Why Can One Love God, Serve Him and Still Be Poor?

Why Can We Love God, Serve Him and Still Be Poor?

God's Thinking on Money and Wealth

Let's start with a sad but real observation before getting to the heart of the matter.

As Dr. Raoul Wafo reminded us in the opening remarks of his message today, poverty is one of the most important subjects in life and in the Bible. Yet we have to admit that the Church has remained far too silent, and complicit in the works of Satan in this area, through its hypocritical attitude on such a central subject.

So why can we love God, serve Him, and still be poor?

The Origin: The Fall of Man

The whole history of humanity goes back to the fall of Man, the human being, through Adam's sin in the garden of Eden long ago. That sin brought death in the broadest sense.

At this stage, it is essential to make clear that death here includes not only spiritual and physical death, but also death in the different areas of our lives. The areas where death is visible vary from one person to another. It may be health, finances, career, mental and psychological well-being, and many others.

"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin…" (Romans 5:12, KJV)

"For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ." (Romans 5:17, KJV)

Death entered through the fault of one Man, and salvation also came through one Man.

God's Original Thinking on Wealth

God's thinking has never been a thinking of poverty, as we saw today.

Sadly, many preachers continue to teach false doctrines claiming that you cannot be rich while fearing or serving God. These doctrines work hard to plant a completely mistaken premise in people's minds: to truly love God and walk in His ways, you would have to be poor, a condition presented as necessary to protect your heart from the corruption of the soul.

Here are a few powerful statements that sum up the truth:

"God hates poverty but He loves the poor!"

— Dr. Raoul Wafo

"It is not possible to live like royalty in poverty."

— Dr. Raoul Wafo

"Wealth is from God and poverty is from the devil."

— Dr. Raoul Wafo

"Being poor as a child of God is a falsification of the Truth."

— Dr. Raoul Wafo

"As long as you are still in poverty, you are still in captivity."

— Dr. Raoul Wafo

"A poor person is not free!"

— Dr. Raoul Wafo

What Is Wealth, Really?

Wealth is the state of a person, an organization, or a society that has sufficient resources and means to meet its needs, fulfill its aspirations, face the unexpected, and create value.

But wealth is not limited to money or material possessions.

The 7 Dimensions of Wealth

Financial wealth: having money, income, savings, investments, and assets.
Intellectual wealth: having knowledge, developing your intelligence and your capacity for reflection.
Spiritual wealth: having a deep spiritual life, convictions, and a relationship with God.
Relational wealth: being surrounded by healthy, sincere, and constructive relationships.
Physical wealth: enjoying good health and having the energy to live life to the fullest.
Time wealth: having enough time and freedom to choose how you live.
Experiential wealth: having the opportunity to travel, discover, learn, and live enriching experiences.

An Important Distinction

Being rich: owning significant resources and assets.
Being prosperous: experiencing favorable and lasting progress in the different areas of your life.
Being financially independent: having enough resources to support yourself without necessarily depending on a job or on someone else.
Being inwardly rich: possessing an abundance of values, wisdom, peace, and personal fulfillment.

A Deeper Definition

Wealth is the ability to have the resources needed to live with dignity, choose freely, contribute positively to the lives of others, and pass on something of value to future generations.

Ultimately, wealth is measured not only by what we own, but also by what we can do, what we bring, and what we pass on.

How Does Poverty Show Up?

Here are 10 signs that the demon of poverty is at work:

A scarcity mindset
Fear of taking initiative or starting something
Inability to multiply what you have
A dependency mindset
Rejection of excellence
Poor management of your finances and your assets
Jealousy toward those who succeed
Resignation to your condition, or a lack of faith for a glorious future
Greed
Disobedience to prophetic instructions

An important clarification: not all of these signs apply to every person living in poverty. Many endure it because of circumstances they did not choose: injustice, illness, economic conditions, family background. Poverty is therefore not always a sign of a lack of faith, and no one should be judged or condemned for it. Our goal is not to condemn, but to set free.

How Do We Get Out?

1. The Mind

Everything starts in the mind. A scarcity mindset is the first sign on the list, and that is no accident: you cannot get out of poverty while you carry it in your thoughts. The Word tells us that a man becomes what he thinks in his heart (Proverbs 23:7). We must therefore renew our minds (Romans 12:2) and replace scarcity thinking with God's thinking on wealth, the one we have just seen.

2. The Spirit of Excellence

Rejecting excellence is one of the signs of the spirit of poverty. The spirit of poverty always leads you to do things halfway. God, on the other hand, calls us to excellence: "Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings" (Proverbs 22:29, KJV).

"Excellence calls for wealth!"

— Dr. Raoul Wafo

"Every time you are not excellent, you demonstrate that the spirit of poverty holds you in captivity."

— Dr. Raoul Wafo

3. Listen to Divine Instructions and Carry Them Out

This is the most decisive key, and the tenth sign on the list reminds us of it: disobedience to prophetic instructions. God speaks. He gives directions, strategies, and precise instructions. But hearing is not enough: we must carry them out.

Look at Solomon at Gibeon (1 Kings 3:4-10). He comes before God with humility and asks for wisdom to lead the people well. God is pleased with his request and gives him, in addition to wisdom, what he had not asked for: riches and glory (1 Kings 3:11-13).

Let's be clear: fasting and prayer, though indispensable, are not enough in this fight against the spirit of poverty. You can fast, pray at length, and remain in captivity if you do not carry out what God has already said. Fasting and prayer make us sensitive to His voice. Obedience turns the word received into a lived reality.

Conclusion

So why can we love God, serve Him, and still be poor? Because the death that entered through Adam touched every area of our lives, including finances. Because false doctrines made people believe that poverty was a virtue. Because mindsets of scarcity, dependency, or resignation settled in without being fought. And because God's instructions are sometimes heard without being carried out.

But if you are going through hardship today, do not be discouraged. Not all of us come from privileged backgrounds. Some were born without an inheritance, without a network, without any model of success around them. Yet your starting point is not your destiny. God can change a story in a very short time, and history is full of precedents:

Joseph, forgotten in prison, is called in haste from the dungeon and placed at the head of Egypt (Genesis 41:14, 39-41).
David, the youngest of his family, was still tending sheep when he was called to become king (1 Samuel 16:11-13).
Ruth, a foreign widow gleaning behind the harvesters, became the ancestor of David and appears in the lineage of Jesus (Ruth 2; Matthew 1:5).

One Man opened the door of death, and another Man, Jesus Christ, opened the door of life, grace, and reigning. God hates poverty, but He loves the poor, and He wants to see you free. Your story is not over. In reality, it is only just beginning…

But beware of false shortcuts: the devil gives nothing, for the simple and good reason that he is a liar (John 8:44). Any apparent wealth he might give you is in reality only a lure. You can be sure and certain that he will take back everything he supposedly gave you, with interest, and in the most violent way… Jesus said it: the thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy, while He came so that we may have life in abundance (John 10:10).

The first step in this match against poverty is therefore to make a covenant with Jesus Christ, because under the sun, nothing is done without a covenant. We live in a totally spiritual world.

A question to move forward: what instruction has God already given you that you have not yet carried out? Perhaps that is precisely where your next way out is hiding.