Have you ever left a church feeling guilty for being poor?
I know someone who did. Her name is Carmen. She was a 67-year-old woman, with white hair and wrinkled hands from years of hard work, who lived alone in a small apartment. Every Sunday, she would get ready, put on her best clothes, and arrive on time for the service. And when they passed the offering envelope, Carmen would reach into her purse and give. She gave even if it meant she would eat less that week. She gave because the pastor said God multiplies what you sow. And she wanted to believe him. She needed to believe him.
But the years went by. And prosperity never came.
What did come was a terrible doubt, the kind people do not say out loud: Maybe I lack faith. Maybe I am doing something wrong. Maybe God does not love me.
And that hurts me. It really does. Because there was nothing wrong with Carmen. What was wrong was the message they had sold her.
Because yes, it was a sale. A business disguised as the gospel.
The formula is simple and perfect: tell people that God wants them to be rich, that faith is measured by material results, and that if they do not have money, something must be wrong with them. And then ask them to prove their faith by giving more money. It is the perfect business. The more convinced a person becomes, the more they give. And the more they give without seeing results, the guiltier they feel. And the guiltier they feel, the more they give to make up for it.
It is an emotional and spiritual trap at the same time.
But the saddest part is not the money. The saddest part is the damage it leaves inside. How many people today want nothing to do with God because they once believed with all their heart, gave everything they had, and felt that He did not answer? And they walked away carrying a wound that God was never the one who caused. It was people using God’s name for their own interests.
Jesus never promised that. Nowhere. On the contrary, He told His followers that in this world they would suffer. Paul, who was used by God in an incredible way, wrote some of his most powerful letters from a cold, dark prison cell. Did he lack faith? Did he give too little?
No. Faith was never a financial investment. It was never a deal.
Faith is trusting Someone even when you do not understand what is happening. It is holding on to God not because He is going to give you something, but because without Him you feel even more lost. That is completely different from what they sold us.
And if you are reading this today while carrying that wound, I want you to hear something important: it was not your fault. You did not lack faith. You did not give too little. You were failed by people who should have cared for you, not used you.
God does not measure you by your bank account. He does not love you more if you give more. His love does not work that way. And the best proof of that is that when Jesus came into this world, He did not come rich. He came in a manger. He lived without a home of His own. And He died with nothing.
That is the real God. The One who comes close to the broken, not just to those who seem to have everything figured out.
If this touched your heart, I would like us to pray together for a moment. You do not need perfect words. You do not need to pretend everything is fine. Just speak to Him as you are, from where you are, with what you feel right now.
Lord, there are wounds we carry because of things that were said in Your name but did not come from You. Forgive us for the times we reduced You to a transaction. And heal everyone who walked away believing You had failed them, when in reality You never let them go. Thank You because Your love cannot be bought or earned. It can only be received. Amen.
Somos Cristianos, connecting hearts with Christ.
