity. Ignorant people lack the knowledge to progress in life.
Another way of defining ignorant people is that they are ungodly and wicked in the heart. Failure to read relevant books can make you poor. This is one reason parents and guardians take their children to school.
School is not the only way to educate yourself. You can educate yourself in several ways. School is just a formal way of building yourself. School teaches you to read and write.
School can teach you discipline and human relationships. However, you can read in your chambers to grow in wisdom. You can teach yourself how to read and write if you are determined, focused, and disciplined.
We are now in the technology era. You can buy and read books on the internet (online). You can also download free books on the internet and read them in your chambers.
One thing you must know about the mind is that it controls most of our decisions.
Like a car engine, it controls almost every part of the vehicle. Like the human heart, it holds our lives.
The same applies to our minds. Anybody can deceive you if you are ignorant. If you are ignorant, you will not know what to do in life. When you don’t know what to do, you will become poor.
Poverty will dominate you if you don’t have relevant information about the system of money. It is time you eliminate the seed of ignorance. Find books that talk about money, finances, and entrepreneurship.
Search for relevant books that can educate you about money and finances. The more you read, it builds your capacity to become resourceful. Remember, ignorance opens the door for poverty to control you.
3. Because you are not using your talents, gifts, and potential.
You are not common because God did not create you to be ordinary. God has deposited numerous gifts in you. You have what it takes to become resourceful in life.
However, you become poor if you are ignorant of these gifts and potentials. Many people live in abject poverty because they have not discovered their purpose. Your gifts, talents, and potential are hidden in your purpose.
Check out my article on how to discover your purpose for more profound revelation. Failure to uncover and utilize your purpose can make you poor. Instead of using the gifts that God has deposited in you, you will be doing unnecessary things. Your gifts can produce money so search them out. You have something in you.
Can you sing?
Can you write?
Can you act?
Do you love talking?
Do you love the things of God?
Do you love making designs?
Do you love sports?
There is a seed (potential) in you that no one has experienced. Only God knows that seed. The devil has no hint about your gifts; he suspects it. Why are you wasting time on things you are not called to do? Until you discover your purpose and pursue it, you remain in the poverty state. What are you waiting for?
4. Because you are not learning new skills.
Aside from your gifts and talents, you can learn new skills because we serve a creative God. God created us in His image and likeness. Whatever God possesses, we possess.
Do you know that you can multiply the fruits of your farm by growing more seeds?
Learn new skills to become resourceful. Whatever you set your mind to accomplish, you can do it if you are determined.
If it is the will of God, you will do it without much struggle. You are poor because you are too lazy to learn new skills. Are you poor because you are not maximizing your potential?
Your potentials are untapped and unused gifts, skills, wisdom, and knowledge.
That is, things you can do but have not seen yet. If you can do it, there is nothing wrong with learning new skills to increase your value. If those skills you are trying to learn will not destroy your purpose, learn them.
If you can learn a new language, do it.
If you can learn the language of computer science (PHP, Html, hardware engineering, networking, software engineering, android studio, JavaScript, and other technological skills), do it.
If you can learn some new trade and business, do it.
What stops you from learning new things in life? Youtube has several helpful videos. You can learn any skill you desire online. If others have made it, you can also make it.
You are poor because you have failed to master your gifts. You are poor because you are fearful of learning new things. Don’t allow your age and lineage to limit you. Start learning something new because poverty hates knowledge. What are you waiting for?
5. Because you don't have a successful mentor (s).
A sheep without a shepherd lives at the mercy of wolves and wicked people. Have you ever thought about why we kill snakes? It is because they have no guide and protector.
Secondly, most snakes are dangerous and poisonous animals. No one knows it all except God Almighty. Every human being has a limitation. Whether financial, emotional, spiritual, social, or physical, we fall short in some aspects of our lives.
We need the help of others. The fact that you can help others does not mean no one can help you. Even God Almighty sometimes needs our help. How much do you have?
You are poor because you don’t have anyone guiding you in life. Whatever you are seeking and searching for, someone has it. Whatever path you are threading on, someone has already walked that path.
You need a mentor who has successfully passed the exam you are about to take.
You need people to guide you in the journey of life. I mean people who use the right channel to become successful in the path you are pursuing.
Unfortunately, if you don’t have any successful mentor (s) in life, you are likely to fail. You are poor because you are too proud to get a mentor. A mentor is a guide.
He teaches when to win and how to win.
A mentor teaches you why others fail so you will not repeat that mistake. A mentor uses real-life experiences, logic, and analogies to teach you the right way. A real mentor uses the principles of the Holy Scriptures to show you the way.
He uses his life experience to teach you the way to success. If you have no one leading you in life, you can become miserable and fail. Think through.
Do you have a mentor in life?
Do you have someone giving you resourceful advice in life?
Do you have time for the Holy Spirit?
Do you have time for God’s Word (Holy Bible)?
Get a guide in life because you are too limited to make it without a mentor (s). By the way, if you don’t know, the Holy Bible and the Holy Spirit are the perfect mentors in life.