Your resourcefulness is bigger than your resources.
People often associate giving with monetary donations, a piece of property, or tangible material things. However, we fail to recognize that our assets extend beyond this. Instead of limiting the concept of investing to certain resources, let us embrace the broader notion of resourcefulness.
- Give your valuable time. Getting involved holds a value that money cannot replace. The corporate concept of outsourcing conflicts with our Christian discipleship and stewardship. Your time matters, as it reflects the priorities of your heart.
- Serve with your gifts and abilities. The LORD has blessed you with spiritual gifts, natural talents, acquired wisdom and developed skills, so you can use them to serve others. No gift is for self-serving and self-glorifying.
- Utilize your social privileges. Aquila-Pricilla, Cornelius, Lydia, Gaius, Erastus, Jason, Crispus, and many more, used their social positions, professions, properties, and relationships for the church families and the progression of the gospel.
Invest for life success and legacy
The Western individualism has already triumphed over the Indian families. Impacted by it, we in the Global South set individual goals and pursue selfish ambitions, focusing on our own desires. To align with biblical principles, we need to develop a comprehensive philosophy for our life investments focusing on four foundational pillars — personal; family; local church; and immediate as well as global community.
Invest in your families and relatives. You need to spend time with your spouse and children to build them up in spiritual life (Ephesians 5:22-6:4; Colossians 3:18-21, 1 Peter 3:1-7). In the hustle of providing for the family or doing ministries to other families, you cannot give your second priority to the spiritual well-being of your spouse and children. Spend quality time to build up the family.
Repay the goodness bestowed upon you by your parents, grandparents and widows within your family by extending care to them in their old age (1 Timothy 5:8). While donating to charity or contributing to missions is commendable, it is also essential to address the financial challenges faced by your own relatives.
Invest in your local church families. The local church is your extended family. The early church generously and sacrificially gave to those in need within the church community (Acts 2:42-47; 4:32-37; Galatians 6:10; Romans 12:3-15). You need to contribute generously with your time, talents and financial resources. Ensure that the pastors, catechists, helpers and elders are taken good care of for a decent standard of living (1 Timothy 5:17). Please know that God’s intent in Christ is that the manifold wisdom of God should be demonstrated through your local church (Ephesians 3:9-10).
Invest in global missions. The proclamation of the gospel worldwide and the planting of churches as the families of Christ in every ethnic group is God’s mission. Like it or not, you need to partner in it. Because the church at Philippi understood its role in Christ’s mission right from the start, they partnered with Paul’s missionary work by sending coworkers and continuously providing financial support. Rich benefactors like Lydia, Gaius, Aquila-Priscilla, and many others invested significantly in the progression of the gospel. Compared to it, our giving with our expendable income is very minimal.
Invest for the eternity. Do good work for the needy, poor, orphans, widows, refugees, exploited and marginalized. Titus exhorts us to adorn the gospel of the love of Jesus by doing good works (Titus 2:9; 3:1,8,14). Jesus rightly said that such investment gives eternal rewards (Matthew 6:19-21). Give to those who are unable to repay you. Let your hands and houses be open for such people. In the Old Testament, we read the LORD Himself championed the cause of such people. We need to seek the welfare of the city.
Invest for lasting profit. Whatever you invest, do it mindfully with your best resources. Paul illustrates it with two groups of individuals. Those who build a house with subpar materials will face heavy losses in the fire of eternal judgment. But they who do their job well will enjoy the lasting profit (1 Corinthians 3:10-15).
Invest everything to get hold of Jesus. By investing anything and everything, getting hold of Jesus is our ultimate gain in life to eternity. Counting as waste and dung, Paul readily gives up all his advantages, prestigious rights and glorious fame and name “to get hold of Christ” (Philippians 3). Nothing that you have inherited, earned, gained and invested in this world is comparable to getting hold of Jesus.
A so-called successful worldly man says, “If you are born poor it’s not your mistake, but if you die poor it’s your mistake.”
But a man of God says, “If you are born poor, it’s not your mistake, but if you die rich it is your mistake.”
Before you are gone, invest all your riches, talents and time in people and get hold of Jesus alone.
(Provoked to think by Jeff Reed’s booklet, Building the Future Generation)