03.03.08 The 6th Snare that Causes Some Seemingly God-Fearing People to Succumb to Corruption

6. Poverty Mentality

One of the reasons why people become corrupt is because they focus on the things they do not have rather than being content with what they possess.  This is called a ‘lack mentality’ or ‘poverty mentality’.

If one is not careful, the so-called ‘poverty mentality’ syndrome can infest a person’s mind like a water hyacinth, which in effect could send a person on a rampage, chasing after ‘corrupt money’.  

People suffering from such a mentality strive to be like some ‘rich others’ without knowing what cup those ‘others’ drank.  That was the case with Daudi.  Having been obsessed with the idea of becoming the wealthiest person in his family over and above his rich diasporian cousins, the Engineer always perceived what he collected as not enough; just like in Ecclesiastes 5:10 where it says (CEV): If you love money and wealth, you will never be satisfied with what you have...  So, despite Daudi’s lavish lifestyle, fleet of cars and houses he flaunted, he was always in lack.  That mentality could have been the demonic drive that propelled him to persistently demand for bribes so that he could accumulate enough wealth to out-compete his cousins and show-off at work and in the public.  Unfortunately, it was that same drive that landed him in the hell-of-a-life that he ended up with.

The same poverty mentality is behind some people’s lustful cravings to get rich quickly, whether by hook or by crook.  See what 1 Timothy 6:9 says about them (AMP): ...those who [are not financially ethical and] crave to get rich [with a compulsive, greedy longing for wealth] fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction [leading to personal misery]. 

Another indicator of a poverty mentality is where one’s character changes simply because God ‘remembered the person’s pockets’.  You find the person becoming conceited and arrogantly bragging about his or her riches as though they were God incarnate.  Such ‘money worship’ can drive people to revert to corruption as a quick way of piling more and more wealth for the sole purpose of reaffirming their statuses. 

So, how about you? Are you using riches as a foundation for your progress? Riches can disappoint.  That is why Proverbs 11:28 warns against such tendencies.  It says that (AMPC) he who leans on, trusts in, and is confident in his riches shall fall…