Too often, believers think that God's way to bring about financial breakthrough is by bringing forth a flow of more finances. While Jesus does bring forth financial provision, He also trains our hearts and minds to value money the right way and be good stewards of it.

Many Christians like being told that God will bring money to them. I admit that there are times that I find myself so easily lured into praying for God to bring in more finances to me and my family, but I have learned that bringing in money is only half of the equation. As important is how we put it out and our attitude when the finances do flow through us.

Great gain is not what we think it to be. We think that the greatest gain is earning a six-digit salary, but 1 Timothy 6:6-7 tells us, " But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world." Great gain comes not by earning more, but by learning to be content, thankful and wise with what God gives us.

Aside from contentment, one thing that God wants us to learn is a heart of generosity because it is through testing our giving that we can truly measure our heart's attitude towards money. A person who loves Jesus more than money will never have problems giving when it is commanded by God, but a person who loves money will always have excuses not to give. Matthew 6:21 says it simply as this: "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

The tricky thing about money is that when we receive it with a wrong attitude, we will never have enough of it. The many times God talks about finances, He refers not to the volume of it, but the heart that we have towards it. That's why we are warned by God's Word over and over against the love of money because no matter how much money we have, we will never find financial freedom if we don't have the right attitude.

God's roadmap to providing you with financial freedom looks a whole lot different from the one the world would have you follow. God knows that giving you a strong wave of finances without first dealing with your heart will only destroy you, so God asks that you allow Him to deal with your heart first. That's why God calls us to be generous and to have a cheerful and contented heart first - because He is just as wise as He is generous.

If you want financial freedom, ask God today to deal with your heart first before He deals with your wallet, and allow Him to work through you by learning how to be generous and to be content.  Do this and you will be surprised by how free you can feel without as much as you might have expected.