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Passing on the Principles

Teaching your children and grandchildren how to handle their finances is one of the greatest challenges parents and grandparents face.

As Indira Patro, founder of Total Success Ministries says, you can go all the way through school, earn your bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees, and yet nowhere along the way will you be required to learn anything about how to handle your personal finances.

This is ironic, because lack of financial management skills is one of the greatest stumbling blocks young people can face.

Seeing as children are not learning about this sort of thing in school, the responsibility for teaching financial responsibility falls naturally onto parents and grandparents. However, many parents are struggling with this issue themselves and feel ill equipped to instruct their children. If you find yourself in this category, Indira offers several key financial principles you can teach to your children as well as some tips on how to do this effectively. These principles are not exhaustive, but they will give you, your children, and your grandchildren a firm foundation upon which to start building a life of financial, spiritual and emotional prosperity.

Seven Prosperity Principles

1. We are no Longer Under a Curse but Grace
Galatians 3:13 says:

“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.”

What was the nature of that curse? Poverty, sickness and the second death (hell). While this Scripture is true, Indira says far too many believers are still living as if Christ’s sacrifice never happened. They have bought into lies that tell them that poverty, not prosperity, is the norm. The first step toward prosperity of any kind is to cleanse your life of these lies. To do that, you must first recognize the lies and then replace them with the truth of Scripture.

2. Meditate on God’s Word
One of the best ways to displace the lies in your life is to follow the instructions God gave Joshua in Joshua 1:8:

“Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”

Nearly thirty years ago when Indira and her husband were going through financial difficulty after immigrating to Canada, Indira took this practice to heart. Even though she had a young child, Indira would get up early to read and study the Bible and she wore a walkman wherever she went so she could listen to biblical teachings on tape.

“Meditating on God’s word day and night changes our character,” Indira says, “And that character builds our financial prosperity.”

Lack of character is one of the main reasons young people struggle with finances, Indira says. In this sense, she says every financial problem is really a spiritual problem because it results from things like fear, cynicism, laziness, bad habits and pride. The only solution to these issues is to allow the Holy Spirit to transform your character to be like his.

3. Realize that God is a Good God
One of the main lies Christians believe is the one that tells them God is not a good God and that He does not have our best interests at heart. If you have fallen prey to this belief, Indira urges you to dwell on Scriptures like Matthew 7:9–11, where Christ says:

“Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

God is a good and loving father, and he wants to bless you. All you have to do is ask:

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matthew 7:7–8).

4. Realize What Prosperity is
It is one thing to realize you are no longer living under the curse, but, as Indira points out, it is another thing altogether to realize what prosperity or abundant living is. Indira defines prosperity as a state where all of your needs are met - spiritual, physical, emotional and financial. She says we often make the mistake of either over-spiritualizing the truth, such as focusing only on our spiritual needs, or defining prosperity exclusively on financial grounds. “We try to be rich and healthy but we do not want to be spiritually healthy,” Indira says. True prosperity is a matter of achieving balance in all areas of our life. And this is only possible through the transformation of our character.

5. Work
Indira says too many young people today fail to realize that work is a crucial component to achieving any kind of prosperity - financial, spiritual, emotional and otherwise. If you want prosperity, God will help you achieve it. But he won’t do the work for you. As Indira says, “This is not ‘name it and claim it.’” God expects you to partner with Him, because the road to prosperity is not about getting rich or emotionally fit, it is about personal transformation and increasing intimacy with God.

6. Realize That God is Your Source
Work is important and God expects us to be co-laborers in His harvest. However, we need to be wary of looking to our job, our employer or ourselves for provision. No matter where our resources come from or what we do to earn them, we need to recognize that God is our ultimate provider (Philippians 4:9). We may work hard, but it is God who gives us the health, skills, resources and personal networks that enable us to earn a living.

7. Tithe
Back when Indira and her husband were struggling financially, Indira felt guilty because they had not tithed to their church for a long time. After taking stock of their possessions, she realized she had some jewelry she could sell to help cover what she felt they owed. Ever since then, tithing has been a central aspect of the Indira’s financial life. She believes tithing is an act of worship and giving thanks to God in this way is crucial to achieving and maintaining prosperity.

Tip #1: Model it!
As noted above, there is no way you can pass on prosperity principles to your children unless you are practicing them yourself. Be open and honest with your children about your successes and failures in this area. This will help them learn by example.

Tip #2: Direct them to God’s Word
Do not wait for your children to ask why you live the way you do. Take initiative by showing them God’s prosperity principles in Scripture.

Tip #3: Give Thanks
There is no better way to help your children understand that God is their source than to thank him directly for everything he has given you. This includes practices like saying grace at mealtimes, but it also means offering up spontaneous prayers of thankfulness whenever God brings good things into your life.

Tip #4: Create an Expectant Heart
Too many children grow up motivated by fear, not faith, Indira says. Counteract this in your children by telling them stories about God’s provision in your life and the life of others. This will build anticipation for how God will provide for them.

Tip #5: Start Young
Do not wait until your children are teenagers before teaching them about God’s financial principles. Start when they are young and continue teaching them until they are on their own. If your children are already grown or if they have children of their own, do not be discouraged. It is never too late to start.

Related Reading:
A marriage beyond expectations
Live a Life of purpose
Need advice? Ask us.

Kevin Miller is a freelance writer, editor and educator from Abbotsford, BC, Canada. Over the past several years, he has written, co-written and contributed to 26 books, both fiction and non-fiction. He has also written dozens of articles for web sites, magazines and newspapers, including Faith Today, BC Christian News and Maranatha News. Learn more about Kevin by clicking here to visit his website.

Indira Patro is the founder of Total Success Ministries. She and her husband immigrated to Canada from India in 1974. Indira has triumphed over numerous economic and personal crises because she understands that God's Laws of Prosperity are significant, relevant and vital to our lives. Visit Indira’s website