Among the biggest constraints in experiencing the abundance of God in our lives is a scarcity mindset. It’s rooted in fear, specifically fear of failure. So many worthwhile things in our lives would never be attempted if we believe that we must have proof of something as an ingredient to even try.

I know how obvious all this seems when someone says it, but when we stand in a situation we find ourselves doing it over and over. Take falling in love for example. I many terrible experiences in my pursuit of finding the right person to share my life with. Even when I found her, we broke up repeatedly, like it was a hobby, for months because we were both so gunshy about letting ourselves feel what we felt.

The reality is, that you can never know someone loves you. If you entertain the idea that they don’t you’ll see all sorts of “proof” that they don’t. It’s a fallen world and even when we’re passionately in love with someone we’ll say the wrong thing or act selfishly. There is always a reason to believe someone doesn’t love you. But if you put that aside, you start remembering times when your spouse showed that they love you and put your needs first. Then you start seeing the subtle things about what they’re doing in the present. Life starts getting better.

There is a vital connection between needing faith to receive love and needing faith to receive abundance. If we’re loved by an all-powerful God who’d do anything for us, including let his only son pay our tab, then why are we concerned about failure?

Because in this world we’ll have so much “proof” that God doesn’t love us. It takes faith to believe it, and once you do believe it you’ll see proof. If you don’t have faith, you’ll never see proof.

In reality, we revolved on a scale of believing/receiving love and abundance. It might be a theme, but most of the time we’re somewhere in transition on the topic. Or, maybe we’re receiving it in one area and not another.

An abundance mindset is about intentionally connecting your acceptance of love to your receiving of good things from God. That way you’re prepared for the cool, spontaneous wealth blessings that God is giving out in situations. You’ll anticipate them. You’ll be in a “bad” spot and catch yourself wondering what awesome thing God is going to do about it.

Here’s an example: fear of failure. As discussed in the experiential learning post, we need to draw lessons from the classroom of life. We learn some of life’s biggest lessons when we completely blow it. If you’re not failing you’re probably not learning. If you’re gripped by fear of failing, you’re probably not even trying to learn.

The Path of the Cleric is about letting God transform you into his image (2 Cor. 3:18) by beholding the one whose image you are designed in. It’s a learning process and God’s opinion of your mistakes…well, let loose your imagination. Remember that you’re adored by a loving God who is actively trying to bless you. Rember that He’s perfect and no matter how successful you are it won’t actually measure up to perfect. Remember that all good things come from God, we’ve never authored anything truly good without Him handing it to us.

If perfection is too hard to picture here, think of your own experience from the place of faith not fear. When is the last time you saw a parent get bitter and angry because their baby pooped it’s diaper? When is the last time you saw a good parent spank their toddler for falling down while learning to walk? It doesn’t actually jive with our experiences, yet in the heat of the moment our mindset will take a bad bump and entertain the idea that God is distant and angry because our circumstances aren’t obviously good right now, or we didn’t get the results we expected from our efforts.

There’s a lot to actually cultivating the mindset of abundance but this post is merely a statement that having an abundance mindset approach is a core concept of everything we’re trying to do on this website to receive a more fulfilled life from Christ.

Here’s a place to start though: Next time you encounter anxiety, look at the circumstances bringing it about. Write yourself a quick note so you’ll explore it with God. Does that situation often bring about feeling inadequate? Is there a place God wants to unlock healing in your heart. Maybe God wants to equip you with a bit of knowledge. Maybe God wants to demonstrate his power in your life.

One of my mentors, Graham Cooke, often says, “Ask what if…” as in what if I’m not really afraid of being embarrassed? What if I don’t blow this interview? What if person x doesn’t hate me?

Try it out.