Does your God want you to be poor?

We have all grown up with ingrained ideas about money and our relationship to it. Much of this is a product of the religious or spiritual traditions we were exposed to as children. Unfortunately a lot of this is based more on economic and political agendas, which were woven into the foundations of our spiritual traditions in order to render the masses subservient to the will of their earthly rulers. As a consequence our thoughts about money have been skewed and do not serve us well.

Traditional Christian philosophies have interpreted Jesus Christ’s teachings about money to mean that it is honourable to suffer and poverty is a sure way to earn your pass to eternity with God in heaven. Other Christian beliefs have pushed the notion of predetermination and as such your position in life is predetermined by God, so there isn't anything you can do about it. Indeed the godlike thing to do is accept your lot, bear your cross and wait for your reward in heaven.

How you see God's involvement in the distribution of wealth will have a profound impact on your relationship with money and your ability to attract wealth and abundance into your life. Many people who have a poor or even disastrous relationship with money have unconscious beliefs about how God sees money and as a result how God sees them; even if as adults they wouldn't claim to have any religious leanings. Our subconscious mind hears and sees all; it is always vigilant, always taking in information. Furthermore it never forgets. Even if you are not consciously aware of holding any "spiritual" or religious beliefs about money, the dual nature of our consciousness means your beliefs are being affected by deeply held thoughts and ideas.

Therefore even if you are not “religious" as such, it helps to ask yourself who or what is God to you? When you hear the word God what image does it conjure in your mind. And if you were to juxtapose the words money and God how does doing this make you feel?

When I trained as an Interfaith Minister, I had to look at what my idea of God was and what my beliefs told me I should do in relation to how I treated others. This meant examining my beliefs about the distribution of resources in relation to others people. That is, was it wrong to be wealthy if others had nothing? Was not having money more spiritual than having money? Etc. I came to the conclusion that "God" did not want me to be poor. Rather it was better for me to be successful, openhearted and generous than poor and resentful.

History has demonstrated that the only benefit of being poor accrues to organised religion and "political leaders" (for that also read big business). In our culture being poor deprives you of opportunities to grow both materially and "spiritually". That is not to say that everybody who is poor materially is also poor spiritually, however it is difficult to move away from a lack mentality, which is spiritual poverty, if you are constantly bombarded with messages that tell you that money is "evil".

So who or what is "God" to you?

Has your concept of "God" empowered you or held you back in terms of your relationship with money and your ability to create a life of wealth and abundance?