I have come to realised that one of the greatest limitations that many believers have is not a lack of faith, but a poor worldview. Being raised in church I was taught about heaven, how to be holy and how to live righteously and these things are important. But I noticed after a time that something was wrong: Many Christians unconsciously live their spiritual life separated from their physical life. We pray and fast for success and some other things, but we are careless about following the principles that are causing us to be successful in other areas.
We wish for wealth in heaven, but reject the wisdom to produce wealth in earth. Having a good worldview means knowing how the world functions in the sight of God and how we can apply our thoughts and actions. It is the viewpoint through which we view life, success, relations with people, purpose and things of that nature. A healthy worldview allows us to see both realms, the spiritual and the physical, as parts of God's Plan. It makes us aware that faith and wisdom are not enemies, but partners.
I mention Christians particularly because at least I have seen it to be a fact the people who do not identify themselves as Christians or who pursue our beliefs, for the most part, have a better understanding of the workings of the world than we do. They may not talk about heaven, but they excel in the application and use of universal principles, such as these —discipline, diligence, generosity, planning and creativity—that are, (in truth) biblical principles.
Even Jesus recognized his fact when he made this remark: "The children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light (Luke 16:1–13)." He told the story of a certain servant who showed wisdom in managing the business of his Master. The lesson was not about praising dishonesty of the unjust servant but to show the wisdom—knowing how to carry on in this system—in which we live.
That does not mean the Christian is unwise. Our thought is simply that many have limited their wisdom to the spiritual life and point of view - the things that has to deal with the real spiritual life, while they ignore the physical world, in which they live and work and have to contend with. We dream of walking on streets of gold over in heaven, but we refuse to learn how to handle money down here in the world.
Why should we wish to live in the spirit of happiness, in a heaven that we have not seen, while we suffer the handicap of unnecessary poverty and hardships here in this life? Why not try to experience a little of that abundance of life now by practicing and applying God's principles for wealth, fruitfulness and stewardship?
If more Christians will develop a balanced outlook—a balanced world viewpoint, one that honors our God and gives us the proper amount of the practical wisdom that is good for success—they will not only prepare themselves for a happy place in heaven, but they will work successfully, too, here in this life. After all, the same God, who made the realm of the heaven also made this life of ours, to be lived and enjoyed with good management of the worldly affairs of life.