By Norman Robertson
Prosperity is the reward of the righteous.
~Proverbs 13:21(NIV)
The average American has a net worth of less than $15,000, not including home equity. More than half of Americans living today would be destitute without their social security checks. A major reality of the 21st century is that people are living a lot longer than they can afford to, and the quality doesn’t match the quantity. Most people live the so-called “golden years” depending on state and federal agencies, or their relatives, for their survival needs. Retirement for most people means being cast aside and no longer relevant.
Yet today, there is more personal wealth in the world than ever before. In America, there is over 24 trillion dollars in personal wealth and more than half that incredible amount is owned by just 3.5 percent of the population. And, if you think that 3.5 percent inherited that wealth from the estates of their families, think again. Only 20 percent of today’s wealthiest millionaires and billionaires are from second-generation wealth. The bottom line is that 80 percent of all wealthy people in America are self-made in their own lifetimes.
One of the powerful secrets of self-made multi-millionaires is that their self-worth greatly influences their net worth! They truly believe they are worthy, worthwhile and worth it! They walk, talk, look, act, and think rich! They see themselves as a “money magnet” and believe they have what it takes to become wealthy, in advance.
That’s why you must eradicate any religious myths about money and abandon the idea that there is nobility in poverty. Did you know that affluence gives you influence? In Ecclesiastes Chapter Nine, the Bible says: Nobody listens to poor people! Having a high net worth can help you become a stronger influence and force for good and for God in today’s world. Money is a good thing and it’s meant to be enjoyed...however, it isn’t just for self-indulgence. It is for spreading the gospel, advancing the kingdom of God, and being a blessing to others.
Money is an instrument of blessing that helps feed hungry masses in impoverished communities and villages and victims of terrible natural disasters such as the Asian tsunami. And, financial independence gives you dignity in your senior years. So, make it your goal to live with the abundance mentality instead of the scarcity mentality. Increase your self-worth and your net worth — you owe it to yourself and your family.
And be renewed in the spirit of your mind.
~Ephesians 4:23
Imagine a tree. Let’s suppose this tree represents the tree of our life. On this tree there are fruits. In life, our fruits are called our results. So we look at the fruits (our results) and we don’t like them; there aren’t enough of them, they’re too small, or they don’t taste good. So what do we tend to do? Most of us put even more attention and focus on the fruits, our results. But what is it that actually creates those particular fruits? It’s the seeds and the roots that create those fruits.
It’s what’s under the ground that creates what’s above the ground. It’s what’s invisible that creates what’s visible. So what does that mean? It means that if you want to change the fruits, you will first have to change the roots. If you want to change your outer world, you must first change your inner world.
How do you think? What are your beliefs? What are your habits and traits? How do you really feel about yourself? How confident are you? How well do you relate to others? What is your ability to act in spite of fear and worry, challenging circumstances, or life’s problems and pressures? And why is all this important? Because the fact is that your character, your thinking, your attitudes and your beliefs are a critical part of what determines the level of your success. To be successful in life it’s not enough to be in the right place at the right time. You have to be the right person, in the right place, at the right time!
Dr. Joyce Brothers says, “Success is a state of mind. If you want success, start thinking of yourself as a success.” Your self-worth has a tremendous impact on every area of your life. In fact, according to Dr. Brothers, your level of self-worth determines seven things:
1. The mate you attract.
2. The career you have.
3. The lifestyle you lead.
4. The type and quality of your friends.
5. The treatment you receive from people.
6. The kind of health you enjoy.
7. The income you earn.
Your self-worth is the way you see yourself in your imagination. It’s your own feeling of worth as a human being — the degree to which you like and value yourself and feel comfortable inside your skin. The reason your self-worth is so powerful is because your behavior will almost never deviate from this internal map. It acts as a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy... it’s the roots that create the fruits.
Jesus said, ‘Everything is possilbe for him who believes.’
~Mark 9:23 (NIV)
When he was two years old, this adopted child of two college professors suddenly and inexplicably stopped growing, and his health started to fail. A team of doctors gave him six months to live after they diagnosed him as suffering from a rare disease that inhibits digestion and nutrients in food. Intravenous feedings of vitamins and supplements allowed him to regain his strength, but his growth was permanently stunted. Confined to hospitals for long periods of time, until the age of nine, he quietly plotted his revenge on the kids who taunted him and called him “peanut.”
He recalled many years later that subconsciously “the whole experience made me want to succeed at something athletic.” Sometimes his sister, Susan, went ice skating at the local rink, and he would go along to watch. There he stood, a frail, undergrown kid, with a feeding tube inserted through his nose and down into his stomach. When he wasn’t using it, one end of the tube was taped behind his ear. One day, as he watched his sister whirl around the ice, he turned to his parents and said, “You know, I think I’d like to try ice skating.” Talk about two adults, looking at their life-threatened child, with glances that were beyond belief!
Well, he tried it and he loved it, and he went at it with a passion. Here was something fun at which he could excel, where height and weight weren’t important.
During his medical checkup the following year, the doctors were startled to discover that he had actually started growing again. It was too late for him to reach normal size, but neither he nor his family cared. He was recovering and succeeding and his self-worth soared... he believed in his dream, although he had little else to hang on to.
None of the kids taunt him and tease him today. Instead, they all cheer and rush to get his autograph. He has just completed another dazzling performance on the world professional ice skating tour, with a long string of triple jumps, complicated maneuvers, and athletic moves, capped off with a racing front flip that brought him to a sudden stop inches from the audience. Although he has retired from professional skating, he remains a coach, mentor and commentator admired by everyone in winter sports.
At five feet three inches and 115 pounds of pure muscle and incredible energy, former Olympic gold medal figure skating champion Scott Hamilton stands as tall and as proud as any winner. Scott’s size didn’t limit his faith and reach. Don’t let doubts and critics limit yours. This doesn’t mean that along life’s path you won’t have big challenges to face. Scott Hamilton certainly didn’t make every triple-axle jump he ever attempted, but he never gave up on his dream or allowed himself to waver.
This month, as a self-worth “booster,” read a biography of someone you admire who has overcome great hurdles to become successful. When you learn what many of them had to endure, you are less overwhelmed by the obstacles you face. Every hardship you face has been endured and conquered by someone before you.
Godliness (living for God and pleasing God)
is profitable for all things.
~I Timothy 4:8
I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.
~Deuteronomy 30:19
One of the most fascinating studies I have read is the genealogical work done on the families of Jonathan Edwards and Max Jukes. Jonathan Edwards was a New England minister and revivalist and Max Jukes being a criminal of the same period.
Here is an overview of the findings of the study done on the lineages of the two men involved: Max Jukes and Jonathan Edwards.
Max Jukes: Born 1700 — An atheist, who married an immoral woman that dabbled in the occult. Of their 1200 descendants, 310 were professional vagrants and died paupers; 440 wrecked their lives through debauchery; 130 went to jail, 7 for murder, average sentence, 13 years; more than 600 became alcoholics; 60 were habitual thieves; 190 became public prostitutes; and 20 became tradesmen, 10 of whom learned their trade in prison. That descendancy cost the state of New York $1,250,000.
Jonathan Edwards: Born 1703 — A man of God and married to a woman of like character. He was 24 and she was 17. On their wedding night they consecrated their marriage to the Lord. Their descendants included 300 clergymen, some missionaries and theological professors; 100 professors; 100 attorneys; 30 judges, 1 dean of a law school; 60 physicians, 1 dean of a medical school; 3 mayors of large cities; 60 authors of fine classics; 14 presidents of universities; 3 State Governors; 1 Controller of the US Treasury; and 1 Vice-President of the USA. Their descendants did not cost the state a single penny.
In everything you do, put God first, and He will direct you and crown your efforts with success.
~Proverbs 3:6
True success is the progressive achievement of your God-inspired goals. Success never comes by chance or luck. Success is the predictable result of living in alignment with God’s laws of success. Here are seven pillars guaranteed to increase your self-worth and net worth:
Lean On God’s Grace To Put You Over. In 2 Corinthians 12:9, God said: My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength and power works best in your weakness!
God’s grace is sufficient for you! Grace is God’s willingness to use His power and His ability on our behalf, even though we don’t deserve it! Grace is the power of God to help us to be, and to do what we cannot be and do in ourselves.
It’s so easy in today’s society to play the comparison game and get into the rut of comparing ourselves to other people — that’s a self-worth destroyer! Each of us has a unique and personal call upon our lives. We are to be our own selves and not copy other people. How the Lord chooses to deal with others has nothing to do with our individual calling in life, or God’s timing and direction for us. The key is to be yourself and be the BEST YOU that God made you to be! More than ever before, draw closer to God and count on His grace to put you over – this is YOUR season for new breakthroughs, new favor, new blessings, and new opportunities for success.
Know Your Beliefs Create Your Reality. According to your faith be it unto you. [Matthew 9:29]
Your beliefs create your reality! The belief that dreams are impossible to achieve prevents most people from getting what they really want. They get exactly what they expect from life: boredom, frustration, obstacles and average incomes. People are what they believe themselves to be: no more, no less! As a man thinks, so is he. [Proverbs 23:7]
What is your attitude towards financial success and having a high net worth? Do you believe that wealth and prosperity are reserved only for those other “lucky” people in this world? Pay attention to this: Luck or being lucky has nothing to do with the level of your prosperity and success! As a child of God, you have a birthright to God’s BEST and you’re supposed to live the prosperous life… the problem is that far too often wrong believing limits us and we settle for second best.
Do any of these sound familiar? “The rich get richer and the poor get poorer! I can’t afford that! Money is hard to come by! That’s the way it’s always been! Money doesn’t grow on trees you know!” This type of poverty programming prevents prosperity and attracts lack. What other negative belief systems are holding you back, and stopping you from achieving success and living the life of your dreams? Whatever your situation is, you will always receive according to what you believe!
Make a commitment to change your beliefs. Develop a new “prosperous” belief system based upon God’s covenant of increase for your life. Refuse to hold on to negative memories, past hurts, or play the victim game by blaming people or circumstances for how your life is today.
Change really is possible and the best is yet to come ... believe that and believe in your future! New and exciting opportunities are coming your way, because God’s not through blessing you!
Take this self-worth action exercise and answer the following:
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What would you do if you knew you could not fail?
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What would you do if money was not a concern in your life?
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What’s stopping you from moving forward with your dreams?
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List the five biggest things that you really want to have, to be and to achieve.
Cultivate The Garden Of Your Soul. 3 John 2: It is my highest desire that you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.
The prosperity of your soul (mind, intellect, will, emotions and imagination) is a major influencing factor on your self-worth and net worth. Because your soul prosperity determines the level of your financial prosperity. Just as a gardener must tend his or her plot, keeping out the weeds, you must tend the garden of your soul, weeding out the thoughts of lack, limitation and negativity. You must nurture and tend the thoughts of happiness, success and purpose.
If you practice gardening of this kind, you will soon discover that you are the master gardener of your soul. You will come to the simple revelation that you are not the victim of your circumstance — but the architect of it. Your most dominant thoughts will shape your character, create your circumstances, attract success and determine your ultimate destiny.
“Be careful what you think about, because your life is shaped by your thoughts. [Proverbs 4:23 (Good News)]
When we are unhealthy, unhappy or unsuccessful, it is because we have neglected the garden of our soul and allowed the weeds of wrong thinking and wrong choices to hold us hostage.
As a child of God, you were born to be blessed, not broke! Struggling for existence is not noble, not natural, and not necessary. Once you start the process of prospering your soul and decide to live your life by God’s laws of success, the abundant life comes to you as naturally as rain waters the flowers. So, what do you really expect in life? Your self-worth governs your net worth, and the level of your income is determined almost entirely by your mindset. Of all the tools God gave you to manifest prosperity, your mind is one of the most powerful. As you change your thinking, you will change your world!
Be A Person Of Excellence. Daniel 6:3 And Daniel distinguished himself, because an excellent spirit was in him.
In 1644, a child was born. He lived to be 93 at a time in history when the average life span was but 35 to 40. He taught himself his trade and began his career. He often worked alone with primitive tools, but his focus everyday was to put the best he had into his work. The man made violins. He labored over each and every process and step to ensure that he had “autographed” them with excellence and the best that was in him. He created his own personal standard of excellence for his craft, and he actually signed his name on each instrument that passed the test.
Today, over three hundred years later, the name of this craftsman who was committed to excellence is the benchmark for the best in musical instruments. His name? Antonio Stradivari! His Stradivarius violins sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars because they are the best. On May 16, 2006, Christie’s auctioned a Stradivarius called “The Hammer“ for a record $3,544,000. It is the most paid at public auction for a violin (or for any other musical instrument).
When Stradivari labored, he did not know of the legacy he was creating. He was doing his best, day in and day out, to reach his standard of excellence. He didn’t spend the extra time and care to get the accolades of upper management or to be the top producer in the company. He did it because excellence was part of his focus, mission, and obsession.
Excellence is not something that you can just turn on and off whenever you feel you need it. It is a habit rooted in your attitude about your life and career. Having a firm commitment to excellence, like Stradivari, has an amazing effect on your self-worth and achievement motivation. Are you just going through the motions day to day, or are you creating a masterpiece? In today’s world, superior effort and service are becoming endangered species. So, begin today and autograph your career and your life with excellence.
Surround Yourself With Positive People. Proverbs 12:26: The righteous should choose his friends carefully.
Avoid the critical, cynical and complaining “energy vampires!” Don’t hang around with people that have negative attitudes. The law of association says that “You’ll become the average of the five people you spend the most time with!” It’s true, we are known by the company we keep! That’s why it’s so important to choose the right company. Whatever our age, our personalities are affected by our friendships, associations and the people we spend time with. Disconnect from people who disrespect your God-given dreams and drain your energy. We need to be around people who believe in us, inspire us, and motivate us toward reaching our vision, dreams, goals and destiny – so we can become everything God wants us to be! How can you be a winner, if you spend your time with whiners? Guard your mind against the dream-killers and distance yourself from the small-minded, critical, cynical and negative voices that want to pull you down.
Having positive relationships and the right people around us empowers us to “walk in the light” and reach our highest potential. This one decision is a major factor that will increase your self-worth and net worth!
Raise Your Standard Of Giving To Raise Your Standard Of Living. A man’s harvest in life depends entirely on the seed he sows. [Galatians 6:7 (J.B. Phillips)]
You Can’t Out-give God. This is the first fundamental secret of prosperity, and one that so many people miss. They approach prosperity as a “give me” thing, and never tune into God’s system of seedtime and harvest for supernatural increase.
Everything in the universe is based on the master law of seedtime and harvest. What you send out comes back to you in multiples. It can be tenfold, thirtyfold, sixtyfold and even a hundredfold increase. So when you sow seeds of good, much more good will come back to you. This holds true for the money you sow, the love you give, and the good you do.
So, go out and commit random acts of kindness, sow a seed to someone in need, and be extra nice today. As you sow seeds of love, encouragement and become a blessing to others, it sets in motion the law of the boomerang! Practice generosity as a lifestyle and watch your self-worth and net worth soar. Get ready — much more prosperity is coming your way!
See Failure As A Stepping Stone. Philippians 4:13 (MSG): Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.
It’s been said that failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead-end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.
The two words that have caused more failures in people’s lives than any other are: I CAN’T! The only limitations that you have are those that you have set up in your own mind, or those which you have allowed others to set up for you. God didn’t make you with limitations!
You may not know the background of a certain laundry worker who earned $60 a week at his job but had the burning desire to be a writer. His wife worked nights, and he spent nights and weekends typing manuscripts to send to publishers and agents. Each one was rejected with a form letter that gave him no assurance that his manuscript had even been read.
But finally, a warm, more personal rejection letter came in the mail to the laundry worker, stating that, although his work was not good enough at this point to warrant publishing, he had promise as a writer and he should keep writing. He forwarded two more manuscripts to the same friendly-yet-rejecting publisher over the next 18 months, and as before, he struck out with both of them.
Finances got so tight for the young couple that they had to disconnect their telephone to pay for medicine for their baby.
Feeling totally discouraged, he threw his latest manuscript into the garbage. His wife, believing in his talent, took the manuscript out of the trash and sent it to Doubleday, the publisher who had sent the friendly rejections.
The book, titled Carrie, sold over 5 million copies and, as a movie, became one of the top-grossing films in 1976.
The laundry worker was Stephen King.
Failure is never fatal! The current chapter of your life does not have to be the final chapter. What looks like your tombstone may be a stepping stone to something bigger and better.
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road your trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit
Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and its turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When they might have won, had they stuck it out.
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow,
You may succeed with another blow.
Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt.
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when your hardest hit,
It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit!
~ Author Unknown
The good news is that the best season of your life can be ahead of you no matter what your age or circumstances — if you choose to make it so — because 90 percent of your potential is not only untapped and unused, but also undiscovered. That’s not just good news, it’s incredible news!
Dr. Norman Robertson has wide popularity across the body of Christ, due to his distinct gift of teaching and his anointed ministry that emphasizes the successful, overcoming life in Christ. A best-selling author and inspiring faith communicator, Dr. Robertson hosts a weekly television show, “Norman Robertson TV.” Additionally, Dr. Robertson maintains a full ministry schedule with a life-changing teaching, preaching and healing ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit. For more information, visit normanrobertson.com
