How to Avoid Poverty in the Philippines

How to avoid poverty in the Philippines? It’s always been my dream and desire to bring my fellow Filipinos from being poor to being rich. Well, though riches and money are often linked to greed, abuse and other negative qualities, being prosperous is what God wants us to be. As a Bible believer and a student of Christ, I never understood the whole scriptures teaching us to be poor. The Bible teaches us to have self-discipline, diligence, integrity, consistency, patience and wisdom. All of these virtues encourage by the Holy Book are actually meant to encourage us to be rich. God wants us to seek for His kingdom because searching it makes all the good things follow… spiritually, personally and financially.

The Filipino people are known to be religious and prayerful. Alas, poverty is also a characteristic that is known to most of them. If the Philippines is a religious country, then why most of us are poor? The sad truth is that most Filipinos are not really religious. Most of us don’t know the true meaning of religion. We are always praying, but we don’t act on our prayers. Moreover, there are two ways of communicating with God: asking and listening. Asking is praying, while listening is reflecting. What we always do is asking, isn’t it? But we seldom give time to silence ourselves, listen carefully to what God says, patiently read what He wrote to us, and faithfully obey them.

Now I want to see my beloved Philippines progressing. This can become reality if the people living in this nation start developing personally and spiritually. Policies on finance, money, business and economics are all derived from human principles. It doesn’t need to be so hard to initially begin seeking for our personal and financial growth. We just need to start from within. We need to practice reflecting on what God has taught us about becoming truly rich. I’m not saying that we stop from praying, but I’m only telling that we give enough time to lean our ears to God and open our eyes, minds, hearts and spirits on what He had said thousands of years ago. Let us read and reflect on the following Bible Verses about avoiding poverty and achieving prosperity.

 

1. Believe in God

“The LORD sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts. He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor.” – 1 Samuel 2:7-8

“Thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he swear unto thy fathers, as it is this day.” – Deuteronomy 8:18

 

2. Have self-control

“He who loves pleasure will become poor; whoever loves wine and oil will never be rich.” – Proverbs 21:17

“for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.” – Proverbs 23:21

 

3. Be righteous

The LORD does not let the righteous go hungry but he thwarts the craving of the wicked. – Proverbs 10:3

 

4. Be kind and generous to the poor

“He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and he who gives gifts to the rich — both come to poverty.” – Proverbs 22:16

“One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.” – Proverbs 11:24-25

“He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses.” – Proverbs 28:27

 

5. Be humble

“One man pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.” – Proverbs 13:7

 

6. Be diligent

“He who has a slack hand becomes poor, But the hand of the diligent makes rich.” – Proverbs 10:4

 

7. Be faithful and don’t be hasty

“A faithful man will abound with blessings, But he who hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.” – Proverbs 28:20

 

8. Have knowledge

“By knowledge the rooms are filled; With all precious and pleasant riches.” – Proverbs 24:4

 

9. Have wisdom and understanding

“Happy is the man who finds wisdom,
And the man who gains understanding;
For her proceeds are better than the profits of silver,
And her gain than fine gold.
She is more precious than rubies,
And all the things you may desire cannot compare with her.
Length of days is in her right hand,
In her left hand riches and honor.” – Proverbs 3:13-16

 

10. Do it consistently

“All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty. The wealth of the wise is their crown, but the folly of fools yields folly.”  Proverbs 14:23-24