What Is My Inheritance in Christ? Why You Still Feel Broke

What is my inheritance in Christ?

Your inheritance in Christ is everything God has already given you as His daughter — you're a co-heir with Christ (Romans 8:17), chosen, adopted, and sealed (Ephesians 1:3–14). It isn't something you strive to earn. It's something you learn to understand, value, steward, and multiply. Most Christian working moms aren't lacking anything. They just haven't learned how to live in what they already have.

By Marina Tolentino | September 24, 2026

Pretend for a second you just closed on a house.

You got the keys. You did the little photo in front of the house so your realtor can post it. Your name is on the deed, the paperwork's signed, and the loan has funded.

And you're sleeping in your car in the driveway.

That's a lot of us spiritually. (Hi, that's me.) I've been the girl who knew every verse about who she was in Christ — and was still out there striving, like I had to earn a spot at a table that already had my name on it.

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Blessing vs. inheritance: same Dad, different experience

This is part two of our identity series, built on three questions: Who are you? What do you have? What are you called to do? Today is question two.

If you missed Episode 62 on the three chairs, go back first. Here's the 90-second version:

• Chair three is peeking in the window. Curious, but not part of the family yet.
• Chair two knows Jesus and loves Him — and is still trying to earn what she already has. Not because she's bad. Because she's tired.
• Chair one knows she's a daughter. She works from her identity, not for it.

Chair two lives as a child of blessing. Chair one lives as a child of inheritance. Same Dad, same family, two completely different experiences in the very same house.

Remember the prodigal son? When he came home, his father called for the robe, the ring, and the sandals (Luke 15:22).

• The robe is grace through faith. Everyone in the family gets one — chair one and chair two.
• The ring is like a signet ring. It means you represent your Father. You can walk into the store and sign for things, and He's responsible for the bill. It's the master key to the safe.
• The sandals mean wherever you go, you go with Jesus, carrying peace. (That's where next week's episode on calling picks up.)

Most of us have the ring. We just don't know how to use it. Here's the difference: a blessing is something God gives you. An inheritance is something God trusts you with. A blessing meets a need. An inheritance carries responsibility.

And this is the wild part. Chair two spends her whole life chasing the inheritance. Chair one doesn't chase it. The inheritance gets her.

Paul prayed that believers who already had the inheritance would receive a spirit of wisdom and revelation to know the hope of their calling, the riches of their inheritance, and the surpassing greatness of His power (Ephesians 1:17–19). You pray that for someone who's rich and doesn't know it. That's a lot of us — secret millionaires dressed like we're broke.

Four ways you're richer than you're living

1. You're an authorized user on the family card

Your name is already embossed on it. But you're at Target with your own debit card, checking your balance, buying the store brand, and stressing out — with His card in the same wallet.

God's got the Amex. You're over here clipping coupons.

That's the ring. And notice who the father handed it to: the son who had already blown it. When we finally get who we are and whose we are, we lose the desire to go back.

2. It's the 401(k) match you never claimed

Free money, sitting there every paycheck, and you never claimed it because you never read the plan documents. You didn't understand it, so you didn't value it enough to do the 15-minute thing.

Here's the kingdom principle: what you don't understand, you can't value. What you don't value, you can't steward. That's why Paul prays for revelation in Ephesians before he says another word about power.

3. You're under contract, not closed

Every one of my buyers knows this feeling. You're not less of an owner on day 12 of escrow. You're just not at closing yet.

Canaan was promised to Israel before a single sword came out. God gave them the deed, and it still took Joshua years of fighting to occupy it — most reckonings put the conquest around seven years. It was theirs to inherit before it was time to possess.

A process doesn't mean God is denying the promise. He cleared the way ahead of them — and they still had to take action.

4. It's the $997 course still sitting in your dashboard

Oh, I'm guilty. I bought a website template this summer for about $1,200, and it's still not live. It's gonna be beautiful one day.

We own it, we logged in once, and now we're on YouTube at 11 p.m. watching free content about the thing we already paid for.

That's the difference between knowing about your inheritance and taking responsibility for it. Knowing about it costs you nothing. Putting it to work costs you your Tuesday night.

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If you want to take notes and read the verses for yourself, there's a free companion guide for this episode, You Already Have It. It has the scripture references, the reflection questions, and the problem-to-promise exercise so you can pray through this instead of skimming past it. Get the free guide here.

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So why don't I feel rich?

A lot of us know exactly who we are in Jesus on paper, and we're not experiencing any of it yet.

So we start auditing ourselves. What did I do wrong? What sin is blocking this? Is God mad at me?

Here's what I want you to hear: nothing is wrong with you. You're in a period of promise, growing into the maturity to carry the weight of it.

If God handed you all of it today, it'd be like giving car keys to a 10-year-old. My son gets 500 feet of straight farm road, not the H-1 freeway. That's not withholding. That's protection.

Some inheritance comes through proximity, too. Elisha asked Elijah for a double portion of his spirit (2 Kings 2:9), but Elijah had already walked through years of testing. I believe our leaders' ceiling can become our floor, whether that's your pastor or a connect group leader.

And drought does one of two things: it dries you out, or it drives your roots deep. When the rain comes, deep roots can drink it in for the biggest harvest of your life.

The question in the waiting isn't "Why don't I have it yet?" It's "Am I going deep, or am I scratching the itch with one more podcast?"

How to start living in your inheritance

Here's the order, pulled from scripture and two books I love, Called to Reign by Leif Hetland and The New Creation Revelation by Edgar Sandoval Jr.:

1. Understand it. Read Ephesians 1 like it's your bank statement, not a devotional. Write down every line that says who you are and what you have.
2. Value it. Stop treating it like Christianese. Your adoption is legal, not emotional. The paperwork is signed whether you woke up feeling like a daughter today or not.
3. Steward it. Ask what you have, not what you lack. Talent, time, a network, a phone? Write until you can't write anymore. For me, it's taking something big and complicated and teaching it in plain language (thank you, preschool teacher degree).
4. Multiply it. In the parable of the talents, the faithful servants were told, "You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much" (Matthew 25:21). Not a gold star for performing — a natural increase in capacity.
5. Walk in authority. Authority shows up in the areas you've already been faithful in. If your budget is on lock and you tithe, that's where more tends to flow. Not works-based — more like resistance training.

Most of us are still stuck on steps one and two.

A few ways to put this to work this week:

• Make the chair one switch. Take one thing you're calling a problem. Ask the Holy Spirit how He sees it. Then call it a promise and act like it for a whole week.
• Abide. A branch doesn't strain to bear fruit. It stays attached to the vine (John 15:4–5). Edgar says it better than I can: "Fruit is the branch's inheritance for staying connected." Fruit isn't the branch's resume.
• Behold instead of behavior-modify. You can't work your way into becoming what you already are. Religion keeps us sin-conscious. The gospel keeps us Him-conscious. One produces exhaustion, the other produces rest.
• Practice godfidence. That's my pastor Lisa Kai's word — God-confidence. When you stop needing His blessing to validate who you are, that's when He knows He can trust you with it.

And for the working mom in particular:

• If you're building something and still asking permission from people who didn't give you the assignment — stop and notice that.
• If you won't charge what you're worth because deep down you're still auditioning for your own life — girl, I've been there. Our furniture rental business got nickel-and-dimed until we dropped our prices.
• If you think rest has to be earned back after a productive day — that's chair two talking. Chair two is a really good planner. Chair one has the same to-do list and a completely different nervous system.

God sees the forest

We look at a zinnia seed and see a zinnia. Duh.

God looks at that same seed and sees the flower garden, then the flower farm, then the floral design business. He's not only looking at your potential. He's looking at your destiny.

This foundation comes before your assignment. If you skip it, you'll spend your life looking for validation in the very things you were supposed to be free in. You'll create content out of insecurity and call it your calling.

So get out of the car. Walk into the house. It's already yours.

When you're ready for question three, read What Is My Calling as a Christian Working Mom? — and subscribe to Work Like A Mother so you don't miss the rest of this series. Grab the You Already Have It companion guide and study this one like you're in school.

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About Marina Tolentino
Marina Tolentino is a REALTOR®, author, and the host of the Work Like A Mother podcast, where she helps Christian working moms feel confident about their next move — at home, in faith, and in business. Listen and subscribe at marinatolentino.com/podcast.