The Enslaved Mind

Yesterday, I explained the slave money mentality and revealed that a person who exhibits this mindset is one who is content with living a life that holds others responsible for her existence and avoids accepting responsibility for her own life. In truth, accepting slavery when freedom is our inheritance is nothing more than accepting a lie. Think about it. We each were born with an innate desire and responsibility to live and move as free people…people who are disciplined and determined to pursue God’s purposes and plans for our lives. So, why choose to be bound to people, places, and things that really don’t have the power to run our lives or the authority to govern godly ambitions? You see, an enslaved mind is a twisted mind – it is a mind that longs for something it already possesses. Please allow me to explain this by using an example from the Bible.

In Genesis, chapter 3, a serpent who had allowed Satan to use him to speak to Eve approached her on the premise that he knew something she didn’t. He basically asked her about God’s mandate for eating fruit from the trees in the Garden of Eden. Eve responded by explaining that she was allowed to eat from all of the trees except the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. She emphasized that she wasn’t even allowed to touch it or else she would die. Now, carefully read Satan’s response to that statement. “You won’t die! God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil” (Genesis 3:4&5, NLT). What happened there? Eve was tempted to pursue the forbidden because she thought it would offer her that which had been impossible for her. Yet, from the beginning of Genesis up until that point, God had revealed the truth that man had been made in His image and in His likeness. In other words, Eve had been like God from the moment He had given her life. The very thing that Satan tempted her with in the Garden of Eden was something that was already in her possession. Notice Satan wasn’t really concerned about her acquiring the knowledge of good and evil; Satan was thinking long-term. His objective was to prevent humanity from walking in the fullness of God’s divine will for them. You see, if God had placed fruit trees in the garden, obviously He had planned for Adam and Eve to eat of its fruit at an undisclosed time and for a very specific reason.

The same is true of the slave mentality. The enslaved mind is chasing something it already possesses and is running from something that it cannot get away from. What creates such a stronghold in the mind of someone who has a slave mentality is the reality that what you and I can perceive as slavery, they perceive to be true freedom. They believe that by releasing responsibility for their lives to others, they can avoid all of the headache and heartache associated with trying to meet their current needs and mapping out goals for their future. By falling back onto others they think they can avoid having to stand up on their own. By trusting in their responsible friends and family, they think they can ignore their secret fears and insecurities. They are free people who are completely capable of excelling in life but whose minds are entangled by a bondage of slavery that keeps them saturated in mediocrity.

As I close, I must say that there is a positive spin to the slave mentality when it focuses on the right Ruler. True freedom occurs when a decision has been made to volunteer ourselves to become spiritual slaves who release ownership of our lives and responsibility for our lives to our Creator so that it might be hidden in Christ, and guided by the power of His Holy Spirit. That, my friend, is the only time and the only way that slavery serves a real and effective purpose. The New Testament apostle Paul said this about Jesus:  “Though He was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, He gave up His divine privileges; He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When He appeared in human form, He humbled Himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated Him to the place of highest honor and gave Him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:6-11, NLT).

Only when our minds become enslaved to the mind of God, is the beauty of bondage graciously waved on the flag of freedom!  

The Slave Money Mentality

Last week, I introduced you to the three money mentalities that are going to supply the substance for our discussions on the blog each Monday. They are:  the slave mentality, the boss mentality, and the worker mentality (for more information, please refer to last Monday’s blog – Money Mentality, dated 10/10/11). Last week, I provided you with a brief description of each money mentality and I asked you to determine which mindset best resembles your own. Well, today we are going to take a more thorough look at the slave mentality.

The slave mentality is an impulsive and irresponsible one – it is one that thrives in moments and gives little regard for the long haul, and does so at the expense of others. A person with a slave mentality has no concept of financial stewardship, nor does he show much interest in changing. He is motivated by present urges and conditions, and so spends money with little regard for more important financial responsibilities. Thus, he drags others down. You know people like this. It’s the woman who never seems to have enough money to pay her utility bills, but eats out regularly. It’s the guy who can’t seem to come up with the money to make his car payment, but consistently finds money to buy the latest gadgets. It’s the people who can never seem to earn a living but have no problem collecting welfare from the taxes paid by the multitudes who do.

A person with the slave mentality wears debt like a badge. He or she isn’t ashamed to borrow money from friends and family with no regard for paying it back. This person is more interested in letting others take care of them than learning to take care of themselves. This is the most difficult mentality to change. You can offer to pay for them to receive financial education and training but they typically will not accept your offer. You can even promise to pay off their debt at the conclusion of such training, but even that will prove unsuccessful. Why?

Why is the slave mentality the most difficult to change? What causes a person to embrace the slave mentality in the first place? A man who lives according to the slave mentality is a man who has allowed himself to become a product of his environment. You see, a slave is nothing more than a professional hustler…a person who has learned how to scheme others out of money while refusing to apply the same efforts to become financially stable and prosperous on his own. He is content to ride the coattails of others, burning bridges as he goes along the way.

A woman who exhibits a slave mentality is a woman who has been victimized in some way and now uses manipulation to protect herself and survive harsh circumstances. Unfortunately her approach proves a lack of faith to believe that her identity isn’t characterized by her past. She is no different than a woman who becomes promiscuous as a result of being molested as a child. The woman controlled by the slave mentality has been crippled by either having lost everything or by having been given everything. This is a woman who can watch everyone around her mature and change without ever considering her own potential to do the same. She views their advancement as another opportunity to take greater advantage of them.

Nothing angers me more than to meet a person who is content with living a life whereby he or she gladly passes ownership of her existence over to others so as to avoid accepting responsibility for her own life. She is a slave to the credit card company, a slave to her friends, a slave to her landlord, and anyone else she owes.

Come on Out of the Dark

Have you found yourself living by the false contentment of a slave? Are you finally tired of depending on others...tired of looking out towards others with begging hands instead of looking inward at the capabilities and gifts within your own mind? Are you tired of living just for today, with no hope for the future because every day seems to pan out like the one before it? Do any of the characteristics of the slave mentality point to parts of your thinking and your life? If so, my prayer is that you will read the following points very intently so you can begin to adjust your thinking and revolutionize your life.

1.       Change your mind!

a.      You are not your past. What has been a FACT in your life does not determine what has to be the TRUTH in your life now.

b.      If you have experienced loss in your past it doesn’t mean you have to continue to lose.

c.       If you’ve had everything handed to you before now, that doesn’t mean you have to be controlled by a sense of entitlement. You can change the game!

2.      Change your actions!

a.      Get off of your behind and use your mind! Go to work! It took an opportunistic mind to take advantage of others in order to get them to fund your life; use that same spirit to gain legitimate employment so you can pay your own way.

b.       You don’t have the right to enjoy natural pleasures more than you have a spiritual responsibility to take care of your own financial responsibilities. Don’t buy new shoes if it will take away from the gas money you need to get to and from work next week.

c.       It is a privilege and your responsibility to acquire money (God makes it available to you), but it is not your privilege to spend it on a whim. It is His and should be directed with godly purposes in mind.

Finally, I would like to close by encouraging those of you who may not be motivated by a slave mentality to avoid encouraging those who are. Let’s face it – all of us have people in our lives who look for opportunities to sup from our plates instead of working, filling, and supping from their own. We must understand that by choosing to fund slavery, we also choose to be enablers who will be responsible for crippling healthy, intelligent individuals who can and should be taking care of themselves.

Freedom Friday!

Freedom…f-r-e-e-d-o-m. Free dominion. In the words of Dr. Myles Munroe, true freedom is “the liberty to dominate the earth through one’s gifts and talents in fulfillment of God’s purpose for one” (The Burden of Freedom, 2001). Does that correspond with your definition of freedom? I had always believed freedom to be the ability to pursue, control, and maintain one’s own endeavors, goals, and legacy; but there’s so much more to it than that. We each have a unique ability to master our environments and Earth’s resources in a way that serves others while revealing God’s glory (His essence, His true nature).

When you think about yourself and your life, do you relate them to freedom or something else? There’s something you and I were born to be, to do, and to dominate. Freedom requires us to accept the responsibility God has given us to pursue Him, to go against the grain, and to offer something to the world that generations have been waiting on. Attaining freedom begins with what we believe…it begins with what we think about ourselves, our potential, and our lives. Why aren’t many of us free? Could it be because we’ve come to believe that we don’t have what it takes to be free…that we are at a disadvantage…that we are held back by others? Are we purposely rejecting opportunities to attain freedom because we’d much rather look to someone else to be responsible for our lives?

I don’t know about you but at this juncture of my life, I’ve decided to change my mind. I’ve decided to change my mind about who I think I am in order to prioritize who God says I am. I’ve decided to change my mind about what my life is suppose to look like in exchange for His predestined life for me. I am changing my mind about everything that has misled me into believing that I have to be a slave to circumstance. I am surrendering to God and allowing His Spirit to teach me how to keep pushing forward until I am 100% freely me and dominating my environment and fulfilling my life’s assignment. My aim is to live full of all of the potential and purposes of God and to die empty of all of the promises He made to me that exist to serve the world while I’m here.

What about you? Are you free? If not, are you determined to become free? After all, it’s how we were created…to be ruled by nothing and no one other than our Creator and Jesus demonstrated that perfectly while on the earth. Why haven’t we thought enough of our God and ourselves to believe that we could demonstrate the same and inspire others along the way? You and I woke up this morning with the same open invitation that has been sitting on the coffee table of our lives every day, waiting for us to accept the truth, to follow God’s plans, and to step into His purposes for our lives. I have picked my invitation up from the table and sent God my R.S.V.P. It states, “Thank you, Lord for offering me freedom. I humbling accept your invitation. It appears I will be running a little late, nevertheless, I am on my way!”

Are You Thirsty?

Have you ever been really, really thirsty? I mean thirsty to the point that if your arch enemy was standing next to you with a flat Diet Coke up to his big, soup-kitchen lips, you’d snatch it out of his hand, throw your head back, and gulp the whole thing down? Have you ever been so thirsty that nothing else would do except a nice, cold glass of water? You didn’t want soda or juice or Kool-Aid or Gatorade…just some good ‘ole water! Life was miserable until you got it, right?

Lately I’ve been asking myself, “Crystal, What are you thirsty for”? In other words, I’m been analyzing my life and my dreams to hone in on my passions. I’ve been assessing my hobbies, my skills, my experiences, and my ambitions. What am I really thirsty for? What am I after? What am I thirsty for in my relationship with myself, God, and others? What lengths am I willing to go to for what I believe? What is it that I am determined to see manifested in my character and in my life? What is it that I absolutely refuse to die without?

In Psalms chapter 42, verses 1 and 2, David expressed his passion with these words:  “As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I stand before Him?”

I don’t know about you but there are certain dreams and realities I will not be denied. I am determined to have them. They will come to fruition because I am committed to tenaciously persevering until I have attained them.

What about you? I know that some of you are in tune with your life’s passion…that invisible thing you are striving to achieve, but many are still in search of it.

These are some tough questions, but I’d love to hear what you’ve come to realize about your passions, as well as how you are committing to moving towards them. Will you resolve to have your thirst quenched? Will you experience the living water of dreams fulfilled, or will settle for a dehydrated life that leads to life in a dry place and death to your life’s potential?

What Do You Have to Give Wednesday

Hello, everyone! I’m so excited about talking to you today because of what today’s blog represents. My goal is to devote each Wednesday as the day we concentrate our efforts on cultivating our character and appreciating our worth as we focus our attention on valuing others. You know how it is – sometimes you hear bad news or witness some tragedy in someone else’s life but feel ill-equipped to contribute to improving or solving their situation. Perhaps you just happened to walk past someone wishing there was something you could have done in that moment to make a difference in his or her life. Well, we are going to use Wednesdays as our day to challenge ourselves and one another to look harder at who we are, and discover our hidden potential as we offer ourselves to God. We are going to commit to allowing Him to pour Himself out through us and into the lives of His overlooked jewels who may have lost the beauty of His love amid the ashes in their lives. We are going to focus our attention and efforts on helping to make someone else’s heart smile by contributing something to them from our own lives. Whether it’s a smile, a dollar, or a polite conversation, we are going to intentionally invest in others.

Last week I went into McDonalds to pick up a quick bite for my family. Well, the fast food order was taking on the pace of a typical Thanksgiving Day feast. As I stood by the counter waiting to receive my turkey…I mean my burgers, a tall, young man walked up to the register, pulled out a crinkled dollar and asked for a value size order of fries. Immediately, I sensed the urge to give him some money. I opened my purse and pulled out a $10.00 bill and without looking at him, carefully slipped it into his hands. I totally caught the poor fellow off guard because he looked at me like, “Am I being punked?” I simply smiled, looked away, and continued to wait for my food. He turned around and walked away. I never turned around to make contact with him again because I had accomplished my mission. The goal of my small gesture was to let him know that someone saw him and cared about him. It really wasn’t about the money. He may not have even needed it but at that moment my small token sent a positive message to him, and that message was that his presence and his life are significant.

Have you ever been a stranger in a crowded place and longed to be seen? You didn’t feel a need for attention as much as you craved a reminder from someone that you matter. Well, that’s what I want What Do You Have to Give Wednesdays to be all about. I’m not going to ask you necessarily to give someone money but to find someone you don’t know or someone you haven’t kept in touch with, and give them something that will just reinforce to them the notion that they matter…that we are all in this life together, facing obstacles and experiencing miracles as we go.

When I handed that young man money from my purse, my contribution felt no less powerful than if I had been mega-philanthropist, Bill Gates paying for underprivileged youth to attend Ivy League universities. I hadn’t had as much to give as I might have liked. I couldn’t buy him a new car or pay his way through college, but I could pay for him to purchase a meal or buy some new undies. Only God knows what the young man did with the money. The point is that I gave my money the type of vision that I could feel good about. I patted myself on the back not because I gave him money but because I prioritized him above myself. Imagine what will happen when all of us commit to doing the same. Imagine how much small gestures like the one I just described can change our communities and the world at large.

Can you see it? Good, now it’s your turn! What do you have to give today? Who will be reminded that they matter because you were tenacious enough to touch their lives?

I can’t wait to hear your stories so get moving and then come back here and share them with me.

Have an awesome day!

To Tell You the Truth Tuesday

Have you ever taken a real hard look at yourself in the mirror? While studying your reflection, did you notice the changes age has introduced to your appearance? Did you stare at your natural self long enough to take a glimpse into the strengths, weaknesses, power, insecurities, and hypocrisies that are at work within you? This type of analysis often leads to a conviction that bears truths that we’re not always sure we’re ready to accept or deal with?

I wonder if today we are prepared to take a nose dive into the mirror of our finances. I’m curious to know whether or not we’re honestly ready to tell the truth about why we aren’t further along financially. Is it because we’re content with where we are at this present moment, or that we don’t know how to take the next step? If we each were to sit down with a pen and a piece of paper and were given five minutes to list our monthly income and expenses (to include the dates that the accounts are payable and receivable), how many of us would be able to accurately display them on the page? Better yet, how many of us could admit to consistently paying our obligations on time, or to knowing where we’re going next in our financial decision-making process? The truth is that until you and I are really open to staring at what is as well as what must change, we cannot begin to properly plan for what could or should happen next.

My challenge to you (and me) today is to take some time to sit down and record all monthly income and expenses. Place a star next to the item(s) that are a source of great concern. If possible, include a short description in regards to how you feel about the items on the page. For example, how do you feel about the $1,200.00 you earn each month for 160 hours of work? Which of your current debts are you most anxious to pay off and why?

Sitting down into the heart of a hard situation is often the very best thing to do in order to empower yourself to stand up and walk out of it. I know this might be difficult, but take some time to thoroughly engage in the process. You are so much more than your current financial picture displays. Psalms 139:14 proclaims that you and I were fearfully and wonderfully made. That’s something that our financial strengths and weaknesses cannot change. However, together we can put in the work to transform them so that they become aligned with that truth. Yes, even our money should echo God’s sentiments. We are fearfully and wonderfully made!

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to post them below (you can leave your name, which is under “Name/URL”, or choose to post  as “Anonymous”); and if you’d like further one-on-one assistance, you can email me at:  cmbriscoe7312@gmail.com).

It’s been great spending time with you today!

We are much more than we appear to be.

Money Mentality Monday

All of us think about our finances, right? We consistently think about how much we have, how much we’ve spent, what else we need, what to do with surpluses, or how to deal with shortages. Well, I wonder how many of us spend any length of time thinking about what we have actually come to believe about money or better yet, what we believe about ourselves in relation to money. How many of us perceive money as a tool (as we should)? Do we not realize that money’s very existence is for our benefit, not for our demise? Do we fail to grasp the truth...the truth that if we don't put our money to work for us, it will without fail, work us over?

We must understand that what we believe about money directly correlates with what we believe about ourselves, our lives, our neighbors, our world, and our Creator. Every Monday I am going to be blogging about issues related to our money mentalities, specifically three types of money mentalities. They are:  the slave mentality, the boss mentality, and the worker mentality. To offer you a brief description of them: 

• A woman with the slave mentality is a woman who has decided that her sense of security rests in her ability to take advantage of others, having them foot the bill for her decisions and her life, accepting little to no responsibility for the life and potential she’s been given by God. She has no financial vision other than to manipulate others into taking care of her.
• A man with the boss mentality is a man who has disciplined himself to understand and navigate through his financial decisions based on the principle that money is a tool that is to be used and directed for very specific purposes. He consistently sows and reaps money with vision, wisdom, and purpose. When he releases it, he plants it in fertile soil that will produce good fruit, and when he receives it, he maps out a plan to invest into that which builds others up, not to esteem himself higher or to tear others down.
• Finally, men and women who function under the worker mentality are people who are finding themselves in the most vulnerable financial positions. They are as equally close to becoming bosses over their money as they are to becoming slaves to their money. These are people who are filled with the potential to achieve greatness but fail to exercise the discipline and resolve to make the necessary sacrifices and take the necessary risks to ascend higher. Still, they are people who are too responsible and skilled to settle for contentment in slavery. More on these mentalities in the weeks to come.

Will you join me every Monday as we dive into our money mentality issues? Will you take this journey with me…the journey to arrest financial freedom and ascend to a life where we are transformed - mind, body, and soul? I pray that you will.

Finally, I’d like to ask you to consider the brief descriptions I’ve listed above. What would you say is your present money mentality? What has your life revealed about your financial beliefs?

I look forward to hearing from you!