Money is a subject many church leaders shy away from talking about.
This is because they are afraid that members might be offended. But without proper teaching on money, the members won’t have more and they can’t give bigger. This is the reason to teach the following 6 concepts to church members.
1. Money is a Concept
Money is not real. That is what many people teaching about money do not understand. Their emphasis is often on helping people manage their financial lives. And that is like making a tennis player focus on the scoreboard and not on what is happening on the court. The misconception is the thinking that people’s financial lives can be changed by altering their finances.
This is why you find trending ideas like saving and investing, gaining a lot of traction. This is not to say that those things are not important. In fact, they are very important and they both have their place. But if you want to change a person’s financial life significantly and permanently, you have to go deeper.
Humans are generally creatures of habit. Most people carry out more than 70% of their daily tasks unconsciously. They don’t have to think about it. They have created a program in their minds that knows what to do. This is why a person can be driving and be having a serious conversation. Of course, their eyes are on the road and they follow traffic rules. But their driving proficiency at that stage is on an unconscious confidence level.
So, when people are in a financial state, very little attention is paid to how they got there. And the trouble is that if they get out of their financial state into something better, the same things that created the previous state can still do it again. Also in the same way, when a person understands how to get rich, it doesn’t matter how many times that person goes broke, the person will always get back rich. The reason is that they understand how to get there.
Getting rich is not about what you do with money. Getting rich begins with who you think you are. And it goes on other things such as what you believe you can do better than anyone else in the world.
Money is not real. Money is a concept. Money is a tool. Having a lot of money is not about how you spend or manage your finances. Instead, it is about you.
2. The Monthly Income is a Frame
Looking at yourself from your income is a narrow way to view your financial life. There is no way to calculate what you could have made that you didn’t make. And this is why people don’t know how much their earning potential really is.
When the highest a person has earned in a month is $2K, it is difficult to get such a person going on an idea to earn $20K in a month. $20K is so farfetched they can’t even think of what to do with it. And so most people will just ignore and neglect that $20K opportunity. Their income has unconsciously become the frame with which they view the financial world.
The first thing to teach anyone about money is to cast off that frame. Money is just a number and a figure. To compare it to a value is even misguided. This is because the prices of products and services can vary just on who you are selling to. Take away the frame and open up yourself to possibilities.
3. Money Choices are Connected
One concept that works a lot in personal finance is consequence. The concept of consequence is a bit like karma. It means that there is a consequence for your every action. When it comes to money, you can’t eat your cake and have it. Let me explain.
You can choose the path you take but you cannot choose the destination. You cannot board a plane going to New York and decide to land in Sydney. Such decisions are impossible. But they are the very things people want to make today. You need to understand that the moment you board a plane going to New York, you will land in New York. You cannot decide where to land. You decided where to land when you got on the plane. This is what consequence means.
Every choice has a consequence. You can only make the choice, the consequence of that choice comes with it whether you like it or not. This means when you spend money on anything, there is a consequence attached to it that you have chosen whether you want it or not. The only way to change the consequences you experience is to change your choices.
For example, you take a long commute to work every weekday. And the rationale you give yourself every day is that you are saving money by living far away from the expensive neighborhood where you work. But what you are not considering is the loss of time, loss of productivity, and the association you are missing from living on the other side of town. The consequence of that is this: it is impossible to financially rise above your environment. You either go back down or you have now started to associate with a new environment.
Choosing your environment might not be a financial decision, but it is most definitely a decision that greatly affects your earning capacity.
4. Decisions Create Wealth
You don’t become wealthy by being smart about money. That is how to stay wealthy, not how to become wealthy. What good are investments if your income barely keeps up with your expenses?
It is hard to find a good investment for $2k. You would probably lose everything. Stop making a decision to make money from money. Start with a decision to create. The decision to create value is what starts you on your journey of wealth and affluence.
A decision without a deadline is still a wish. You either implement immediately or set a deadline. The purpose of setting a deadline is to get you serious. Once you make a decision to create something or get something done, even your body takes you seriously.
5. Get Mixed Up in the Rich Crowd
The first instruction to the poor person who wants to be rich is to change environments. Where you are financially is always a reflection of your environment. It is just like a famous business coach says, “show me your friends and I will show you your future”. There is no magic you can do concerning the management of money that can make you become what your environment is not supporting you to be.
Perception is reality. If people see you as a rich person, you will get the offers that rich people get. This is how things as simple as dressing get to affect the financial lives of people. But this is not to say that you should wear outfits you can’t afford to impress people. Don’t try to impress people. Impress yourself. Look like the crowd you want to be associated with. This is where real wealth begins.
6. Having Money is Not About Money
The choices that most affect your finances are not financial. This is the point I have been trying to make in this post. And people who teach about money make the mistake of focusing on some kind of financial management techniques. This is why people know so much and are still broke.
Having money is about how you have chosen to define yourself to the world around you. It is not about how to manage your income or how to get promoted at your job. Focus on what really matters and your earning capacity will grow.
Never forget that money is a concept. It is subject to many things. One of those things is your identity. The things that affect your finances the most have nothing to do with money.
Conclusion
Talking about money can be a taboo in a church. But talking about decisions and growth is definitely not a taboo. This is the best way to teach financial increase to a sensitive congregation.
