This article was inspired by the following comment from a young lady who found my write-up on “3 Main Reasons Why So Many Christians Are Not Rich” very useful. She said, “After reading the article, I realized that I have been so so so stupid with some of my financial decisions. I will never ever forget this write-up.” Her honesty is admirable!
So many Christians, like her, have a gross misunderstanding about the divinely established protocols for wealth creation. False teachings about methods of revenue generation by some pastors have left many in a miserable state of financial doldrums. Most greedy pastors cite giving as the fundamental key to financial prosperity. That is a blatant lie! There is no credible evidence in the Bible or in practical life experience that supports this contrived assertion. God wants you to prosper financially but you must understand the method by which He delivers on that promise. At TOPVINCENT.COM, we teach plain truth. No flattery. If you want to be smart and live smart, you must live by the truth.
Produce and Sell Something Valuable
The first step in God’s plan for your financial prosperity is fruitfulness. It is the foremost thing God requires of all humans. Check out the first thing God said to man: “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth” (Genesis 1:28). Everybody comes into the world already blessed to be fruitful. We do not earn the grace to be fruitful by paying money to a spiritual leader. Rather, when we put the blessing to use, we are required to show appreciation to God by supporting worthy causes.
The fundamental key to financial prosperity is therefore to engage in a productive business enterprise by either manufacturing or selling goods or services. Take note of the next thing God did after blessing and speaking the ability of fruitfulness into mankind. He put Adam in the garden of Eden to work. And he came in the cool of the day, after work, to fellowship with the first family. Stop paying money for people to lay hands on you, under the illusion of receiving blessing to be fruitful. Before you were born God wired the blessing of fruitfulness into you to succeed at whatever you do in the sea, in the air and on the land. You were blessed before you were born. The grace of fruitfulness is not for sale.
Consider the relationship between productivity and generosity in this text: “Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce. Then he will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with good wine” (Proverbs 3:9-10).
The text clearly shows what God primarily expects of all believers. You must have a production line. You must be a producer. You must be bearing some sort of fruit which you can sell in exchange for money. In the context of the text above, fruits of grain and wine are the mentioned products. So what are you producing? What services are you providing? If you are doing so, of what quality or financial value are your goods and services?
Do not expect financial prosperity if you are not involved in a productive venture that constantly offers goods or services or both in exchange for money. Pay attention to the text we are considering (Proverbs 3:9-10). What is the stated means by which God prospers one financially? He releases blessings upon the grain and the wine. What does that mean? God will bless your business or your production line. He has already blessed us to be fruitful. When we use that blessing and we honour him with our produce, he releases another blessing on what we do. “He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful” (John 15:2). Fruitfulness is so fundamental that the only time Jesus pronounced a curse was when he encountered an unfruitful fig tree (Matthew 21:18-22).
Now take note of the fact that the grain and the wine are products obtained through diligence. You therefore have some serious work to do. You must be smart at what you do. The text shows that God wants the best part of your produce so he is not expecting you to produce just anything. His blessing is released upon high grade, quality goods and services. Never forget that God has placed a demand on you to deliver the best of you in whatsoever you do.
While Proverbs 3:9-10 talks about honouring the Lord with our Substance, 1Corinthians 10:31 takes it further by requiring of us to do everything in honour to God: “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” Do not do anything halfway or anyhow. If you are not doing your work with all diligence, it is time to change. Wisdom plays a principal role in the whole process. Proverbs 8 talks about wisdom and in the 18th verse, we are told that riches and honour and enduring wealth are products of wisdom. Smart living is for smart people!
Now, back to the initial point. With all the preceding explanation, you may have realized that it is unwise and unbiblical to go and “sow” your capital as a seed in church or to your pastor or to the poor in anticipation of multiple returns on what you have given. That is not the method God uses to prosper His children. It will actually help the church or pastor or the poor if you manage your capital in a viable business that creates financial pool by which you can offer constant support in the advancement of the work of God and other useful causes.
In 1789, John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church preached an authentic sermon on “The Use of Money”. He focused on three main points: Gain all you can, save all you can and give all you can. We must not jump the gun. It is fruitfulness that is fundamental to financial prosperity, not giving.
Giving should be understood as the dutiful effect of fruitfulness and not the fundamental cause of it. Giving must follow and flow from a viable investment of the resources we have. Our generosity is commanded as a worshipful demonstration of gratitude to God for all He does for us and also as an expression of love to our neigbours. I want to state categorically that giving is not a supernatural jackpot! Again: Giving is not a supernatural jackpot!
Set up a production line to receive the blessings that come as a result of your genuine generosity. If you cannot manage a simple business entity, you are nowhere near the realm of financial prosperity. Your capacity to handle millions is not determined by giving an amount of offering. It is determined by your ability to manage resources prudently. “From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded” (Luke 12:48). If you are faithful in little, you are more likely to remain fruitful when you are entrusted with much.
Create Multiple Streams of Income
In Proverbs 3:9-10, we identified two products: grain and wine. They are indicators of two production lines – farming and the operation of a wine press – multiple streams of income. We all have Multiple Income Generating Potential. You can invest in the financial market. You can set up an online business. You can set up another income generating venture besides your primary stream of income. That is the way to go. There is a strong evidence for multiple streams of income in the Bible about almost all those who are said to have been prospered financially by God. Abram, Isaac, Job, and King Solomon are but few examples.
Some pastors like to put the spotlight on the tithe Abram paid and ascribe his financial prosperity to that. Really? That is another false teaching. Abram was very rich before he tithed to Melchizedek. And this is not to say that he attained the financial prosperity without the blessing of the Lord. It is to make an emphatic statement that his financial prosperity did not result from the tithe he paid. That is simple truth!
This is the record of Genesis 13:2, “And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver and in gold.” Abram had multiple streams of income. He reared animals and traded gold and silver. He was a great businessman who had production lines. He paid his tithe out of a bounty he got from a battle according to Genesis 14:20. His prosperity was a result of his diligence in business, which as I mentioned earlier attracts the blessing of God.
It is worth stressing that merely giving to a good cause does not bring abundance and prosperity. This must really sink in. If you want to disentangle yourself from financial stress, you must start taking steps to mind your own business through exchange of goods or services for money in the marketplace and also creating multiple income sources to fill your river of income. Please, you should have known by experience that those who tell you to give $1,000 for a million-dollar wealth transfer make a complete fool of you by taking advantage of the respect you have for them. If it were that automatic and simple, you should have been a billionaire by now. Wake up!!
You have a potential to do far more than what you may be doing now. You can do greater good with much resources than little. Let the best in you come forth. Be all you can be! Underperformance attracts curses, not blessings, so arise and shine! Follow the correct model of God for prosperity.
Life is to be lived for oneself and for others. Your significance lies in the blessing you become to others. But how can you help others if you are struggling? How can you be a blessing to your family, church, pastor, friends and the poor if you do not generate enough income? What more can you do besides your primary stream of income?
Smart living is for smart people! May the Lord give you the grace to start with the first initial steps and then amplify them to produce massive results.
Watch out for Part 2 of this article at TOPVINCENT.COM
READ ALSO: Why Instant Gratification is the ‘Greatest’ Killer of Becoming Rich
Great article. I like the point about being productive. It’s such a word in time. We seem to like shortcut in life. We don’t understand the principle of hard work. We sought of truth to turn God into a magician who doubles money so we go to church and give and go home waiting for the money we gave to be doubled. We simply have lost the meaning of giving. God bless you Rev. You have indeed placed us in your debt.
Thank you for joining the Smart Living Family. You have just nailed the point: God is not a magician who doubles the money we give in church to us in a mysterious way. Let us keep sharing the truth to help those who have fallen for such deceitful orientations.
I believe the article is spot on. We have replaced practical thinking with wishful thinking. I happen to have listened to a teaching termed ‘work is divine’ . At first, I laughed at the title but as I went on it made sense. In fact, most of the points raised in the article were addressed by the teaching.
It’s quite sad that we have misplaced the value of work. I’ve been a culprit before but not anymore.
Christians should realise that the most practical book is the Bible.
Above all else I think it is a great article. One new thing I took was the multiple streams of income. Until today, I never paid attention to the Bible’s views on income generation. I know of it, want to practice it but never looked at it from the biblical standpoint.
Ms. Selby,
I am glad you found this article useful. I want you to actualize the content by putting whatever you have learned here into action so that you come back with a big testimony. You certainly part of the Smart Living family. See you at the top!