Poverty Is Not Your Birthright

Rev. Dr. G. K. Nwatu

TEXT: LUKE 4:14-21; 

18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. Luke 4:18

INTRODUCTION: A “birthright” is an inheritance gotten from one’s parent(s) through birth. Several things are inherited and inheritable; to some people, these include poverty.

Inheritance relates with something you can do little or nothing about. A family that has been wallowing in abject poverty for several generations may be seen as having poverty genes in their blood. The fact however is that Poverty may thrive as a result of foundation but not as an inheritance. Where a preceding generation did not lay a good foundation upon which the upcoming ones must stand to succeed, the cycle of poverty could continue in such a family.

Faulty foundations or cycles are however breakable, changeable and re-adjustable. One of the best places to begin in overcoming financial poverty is by working on your mind. This is because ‘poverty mentality’ is more difficult to overcome than financial poverty. The Scripture has shown us that as a man thinks in his heart, so is he (Prov. 23:7). A man, who believes, accepts and settles for a poverty-stricken life cannot get as much help as one that has resigned his fate to failure. The worst defeat is to be defeated before a fight.

Poverty may be the fact of the moment but not the conclusion of the matter. The conclusion of the matter is rather that:

1.     The poor can be rich; Christ became poor to make us rich— 2 Cor. 8:9

2.     Our conditions can be better because it is God’s desire and intention that we prosper—3 John 2

3.     We can become so wealthy in this life to the point of becoming lenders and cease from borrowing—Deut 28:12

4.     It is possible to eat what we want and not just what we see—eating to our satisfaction and not just to fill our tummy—Joel 2:26-27

We need to have a change of our mindset if we must overcome poverty. Even where we have been raised on a faulty foundation of “poverty-stricken cycle”, we can break such foundation and raise another. A new generation can begin with us!

Key Point: The fact of a matter is quite different from the conclusion of it. That you are poor today may be the fact, but definitely not the conclusion.