We are not money poor, we are spiritually poor

We are not money poor, we are spiritually poor May 3, 2008

Posted by BDO in Spiritual.
Tags: Debt, global, list, money, poor, rich, spiritually
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Recently, I found this website that calculates how rich you are in comparison to the rest of the world. It was breathtaking to grasp how rich I am in comparison to the world’s average annual income. Try it out below.

I also plugged in “America’s poverty rate” of $16,000 a year. At that rate, the poorest American is still richer than 87% of the entire world’s population. I am having a hard time comprehending that kind of poverty.

In 2008, America is “struggling” with slower growth in the economy, but how many Americans are struggling with making $5,000 a year like the average world citizen? Our American trials of having to afford only two cars in the driveway pales in comparison to the struggles of most people around the world.

This brings me to the conclusion that America is not money poor. When an American says “We want to beat debt,” this statement is usually a result of financial irresponsibility, not financial poverty. We lack the spiritual strength to make choices based on how God advises us to spend our money. Instead, we decide on how we want to spend our money and then find ourselves wondering how we got so deeply indebted. Americans have a certain “standard of living” that is much higher than the average American can afford, let alone the average world citizen can afford. This “standard of living” is not spiritually correct.

God has blessed America with wealth, but just as the rich, young ruler described in the Bible turned from Jesus (Matt 19:16-24), America is too spiritually poor to make the right financial decisions.

To truly start on the journey of beating debt down, we must understand we are spiritually poor and have made a lot of selfish decisions with our money. Once we give control of our finances back the Lord, we will gain an understanding of how much money we truly have and be able to make spiritually sound financial decisions to beat debt.

How rich are you in comparison to the rest of the world?

With this knowledge, how do you view your debt?

If you found that your are rich, please consider giving to those less fortunate by going to Generous Giving.