Last year my pastor gave a series of talks on a book he’d read entitled Twelve Powers in You. The book describes  physical, spiritual, and emotional aspects of the 12 powers inherent in each of us. Fascinated by these talks, I’ve decided to expand on them through the money perspective that I often see things being a financial planner.
According to Google, faith is complete trust or confidence in someone or something.
Spiritually, faith it is a strong belief in God or good. For others it is a belief in the doctrines of a religion based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof.
Emotionally (soul) we have faith based on our limited experiences. These experiences change our view of the world. Just ask someone recently divorced if they have faith in marriage.
According to the book, faith is physically represented by our brain. What you believe, or have faith in, is often a reflection of your thinking.
So what does faith have to do with money?
For many of us, faith is about being able to say, I’m going to start saving 10% because I know I have to. Rich says I need to. And I don’t want to end up not being able to retire like my parents. Faith is saying, I have no idea where it’s going to come from, but I am going to start saving today. When it comes to finances, that’s having faith. The best part is that in my experience, once you start doing it, once you start saving, you’ll wonder why you haven’t done it all along. The same can be said for faith on many other levels, I’m sure.
Here’s a story of someone we all know. I have a friend that has never saved, always has the best cars, and lives in the biggest house in the neighborhood. Why can’t he save? He doesn’t think he could afford to. One day, his car dies. He needs a new car, so he goes to the dealer and buys a new one. For 6 years he pays off his $40,000 car loan. A loan at 6% with a $663/mo payment. At the end of the 6 years, his car is worth $12,000 and he’s paid (663 x 6yr x 12mo) $47,736.
In other words, for 6 years he’s saved $12,000 and paid $47,736. Does he start saving when the car is paid off? Unfortunately, no. He’s just got out from under his payment, why would he start saving now when he can finally breath? The truth is, the $663/mo is always there, his thinking isn’t.
Somewhere, someone along the way put it in his head (emotion/soul) that he couldn’t save, or that maybe he wasn’t worthy of saving. Yet he also has very strong beliefs that he needs the best cars, maybe to make good impressions. Here’s where faith and money comes in to play. IF he believed that he needed to save $663/mo in order to retire as much as he needs to have transportation, saving would come naturally.Â
A good way to approach this article is to look at your money scripts around money. See my article on Financial Emotion. Ask yourself, what are your limiting beliefs around money? Change your thinking! We’ll talk more about how to tap into your other powers (think heart) and change your thinking around money in the next blog on 12 Powers.
3 replies to "12 Powers: Faith and Money"
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