Giving Up Your Belief in LackRev. Teresa Stuefloten, M. Div. 3/8/2026

 Today I am speaking about “Giving Up Your Belief in Lack,” or it might alternatively be titled “Embracing Abundance.”

The dictionary defines lack when used as a noun as: “an insufficiency, shortage or absence of something required or , desired… something that is required but is absent or in short supply.”

When used as a verb the definition is: “to be without or.. deficient in.” (dictionary.com)

What we feel we are lacking can be so many things: money, food clothing, shelter, a job, a relationship, family, friends, health, happiness, peace of mind, safety, and more.

The Truth is that we live in an abundant world with so many different kinds of animals, plants, terrain, climates, and life. There are so many wonderful things to see and experience in this abundant world.

We can easily confuse wants with needs. Perhaps we have a house to live in and it shelters us from the elements and provides a comfortable place to eat, relax and sleep. But we want a bigger house in a “better’ neighborhood. That is a want, not a need. Our need is supplied. Now, if we do not have a home and are living on the streets, then that is a truly a need.

Our society and the media try to convince us that we need things that we do not truly need, all for the profit of the corporations that are already making millions and billions of dollars. If we can learn to be happy with what we have and practice contentment, we will have a much happier life. Chasing material things is a waste of our precious life in the physical body on this Earth.

Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

We are here to learn and grow in consciousness. We are not here to get more stuff. There is a false saying, “The one who dies with the most toys wins.” Totally false! Will any of us be taking those toys with us to the other side of the veil? No!!! This life is not meant to be about getting more “stuff!”

The source of our belief in lack is our false feeling of being separate from our Source. We falsely feel that we are out here on our own, without support, and that we have to do it all on our own. This false belief breeds fear. And what do we do when we feel fearful? We grasp at what we think will bring us safety. This false belief in lack is the source of poverty and greed, physical and mental illness, dysfunctional relationships, and war.

We have war between countries and war in relationships. A country wants the land another country has and tries to take it by force, feeling somehow justified. A couple battles for the resources they have together, feeling justified to spend if the other one spends, rather than having a plan together for their mutual good.

All of this fear and grasping is of the ego. The ego thinks it is in charge It sees the physical body as separate from other physical bodies and thinks it is independent because it judges from false appearance rather than Truth. There is no lack in God. It is the ego that sees lack because it sees itself as separate from God, alone in the world, having to fend for itself.

The Soul, the true Self, knows itself to be one with Source. The Soul knows it does not need to grasp for its needs. The Soul knows its needs are always met. God is our Source, Creator and Sustainer. We are never separate from God, therefore we are never separate from our source of all that is.

Matthew 6:25-29 says, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

God, our Source, is constantly renewing our physical body. According to Scientific American, “Roughly 330 billion cells (+/-20 billion) turn over every day. About 86 percent are blood cells, and 12 percent are gut cells.” So if you experience a health challenge, do not accept the false belief in lack of health. Know that your belief in health can heal your body because it is working to regenerate itself constantly.

It is our beliefs that control how we experience life. Emmet Fox, prominent Divine Science minister of the 1930s and 40s wrote a booklet called, "The 7 Day Mental Diet.” In it he says,

“The most important of all factors in your life is the mental diet on which you live. It is the food which you furnish to your mind that determines the whole character of your life. It is the thoughts you allow yourself to think, the subjects you allow your mind to dwell upon, which make you and your surroundings what they are. As thy days, so shall they strength be. Everything in your life today - the state of your body, whether healthy or sick, the state of your fortune, whether prosperous or impoverished, the state of your home, whether happy or the reverse, the present condition of every phase of your life in fact - is entirely conditioned by the thoughts and feelings which you have entertained in the past, by the habitual tone of your past thinking. And the condition of your life tomorrow, and next week, and next year, will be entirely conditioned by the thoughts and feeling you choose to entertain from now onwards.”

“In other words, you choose your life, that is to say, you choose all of the conditions of your life, when you choose the thoughts upon which you allow your mind to dwell. Thought is the real causative force in life, and there is no other. You cannot have one kind of mind and another kind of environment. This means you cannot change your environment while leaving your mind unchanged, nor - and this is the supreme key to life…- can you change your mind without your environment changing too.”

“This is the real key to life: if you change your mind your conditions must change, too - your body must change, your daily work or other activities must change; your home must change; the color-tone of your whole life must change - for whether you be habitually happy and cheerful, or low-spirited and fearful, depends entirely on the quality of the mental food upon which you diet yourself.”

“Please be very clear about this. If you change your mind your conditions must change, too. We are transformed by the renewing of our minds. So now you will see that your mental diet is really the most important thing in your whole life.”

“This may be called the Great Cosmic Law, and its truth is seen to be perfectly obvious when once it is clearly stated in this way. In fact, I do not know of any thoughtful person who denies its essential truth. The practical difficulty in applying it, however, arises from the fact that our thoughts are so close to us that it is difficult, without a little practice, to stand back as it were and look at them objectively.”

Emmet Fox goes on to explain that, “In short, if you want to make your life happy and worth while, which is what God wishes you make it, you must begin immediately to train yourself in the habit of thought selection and thought control. This will be exceedingly difficult for the first few days, but if you persevere you will find that it will become rapidly easier, and it is actually the most interesting experiment that you could possibly make. In  fact, this thought control is the most thrilling interesting hobby that anyone could take up. You will be amazed at the interesting things that you will learn about yourself, and you will get results from the beginning.” (End of quote)

One way to observe your belief in lack or abundance of money is to look at your attitude toward giving to others. Do you believe that you have enough to give, or do you believe that you must hold on to the money you have because you need it. Those who believe that they have enough to give have an abundant and generous mindset. They believe that they have enough to give because their supply will be constantly replenished. They have faith in the Divine Supply, which is infinite.

Psalm 23 begins with, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” We will be supplied. Believe that you can give because you will be supplied.

Giving to others affirms your belief in abundance. Giving opens the flow of abundance. Giving is trusting in the Divine to supply all of our needs abundantly. Give to a spiritual center. Give to an organization that provides food for those in need. Give to an organization that provides medical aide to those in need. Give to an organization that helps animals. Give your unneeded clothing to an organization that will pass it on free of charge to those in need. Have joy in giving, knowing you are helping others.

Proverbs 3:9 says, “Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your produce.”

You can start with giving any amount you are comfortable with. Some call this practice tithing. It is giving back to Source. Giving your first fruits means giving right at the beginning of receiving, not holding on to see how much will be left over. Give with a feeling of gratitude for all you have received. Gratitude opens the space for more to flow in to you. Always have a grateful heart. Give from what you have and you will be given more.

Luke 21:1-4 records Christ Jesus words about a poor widow: “Jesus then looked at the rich men who were casting their offerings into the treasury. And he also saw a poor widow who cast in two pennies. And he said, truly I say to you that this poor widow has cast in more than every man. For all of these cast into the house of the offerings of God of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has cast in everything she has earned.”

Give from what you have and you will be given more. Get outside the ego’s narrow vision of I, me, mine, and lack. See your oneness with all beings. When you see oneness you will just naturally want to help and give to others. Volunteer your time to help others. There are many organizations that need and welcome volunteers. And you will feel good about yourself for helping others.

2 Corinthians 9:7 says, “ So let every person give according to what he has decided in his mind, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.”

Going deep in our spiritual practice is how we come to know our oneness with our Source and to contact our Source within.

1 Corinthians 3:16 says, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”

And Luke 17:21 says, “… for behold, the kingdom of God is within you.”

It is by going within in prayer and meditation that we contact the Source of all abundance and know that we are always connected to that Source because it is within us. Our abundance comes forth from within us, from God, the source of all good. We are supplied in every moment when we know the true source of our abundance. There is no lack in God. When we know our oneness with God we know our oneness with our limitless supply, flowing from within our consciousness. Believe and you will see.

20th century mystic, Joel Goldsmith, said, “You have never seen supply because supply does not exist in the visible realm.  Supply is spirit, a life-force, completely invisible and infinite in nature. Supply is the infinite visible.  Supply is something within your own being.  It is the truth that God constitutes your being.  Consciously to know God as the very I of your being, having that, you have the source of all supply.” 

We have to do our part to manifest our abundance, too. For example, if you are unemployed and a job is offered, but it is not your ideal job, accept gratefully. Do that job while you are looking for your ideal job, with the firm belief that it will be provided, and it will come to you.

Perhaps your car has broken down and you need a car, then let others know that you are looking for a reliable car at a certain price, and then see it manifesting easily. It may be that someone you talk to has an extra car they would be willing to part with, or they know someone who has a car they do not need any more. In putting out the word and seeing your need fulfilled you are doing your part.

Sometimes our supply comes in unexpected ways. Our friend, Debbi Rosales in McHenry, Illinois, who is a member of our Wednesday Goldsmith Zoom book Study Group along with her husband David, always listens to the messages she gets from God. This is her story, in her own words, of being a channel for God’s abundance to flow to a person in need. Debbi says:

        A hunch is very persistent and will not subside until you either ignore it or act upon it. It usually speaks in a still small voice, and I also call it intuition of clairaudience. An example      of this is a story from a summer vacation I took out west. My husband stopped for gas. While waiting I sat there looking up into a beautiful blue sky, feeling contented. As I did this, I heard a voice say, “You need to buy a lottery ticket.” I told God I don’t play the lottery. God said, “Well I have a good feeling about this one. It’s only a dollar.” So I got one.

        That night I asked our hotel clerk to check the lottery results for us. He said, “You have won $200.” I knew there was a reason why I won, so I asked my husband to front me the money, and I’ll stop and repay us on the way home when I turn the ticket in. Four days later we were in Sheridan, Wyoming. My husband needed a new pair of jeans at Walmart. I sat outside the dressing room and saw a young man of 20 or so age, hunched in a chair, covered in dirt, looking so tired. He said he worked in a coal mine and can’t seem to get ahead. I wished I could hug him, I felt so bad for him. He said his baby needed medicine and his wife wants a dress. I asked, “Can your mom help?” He said, “No, she is a drinker.”

        His wife came out of one dressing room and my husband out of another. The again, I heard a small inner voice say, “He gets the money.” I was so happy to hear this. I ran to my husband, grabbed the cart, and said, ‘We have to find this boy, he gets the money.” We started running, pushing the cart down the aisles. We found the two of them at the pharmacy. I told him how God instructed me to buy the lottery ticket, and God said it was meant for you. I said, “Someone in heaven loves you and cares about you. Please take this $200. Do not feel bad because it only cost me $1.00 and listening to Spirit.” I said, “I am only asking that when you are successful, and I feel you will be, please pay it forward to someone else.” This gave my husband and me such joy.

        But the story continues 2 years later. I was eating in the employee break room near Christmas. A coworker came in and said, “I had my radio on and heard a guy from Sheridan, Wyoming call in and said that a Chicago nurse said God told her to buy a lottery ticket. He was at Walmart when it happened.” She told the story as it happened. But the best part for me is in the end he said he knew the angels were there for him. He started paying it forward, just as the nurse had told him to do. Opportunities have come his way and now he is successful. I have always worried about this guy and delighted he is thriving. I then closed my eyes and saw a lake. A pebble was thrown into it and when the ripple got to the other side, it then returned back to me. The voice said, “From Chicago to Wyoming and now back to you.” What a beautiful Christmas present this was.

This beautiful true story illustrates the truth that we can be a channel for God’s abundance to flow to some else. And it also illustrates the principle that when we give, we prosper.

In Truth there is no lack, so believe in God’s Divine abundance and change your fortune. It is all in your beliefs and the thoughts you allow your mind to entertain. Keep vigilance with your thoughts. When you catch yourself entertaining negative thoughts of lack, reframe your thoughts to those of abundance.

When you get up in the morning, thank God for the new day and the abundance of good in your life. When you go to bed at night, thank God for the abundance of blessings in that day. Name the things you are grateful for.

If you ever find yourself thinking things like, “I never have enough.” or “The money goes out faster than it comes in.”, then you need some positive affirmations to turn your thinking around and invite your abundance in.

The following are some positive affirmations from Louise Hay, founder of Hay House publishing company: (louisehay.com)

“I am open and receptive to all the good and abundance in the Universe. Thank you, Life.”

“I have unlimited choices. Opportunities are everywhere.”

“Wherever it is that I work, I am deeply appreciated and well compensated.”

“I truly believe that we are here to bless and prosper each other. I reflect this in my daily interactions.”

“I support others in becoming prosperous, and in turn, life supports me in wondrous ways.”

“I am now willing to be open to the unlimited prosperity that exists everywhere.”

“I live in a loving, abundant, harmonious universe and I am grateful.”

“Life supplies all my needs in great abundance. I trust life.”

“I express gratitude for all the good in my life. Each day brings wonderful new surprises.”

“I deserve the best and accept the best now.”

“My good comes from everywhere and everyone.”

"All is well in my world.”

"Everything is working out for my highest good.”

I will end with my own, “Thank you Divine Source.” And so, it is!