Is Poverty a Crime, a Condition or a Choice?

Is Poverty a Crime, a Condition or a Choice?

As a man thinketh in his heart so he is. Some people are always eager to blame others for their condition instead of rising up and face the challenge life has thrown at them. This set of people always have problems of time management, financial management and misplaced priority.

God has placed both prosperity and poverty before us to choose. You lifestyle is your choice. Poverty is a choice. If someone gets sick which throws the family into poverty, they could succumb and die. Or decide to fight the illness and to remain alive thus choosing the financial situation that decision has put them in. As dark as it may sound they could have forgone the impoverishment by dying or remaining ill.

In other cases, people lack the mental strength, self discipline, self-motivation, intelligence, or foresight to see a problem and fix it, or plan ahead. Therefore they remain financially less than to those whose priority it is to have good finances. Due to the fact that some lack the mentality and foresight to reach new heights, they are also of character that does not take responsibility for their own actions. Blaming everything and everyone but themselves for their own problems without regard to the fact that the problems are solely their own. And if you look closely these people would probably take credit for someone else's hard work if they thought they could get away with it.

The only people it may not be a choice for is the mentally ill.

I know you might be asking the obvious "Do you think people wake up thinking that they want to fail? Do you think kids choose to be poor?" Is by far the worst question I've been asked this week. I have never felt so inhuman before in my life.

While there are always exceptions to the rule, most people don't want to live their lives in poverty. Just as some people are born into money, others are born into poverty and grow up with a lack of skills to help themselves out of it. Other people fall into poverty through life circumstances that could not have been foreseen.

I know someone didn't choose to spend the first 3 years of their life in a tiny one bed flat, not getting new clothes till you were 4 years old. Its circumstance not a decision... And Because of this you work hard at school so that you’re never in that position again.

A person or a family may not have chosen to be living in poverty but they definitely have made a mental decision to accept their situation and have chosen to stay there, so if you want you can leave poverty .It's still a choice you made to live your life in poverty.

I realize that some of you may feel this is controversial, but give it some thought. You have control of yourself and you are not a victim. People who are rich, work hard. People who are poor generally make poor choices. It starts very young with education, role models and goals. Most rich people did not start out that way.  They made a choice and you can too.

The level or volume of success is different for everyone, but necessary for everyone.

A person or family may not have chosen to be living in poverty but they definitely have made a mental decision to accept their situation and have chosen to stay there.  They may not even mentally ‘know’ they’ve chosen the lifestyle . . . but it all hinges on choices we make.  Included in that is the decision to not change where we’re at. A decision not to change is a decision to remain the same.

Deuteronomy 15:4-5 in the Message Bible says:

“There must be no poor people among you because God is going to bless you lavishly in this land that God, your God, is giving you as an inheritance, your very own land. But only if you listen obediently to the Voice of God, your God, diligently observing every commandment that I command you today. Oh yes—God, your God, will bless you just as he promised.”

This verse doesn’t say that God is going to bless some people.

It doesn’t say God is going to bless those who live on the right side of the tracks or in the right country or have a certain color of skin.

The scripture does say that we must diligently follow His commandments. His instructions but let me tell you this, there are unsaved successful people who follow biblical principles, they just don’t realize they came from the Bible.

First, let’s deal with the fact that if God commanded us to be poor… we would obey. But God’s Word does not advocate poverty for anyone!

Too many Christians are operating in a poverty mentality while the "devil’s crowd" lives the best life possible.

Ephesians 1:18 says:

“The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints."

The Greek word translated riches in this verse is ploutos. It is a form of a base word meaning to “fill.” Its literal meaning is “money, possessions.”

Even figuratively it refers to “abundance, riches, valuable bestowment.”

Our inheritance as sons and daughters of the King of all kings is a life free from want and poverty. Read carefully what the Scripture says. Our inheritance is “. . . the riches of the glory of his [God’s] inheritance.” Yet, most Christians are settling for the used shells while the world eats the peanuts.

Poverty is not godly and it certainly isn’t biblical. God wants us to open our eyes to see the invisible world—to see the blessings He has in store for all those who love Him.

2 Peter 1:3 says:

“According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.”

Does cars pertain to life? Do shoes pertain to life? Does food pertain to life? Yes! Your Heavenly Father knows you have need of many material things. It is no surprise to God that your car needs tires. It is no surprise to God that you need a coat when the temperature is cold. God intends for you to have all your needs supplied according to His riches in glory. In some Christian circles, poverty may be popular, but it is not a Bible-founded principle. Poverty goes against everything the Bible teaches and finds its roots, causes, and effects in its author, satan. There is nothing sacred, holy, or happy about being poor.

Let me also point out that poverty will never make you happy nor for that matter neither will prosperity. Rich people commit suicide, take drugs, get drunk, and get divorces and so do poor people. Happiness has very little to do with the presence or absence of material things, but unhappiness can come from a lack of certain material necessities, such as food, clothing and housing.

Happiness has to do primarily with the inner man. If you aren’t happy on the inside, neither wealth nor poverty will make you happy. You see, neither money nor the lack of it will change your inner man. Being poor does not make you holy or happy. If you are prosperous and have a Christ-controlled inner man, the Spirit of Christ within you will influence the way you spend your wealth. You will meet your own basic needs and wants. You will be happy because you will be accomplishing God’s purpose with your money.

Now let’s go a little further.

What does it mean to be poor?

Is a person poor if they’re unable to pay their bills?  Think twice before answering. Because the answer is; “no.”  I hear from large numbers of people every day. . .many of whom can’t pay their bills yet they have a six-figure income!  That’s definitely not being poor but it is being broke.

How do we define “poor” in our contemporary society? Does living on the wrong side of the tracks make you poor? Does having your house in foreclosure make you poor? Does losing your job make you poor? Does being an inmate make you poor? Does being homeless make you poor? Does living in a bad neighborhood make you poor? Does driving an old, beat-up car make your poor?

One of the most dangerous things that can happen to a person is developing a poverty mentality.

James 1:17 says every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father.  It also adds that He never changes His mind on wanting to see you blessed. Sadly, the devil has stolen finances from many of the saints by convincing them that poverty is godly, and prosperity is evil.  Not according to God! His lies have kept many Christians crippled, ineffective, and impotent long enough! The devil has stolen the quality of life God intends for all His saints as much as he can.

Establish this principle clearly in your mind. God wants you to be prosperous, and the devil wants you to be poor. It is time we expose the devil for the father of lies that he is (John 8:44). It was Satan’s lies about money that were evil! It is time to serve notice on the devil! He has deceived long enough. For too long he has “ripped off” our possessions and indiscriminately robbed the saints of God, literally diminishing our quality of life.

It’s important for you to understand that poverty will not keep you out of heaven but it might keep somebody else out!  It’s also important to understand that poverty happens inside you before it ever happens around you. Prosperity is a mental attitude before it can become a material state. Poverty first manifests in the spirit and then the natural. And yes, there is something worse than being poor . . .it’s having a poverty mentality. It is time to take a stand.  But first we need to have a scriptural understanding of why poverty is evil. In fact, I’m going to share with you twelve things you should know about poverty based on the Word of God.

1. Poverty will bring destruction into your life.

Proverbs 10:15 in the New Living Translation says: “The wealth of the rich is their fortress; the poverty of the poor is their destruction.”

2. Refusing to learn will also bring poverty into your life.

Proverbs 13:18says: “Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction: but he that regardeth reproof shall be honoured.”

3.  Failing to address criticism will lead you into poverty.

Proverbs 13:18 in the New Living Translation says: “If you ignore criticism, you will end in poverty and disgrace; if you accept correction, you will be honored.”

4. Failure to work will keep you in poverty.
Proverbs 14:23 in the New Living Translation says: “Work brings profit, but mere talk leads to poverty!”

5.Sleeping too much leads to poverty. Proverbs 20:13in the New Living Translation says: “If you love sleep, you will end in poverty. Keep your eyes open, and there will be plenty to eat!”   

6. Poverty will limit your circle of friends. Proverbs 19:4in the New Living Translation says: “Wealth makes many “friends;” poverty drives them all away.”

7.  Get rich-quick schemes can lead to poverty. Proverbs 21:5in the New Living Translation says: “Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.”   

By the way, Proverbs 21:5 the only verse in the only version of the Bible where poverty and prosperity appear in the same verse.

8. Fantasizing about wealth only leads to poverty. Proverbs 28:19in the New Living Translation says: “A hard worker has plenty of food, but a person who chases fantasies ends up in poverty.”

9. Poverty will keep you from the good life. Job 21:25 in the New Living Translation says: “Another person dies in bitter poverty, never having tasted the good life.”

10. Failing to display a generous heart will lead you to poverty. Proverbs 28:27 in the New Living Translation says: “Whoever gives to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to poverty will be cursed.”

11.  Failure to give will lead to poverty. Proverbs 11:24in the King James Version says: “There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.”

Prosperity is a part of our heavenly heritage. It comes with being a child of the King! You have the ability to take back what the devil has stolen. You can claim a significant portion of the riches of this world and use them to finance the final, end-time harvest before the return of Jesus!

Luke 10:19 says:

“Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” God has given us power over the enemy, and by now you know that poverty is clearly one of the tools the enemy has used to keep us weak and ineffective for the Kingdom. But we have the power to overcome poverty. It is part of our prosperity heritage as sons and daughters of the Most High God.

 Your Heavenly Father wants you to abound in all good things.

And that’s a fact….