Today on Adullam’s Edge… let’s talk about being broke, both in the wallet and in the soul.
Have you ever noticed how being poor is basically getting charged a “broke tax” everywhere you turn? If you’ve got thirty grand sitting in the bank, you can stroll into a dealership, slap the cash on the table like a cowboy in an old Western, and ride off in your new-to-you chariot without a single upcharge. No stress. No nonsense. No salesperson trying to sell you the psychological equivalent of bubble wrap for your emotions.
But if you don’t have thirty grand sitting around, congratulations: you’ve just unlocked Hard Mode.
Now you aren’t just buying the $30,000 car.
You’re buying:
- the extended warranty (because they assume you can’t afford repairs)
- GAP coverage (because they assume you can’t afford an accident)
- paint protection (because they assume you’ll park next to shopping carts)
- and the privilege of paying an extra twenty grand in interest over the life of the loan
By the time it’s over, your “$30k car” somehow cost you fifty. Because you were poor.
And then there’s appliances. If your fridge dies and you don’t have three thousand bucks ready to drop, you get to play Rent-to-Own Roulette. Thirty-five bucks a week for three years for a fridge that is “lightly used,” which we all know is code for “may or may not contain a small side hustle of cockroaches running a speakeasy behind the compressor.”
You don’t get the cheap option because you’re poor.
So you pay more.
And eating healthy? Forget it. When your grocery budget is on life support, you’re not buying quinoa and organic salmon. You’re stacking ramen bricks like a contractor planning a retaining wall. Beanie-weenies become a food group. The price isn’t at the register; the price shows up later in doctor’s bills and lab results.
Being poor costs more.
Anyone who has lived it knows.
But here’s the turn: your spiritual life works exactly the same way.
When you’re rich in spirit — when your heart is fed, your faith is rooted, and you’re walking with God — you have all you need. Life still throws punches, but they don’t bankrupt your soul. The peace, the stability, the sense of purpose… those things are wealth you can spend all day long.
But when you’re spiritually broke?
Everything costs more.
Small problems feel like emergencies.
Minor setbacks feel catastrophic.
Temptations hit harder.
Loneliness digs deeper.
Fear sits closer to the surface.
Materialism claws at you, whispering that if you just buy one more thing, you’ll finally feel okay.
And here’s the wild part:
Many of us are financially stable but spiritually bankrupt.
And many of us, when we were at our financially poorest, were in our richest place with God — because joy didn’t require anything except Him.
Materialism is draining us dry in both realms.
We chase more stuff, more upgrades, more comforts, more entertainment, and in the process we starve our spirits.
We’re buying things we can’t afford with money we don’t have to impress people who don’t care.
And God forbid you’re a young woman trying to navigate this mess.
The world doesn’t just tempt you with materialism. It hands you a quick-and-dirty Dot.Com shortcut and says:
“Here, sell your image, sell your intimacy, sell pieces of yourself to strangers for cash. Everybody’s doing it. Easy money.”
And sure, you can make bank.
But what does it cost you?
What does it strip from your identity, your dignity, your soul?
How much of yourself has to be carved off to feed the algorithm?
But let’s not pretend the other side is innocent.
For the men who buy it — you’re not escaping this unscathed.
You’re buying a lie that will never make you whole, a hollow substitute that warps your desires and drains your joy.
It violates Scripture straight up:
“Treat older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, in all purity.”
(1 Timothy 5:2)
You cannot buy someone’s body, attention, or fantasy and claim purity.
You cannot treat God’s daughters like entertainment and claim respect.
You cannot feed this machine and expect your spirit to stay healthy.
Porn, parasociality, OnlyFans — they don’t make you richer.
They make you poorer, emptier, hungrier, and less capable of real love.
They drain dignity from the women involved and integrity from the men consuming it.
“For out of the heart come evil thoughts…”
(Matthew 15:19)
If you shovel spiritual junk into your heart, don’t be surprised when junk comes out.
The world tells you all this is normal.
God calls it slavery.
And He’s right.
What if we stopped bankrupting ourselves?
What if we went back to the things that enrich the soul instead of emptying it?
What if we acted with service instead of chasing status?
What if we stayed rooted in the Word instead of the algorithm?
What if we spread the truth instead of buying the lie of consumerism?
What if being rich in spirit changed the way we see being rich in the world?
Because it will.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
(Matthew 5:3)
Jesus said the spiritually poor are blessed — because their dependence is on Him, not on stuff.
Imagine how much lighter life could feel if the size of your soul mattered more than the size of your Amazon cart.
Conclusion
Being poor is expensive.
Being spiritually poor is devastating.
But being rich in spirit — truly rich — costs nothing except your willingness to walk with God and trust Him with what you have.
This is one kind of wealth you never have to finance.
A Simple Prayer
Father, teach me to see the difference between what I want and what I need.
Make me rich in spirit, anchored in Your presence, and satisfied in You.
Pull me out of the traps of materialism and into a life that reflects Your heart.
Give me eyes to see Your blessings and hands eager to serve.
Amen.
Call to Action
Take five minutes today to look at what you’re chasing — and ask God whether it’s wealth or weight.
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