By Denise Webster
For most of my life I have had some terrible misconceptions about money. I believed that those who had money had either inherited it or got it dishonestly. I thought that if someone had a lot of money, then there wouldn’t be enough for me. There had to be rich and there had to be poor, so if I wasn’t one of the rich, then what was I? Poor.
Really it was a poor mentality. All my needs were provided for as a child, but I remember so many days of my mother worrying about someone going to call and shut off our power or our phone. I wanted more money, but I didn’t want to be one of THOSE people. Besides that, I had read the scriptures-it would be harder for the rich man to go through the eye of the needle than to get into Heaven. That must mean that it was going to be hard for rich people to get into Heaven.
If that were the case, I chose Heaven. Which meant, once again, that I had to be poor. So how did I change that way of thinking? How did I go from a poor mentality to one of wealth and abundance? It all began with a seminar I went to with my husband where I learned some great concepts about money.
What I learned then and have continued to learn is that money is not evil. It is the LOVE of money that is. I learned the difference between scarcity and abundance. I spent my whole life thinking in scarcity, believing that there was just not enough to go around. In truth, God is abundant and He has created everything on this earth that continues to reproduce itself and create abundance.
If you imagine a pie with a slice coming out-you are picturing scarcity thinking. There is only one pie and if everyone takes a piece, there is only so much for me. But if you imagine a pie, then draw a ring around the outside of the pie making it a bigger pie, then you cut a slice, you have just learned abundance. What that means is that as you add to the pie-giving, working, creating-then you have made the pie bigger, so when you take a slice out, you have left more for others.
Gaining this new insight and understanding in how I was thinking about money, I began to change my mind set and to focus more on the abundance around me. I then began to understand the flow of money.
Another name for money is currency. Currency=current. That denotes FLOW. Money should flow like the current-in and out of our lives, just like water. Think about water for a minute. Water is the source of life. We need it to survive and thrive. Sometimes water is like a raging river, sometimes it is a slow trickle. As long as it is moving , there is life.
A little reservoir of water is good to have as long as you keep a flow. To dam water up and stop the flow will cause the water to become stagnant and toxic. Flowing water sustains our life. As water flows down its path, it brings life to all it touches. Everything that the water touches grows and creates beauty. If water is dipped from the stagnant pond and used, it creates the opposite of the fresh water-life will stop. Flowing water can also purify, cleanse, and nourish. Water comes from God. All water is His. It doesn’t really belong to anyone. We all can have water. More water is constantly being created.
Now take the concepts of water mentioned above and think about money. Money is a source of life. We need it to survive and thrive. Some people have large amounts like raging waters, some have a mere trickle. As long as it is moving, there is life. Having a little reservoir of money is good as long as you keep it flowing. If you dam your money up or horde it and keep it all to yourself, it becomes stagnant and can become toxic to you. Some people get their self esteem by how much money they have accumulated, but for what? What will they do with it? What good is a store of money when you die?
Flowing money sustains life. As money flows out of your life and into another’s path, it brings life to them-to all it touches. Everywhere your money goes, it creates beauty and growth. The proper flow of money can purify, cleanse, and nourish others, meaning that money given with a pure heart, given for the right reasons creates value and good in the world. Money given with the wrong intentions is like dipping from a pool of stagnant toxic water. All money ultimately comes from God. It is all His. It really doesn’t belong to any of us. He has provided it for us to do good with. He expects us to be good stewards over what He has given us. We can all have money. More money is constantly being created and moved around in the world.
This concept of the flow of money has changed my life in regards to my thoughts of money. As I read in the scriptures about being a good steward, I realized that God expects me to be a good steward over what He has given me. He expects me to take good care of all I have and to share with others-to feed the hungry, clothe the naked.
In the parable of the talents, I began to understand that God has given us each talents (money). He expects us to increase what we have been given and then return it to Him for an accounting. He wants us to be successful. He expects us to be successful. How else can we do His work if we are poor? How can we clothe and feed if we have none ourselves.
When He talks of laying up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, He means that we should place as priority our families, our friends, and all the good we can do in the world as our treasures. Moth and rust corrupt money and things. Those are not the real treasures. Neither is money. Money is simply the current, the flow that keeps life moving. As long as it flows into your life, then out so it can bless others, you will find true success and happiness.
In the story, Illusions, by Richard Bach, he tells of a village of creatures that live along the bottom of a great crystal river. The current of water swept over all the people-young, old, rich, poor, good, and evil. Each creature clung tightly to the twigs and rocks on the river bottom. It was their way of life to cling tightly and resist the current. Finally one creature, bored from clinging, decided it was tired of clinging and let go trusting the current to know where it was going. All of the other creatures laughed and said it was a fool for letting go and that it would get hurt. But the one didn’t pay attention to them and let go anyway. It did get tumbled and bruised by the rocks, but as it refused to cling, the current lifted it free from the bottom. It was bruised and hurt no more.
“And the creatures downstream, to whom he was a stranger, cried: ‘See a miracle! A creature like ourselves, yet he flies!'”
As we allow ourselves to quit clinging so tightly to our money and our “things,” we will find that we can flow free. We can let go and let God carry us in the current, blessing our lives and the lives of others.
I have learned to give money joyfully. If paying a bill, I am grateful for the power and water I use. When buying groceries, I am grateful to put money into the economy and to have food to eat. When buying gas, I am grateful that I can pay $4 (or whatever the amount) so I don’t have to walk the 20 miles that the $4 will take me. Each time I purchase something I think now that I am putting money into the economy and helping another family earn an income. With my husband in the construction industry, we have felt the pangs of the economy.
I realized several months ago that there was just no cash flow. There is money out there, but fear is causing people to hold onto their money. We need flow. Now each time I purchase something, I feel so good knowing I am creating flow. As I give, I know that it will come back to me. That is what currency and flow are all about.
I am so grateful for the abundance that flows into my life, so I can use it to bless myself and others. That is the real secret to success and prosperity.
For more on this topic, click here to read Hidden Treasures: Heaven’s Astonishing Help with Your Money Matters FREE.
- The Flow of Money – Are You in the Current? - August 22, 2008
- The Ease of Success - July 29, 2008
- Getting the Best Out of Life with the Law of Cause and Effect - July 23, 2008
