I was born in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, an island where natural beauty often masked the quiet struggles of its people. My earliest memories weren’t filled with luxury or privilege, but with the simple understanding that survival was what mattered most.
Though I was born on the western side of the island, I don’t remember living there. Early on, circumstances forced my mother to return to her childhood home in Barrio Nuevo, Bayamón—a poor mountainous area where my grandparents lived. That’s where I spent the first eight years of my life.
We didn’t have much, but I didn’t fully grasp that we lived in poverty. Meals weren’t always guaranteed, and my mother carried the full weight of providing for us alone. There was no husband to help. No safety net—just her determination to provide for her family.
Shortly after I turned eight, we left Puerto Rico and moved to Chicago, Illinois. The culture shock hit me hard. I was a mountain kid dropped into the chaos of a big city. It wasn’t just the weather or the food—everything was different. But one thing remained the same, the struggle. We hadn’t escaped poverty. We had just relocated it.
The streets of Chicago weren’t kinder than those back home. They were just louder,
faster, colder. We were still fighting—just different battles. And I was beginning to understand that the hardest ones weren’t always the ones you could see.
The Moment Everything Changed
My mother was still trying to make ends meet. She worked tirelessly to build a better life for us, but I could see it in her eyes—the exhaustion, the uncertainty, the weight of always being one step behind.
It didn’t take long for me to understand that poverty wasn’t just about not having money. It was a system. A cycle. A mindset that quietly convinced you this was all there was. That realization cracked something open in me. Poverty wasn’t just around me—it was trying to live inside me.
Even as a child I wanted out.
That year, life hit harder than ever. We were living in a cramped two-bedroom apartment—nine of us packed into a space meant for four. One evening, my older brother Luis, who was almost sixteen, walked through the door with a fifteen-year-old girl I’d never seen before. She was six months pregnant.
When she came home that evening and saw the girl, something in her broke. She didn’t yell. She didn’t throw things. She cried. She blamed herself—for being absent, for not protecting us from the streets, for working two jobs just to keep us alive.
That moment—her pain—changed me and led to a deep conviction. “I will never live in poverty! I will get my mother out of here.” That was the day I stopped being a kid.
3 Lessons That Broke My Poverty Mindset
The poverty we fight on the outside is often rooted in what we’ve believed on the inside. Before it shows up as an empty bank account, unpaid bills, no food on the table, or even bankruptcy, it takes root in belief systems:
There’s never enough.
I’m not worthy of wealth.
People like me aren’t meant to prosper.
These thoughts don’t just haunt us—they shape us. They affect our decisions, our expectations, and eventually our realities. You could hand someone a million dollars, but if their inner narrative still sounds like lack, fear, and shame, they’ll lose it. Why?
Because their internal programming hasn’t changed.
Change your mindset, and your condition will follow. If you’re thinking, “I don’t come from money.” Neither did I. If you’re thinking, “I don’t have connections.” I started out without any as well.
Here are the three realizations that changed everything:
1. A WEALTH MINDSET SEES OPPORTUNITY.
It doesn’t come from having more; it comes from seeing differently—believing differently. Someone with a wealth mindset can start with nothing and build abundance over time, not because they had more, but because they saw more.
Breaking poverty begins by confronting the lies—about your worth and your future. The
ones that keep you chasing crumbs when you were born to steward inheritance. And that confrontation starts where every true transformation does: the renewing of your mind.
2. THE BREAKTHROUGH STARTS WITH REVELATION.
The first step to wealth isn’t a paycheck, an inheritance, or an opportunity. It’s revelation: God has already given you the power to create wealth. He didn’t promise to drop money into your lap. He gave you the ability to produce, to innovate, to multiply.
That ability is already present. It’s in your gifts. It’s in your ideas. It’s in your creativity
and your willingness to steward what you already have.
The moment you stop looking outward and begin activating what’s already inside,
everything changes. You’re not starting from lack. You’re starting from legacy. Wealth isn’t something to chase. It’s something to cultivate through obedience, diligence, and faith.
Your Father gave you the seed.
Now it’s your turn to grow it.
3. PURPOSE IS THE GOAL.
If wealth begins with revelation, it’s sustained by purpose. Purpose gives direction. It aligns you with divine calling, clarifies what to build, and reveals why it matters. Purpose isn’t always loud or obvious, but it speaks in conviction and clarity. And when you follow it, provision follows you.
The most fulfilled people I’ve met aren’t chasing money. They’re walking boldly in their assignment. Wealth becomes a servant—not a master.
So let me say it plainly: Purpose attracts prosperity.
And when you live from purpose, you stop chasing—and start building what lasts.
Looking to bridge your faith with your financial goals and build wealth that creates lasting impact?
Jerry Lopez knows exactly what that journey looks like. After growing up in poverty and losing his first million in the 2008 crash, he discovered something powerful: the same biblical principles that guided ancient kings can transform modern finances. In his brand-new book, Faithonomics, Lopez shares the hard-won lessons from his path from a cramped Chicago apartment to founding blockchain companies that are reshaping philanthropy. This isn’t just another finance book—it’s a roadmap for anyone ready to build wealth that serves a higher purpose and creates lasting impact beyond their lifetime. Click here to get your copy today!
About Jerry Lopez
Jerry Lopez is a Kingdom entrepreneur, philanthropist, and the CEO & Founder of PhilSocial, a blockchain-powered social media app that drives philanthropy through peer-to-peer giving. He advises global companies, architects scalable tech systems, and trains faith-driven leaders to merge purpose with performance. His companies and partners are impacting lives in over 100 nations, from Latin America to Southeast Asia.
