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How to Defeat the 3 Foes of Financial Success

How to Defeat the 3 Foes of Financial Success

finances Aug 16, 2022

If you are breathing, you will need to know how to defeat the 3 foes of financial success. These foes do not discriminate. They are lurking out there and are waiting for an encounter with you!

I get to help people overcome financial woes on a weekly basis helping them to avoid financial mishaps that I personally went through.

Living your money life on purpose is a great feeling. However, In this life, anything that we choose to do with excellence (like effective money management) will be met by opposition. It’s called “The Resistance."

You don't have to fall prey to these foes, but you do need to know they're out there and their waiting to devour you and your family. 

But you can overcome the foes. This post will help you defeat the foes and live a life on purpose using your money as a tool that it is to do so.


Yes, sign me up for high-interest debt!

I was at a Best Buy in the Easton Shopping Plaza in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio. My paperwork was completed, I was waiting in line for the clerk to call me up to the desk. Being nervous, I began to perspire. As I think about it now, I might have been praying.

As I saw it then, my future was in the hands of the credit-issuing bank. I was in line to get another credit card because I wanted some stuff. I had a tough week at work and I was sure that acquiring things would solve my problems.
 Over the years, I believed that having stuff brought happiness. I didn’t grow up knowing that my time, talent and treasure was given to me and that I had the responsibility to manage it. I thought I was the owner.

Entitlement shaped my character. I tried to avoid any responsibility that came with the time, talent and money given to me.

No one taught me about money. I was clueless about who gave it to me and didn’t realize how important it was or how it worked. I had an ignorant, broke and fearful mentality. My journey took me inward and outward searching for success, but never upward….never to God.

In retrospect, I did experience the good and bad consequences that resulted in how I managed them but I didn’t have a context as to why. If I would have known how much God loved me as His unique creation. Maybe I would not have tried to please myself or attempted to impress others with all the stuff I bought.

Spiritually deficient and money poor

To me, I didn’t need God if I could build my kingdom.

My definition of success meant acquiring stuff through the path of least resistance. Like my Lead Pastor, Craig Altman mentions in our church introduction class — I had a desire to be the boss.

  • Have you been clueless about how money works?
  • Have you had a broke mentality?
  • Are you asking yourself about a better way to live?

In America and around the world, you are not alone.

70-80% of Americans today live paycheck-to-paycheck. That means they are just getting by bringing in enough income to cover the expenses.

You might be saying to yourself,

  • “Well, a man can only earn so much money…
  • I simply don’t get paid enough…
  • or (enter your excuse here)!”

I assure you that it’s not about the amount you earn or don’t earn. Did you know that 80% of those earning high incomes and living in luxury neighborhoods are living paycheck-to-paycheck too?

The problem is not money.

It’s how we understand it and how we manage it.

In my financial freedom workshops, I show a video called, “The Customer is King” from RIghtNow Media. It illustrates the reality of what we are conditioned to believe about ourselves and the demanding attitude that “consumerism” permeates.

Consumerism can be crippling. Just ask the 70-80% living paycheck-to-paycheck. I have mentored hundreds of people over the years. Many of them are searching for success through the wrong things.

Their beliefs, attitudes, and actions prove they’re searching inward and outward for meaning, just as I did. Like a small child in the dark, they become overwhelmed by fear, just like I was.

People can become fearful of not having enough. Fearful of where the shelter, food, and clothing will come from for their family. They can be afraid of the mountain that lies before them as they climb their way out of debt.

The Comparison Game

You and I have both played it.

We compare with others the:

  • clothes we wear
  • cars we drive
  • homes we take residence in
  • restaurants we frequent
  • smartphone we use
  • location of our football seats
  • social circles
  • charity events we attend (yep!)

The comparison game can be a driving force in our life. I get wrapped up in it also and I teach this stuff. It’s not how the Creator of the universe wants you or me to live. These issues are usually based on fear. This fear-based outlook can distort the picture of how God views money.

So, let’s expose fear for what it really is…False Evidence Appearing Real

The 3 Foes of Financial Success

  1. The World
    There are false prosperity prophets, mixed messages and we are the most marketed to the nation in the world. We wrestle with constant comparison!
  2. Our Flesh
    A feed me mentality. America … Once a land of high production, we are now a land of consumption and it is just how the flesh likes it. I want it NOW! We desire constant stimulation!
  3. Our Common Enemy
    It’s Satan. He attacks us with weapons of mass distraction. This angel of light, the accuser of the brethren, the tempter, the great liar can blow up our homefront. We experience constant attacks!

You Can Defeat these Foes

You and I can win the battle against fear.

Go to the Holy Bible and read all of the Book of 1 John 4. Pay close attention to verse 18.

‘There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”

God loves us perfectly right where we are today. Because God loves us, fear is cast out. The love we receive when we accept Jesus Christ into our life as Savior and Lord lead us to victory against the world, our flesh, and our common enemy.

Gone is the old way of believing FALSE EVIDENCE (APPEARING REAL). We can be and will be FEARLESS in managing God’s money. You have no reason to fear regardless of the bank statement, investments, address, cars or clothes. With Jesus’ victory through the cross and His resurrection at Easter, we are fearless!

Real Financial Success

Life is more peaceful relying on provision through God, not through finances. When I accepted Jesus Christ into my heart and believed in Him for salvation my life forever changed.

I learned that what my time, talent and treasure have comes from Him and not myself.

If I am to work, it is God that allows it. If I am to earn a certain outcome, it is God who provides it.

My status in life is not determined by my stuff, it is determined by the one who made me with and for a purpose. My self-worth comes from Him.

Let’s be fearless, together, in Jesus Christ!

Your Turn

Ask yourself these 3 questions:

  • In what ways will I develop my faith to be fearless?
  • In what ways will I trust God with my finances?
  • What next step am I going to take today to become fearless in my finances?

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