Steve Lyston | The poor responsible for their financial decisions

The poor are forgotten within the society, and the drastic local and global decisions that are being made do not include the input or thought of the poor, so it is critical for the poor to make better decisions if they want to see drastic changes.

First, the poor must begin to have a different perception and perspective on things. Mark 8: 23 - 25 reminds us that Jesus had to literally pull the man away from his community before his eyes could open to see the truth. Sometimes you have to pull away from your family, your friends, your culture, the curse and the mindset of the people in order to see clearly and get the right perspective, or else you will only see disfigured images. Poverty stems from a state of the mind, and the state of mind can bring blindness. The poor need to begin to see like the rich - they make and save money. Oftentimes the poor waste money, spending millions on a funeral and not one cent on self-empowerment. The poor use social network to waste time and money - using data and phone credit for gossiping and idling; while the rich use social media to make money.

Misplaced priorities

The poor waste money on appearance to show a false lifestyle, and the rich sell the things the poor use to maintain the false lifestyle. Do you see liquor stores, abortion clinics, payday loans stores, pawn shops, tattoo parlours, bars, or brothels in the wealthy communities?

The poor need to stop making choices based on emotions and short-term benefits, and particularly when voting. They need to cut down on fast food and popular brand names and buy more things wholesale.

The poor need to make decisions with their children and grandchildren in mind. The rich have no political loyalty.

If the poor continue to be die-hard supporters of a party they will become poorer. The poor need to understand that politicians serve only what benefits them. The poor need to look to God as their source to take them out of the financial spiral. This is the time for the poor to get wise. The rich will use the money of the poor to invest it in assets that they will rent back to the poor or sell to them at exorbitant prices.

The poor will take their money and buy drugs crack, cocaine, marijuana; but where are the crack houses? Certainly not in the wealthy communities. Very few wealthy people are going to spend their money to buy that. Instead, most will either invest it for their children's education, or to set up a business that they will pass on to their children.

The poor spend millions on phone cards and credit; millions in witchcraft to fight each other, and refuse to give anything to the Lord who can break the curse they are living under.

They would pay to buy false hair, lashes and body parts to create a false image and in the process , they are empowering the politicians and businessmen who in turn create a credit system that would keep them in debt - and they (the rich) don't use their personal credit for anything.

 ...We need to cry for the poor

Jesus' main purpose on earth was to equip the poor and voiceless for them to have a better life. The poor have been forgotten. Many leaders have been put greater hardships on the poor to increase the rich. Proverbs 31: 8 - 9 reminds us to open our mouths for the voiceless, defenceless, poor and needy. Sadly, even for many churches, this is no longer the priority.

Every church, civil government, family and leader - regardless of political affiliation, will be judged on how they treat the poor. There are many, who because of policies and systems, are now homeless, their families are broken and they are becoming hopeless. Some are treated as if they are prisoners of war according to Micah 2: 8 - 9. They are laughed at, scoffed and treated with disrespect and dishonour, while people manipulate them and gain power.

The poor need to make wiser decisions.

- Steve Lyston is a biblical economics consultant and author of several books, including 'End Time Finance' and 'The New Millionaire'.