Being A Good Steward
“How I rejoice that Your kingdom is not about earning and deserving! It’s about believing and receiving. Instead of balking at accepting Your gracious gifts, I want to receive all Your blessings with a grateful heart. Then Your pleasure in giving and my pleasure in receiving can flow together joyously.”
– Jesus Listens, August 26th
Have you ever wondered why you work so hard to accumulate wealth? Why do we work so hard for stuff that will go out on the curb when we’re gone? What is our ultimate purpose in working so hard and for accumulating things that don’t last? It makes me wonder if we are living for this world or the next.
I certainly think it is okay to take care of ourselves, to save, invest for the future, and even become wealthy. But what do we do with our wealth? Is it for us to save, hoard, or to stash away? Should we spend it on things that may not last, or should we give it away to our children or to others? This makes a person contemplate why he works so hard and is it okay to accumulate wealth.
It’s okay to be rich in this world, particularly since God gives all persons their ability to create wealth. If we think we are self-made men or women, we deceive ourselves. The bigger question is how we use wealth in a way that honors God and will not cause us trouble. The Bible says that God gives wealth and adds no trouble to it (Proverbs 10:22). It’s not that we have money, but it’s what we do with it that counts.
I’ve been conditioned to think that we are to make as much money as possible by investing in the world’s financial system ,so that we might be generous and give to others to spend. At times, we may keep this money for a long time, accumulating quite a stash so that we can give away bigger amounts in the future. But what if we invest earlier in God’s kingdom, such that it accumulates at His rate of return? What if it can increase at thirty, forty or 100-fold in lieu of our earthly ten percent?
We all know that when we die, we can take nothing with us. I can’t show up to heaven with a bunch of twenties in my pocket and expect them to work. So it is always wise to think ahead about how you convert your currency into one that works for eternity. Is simply giving money to a not-for-profit or ministry a way to do that? Sometimes yes and sometimes no, it just depends on what the Lord is leading you to do with the money that He has entrusted to you.
I look for opportunities to invest with other stewards, so that the money is wisely used. I’ve invested in both for-profit and not-for-profit kingdom building projects. Sometimes my money is returned, and sometimes it’s not. That’s okay. It is still building the kingdom.
I also ask myself, Is there anything so precious that I would withhold it from Jesus? All my assets are available for the kingdom, and I believe it is always better to invest as soon as possible so it compounds at the Lord’s rate of return instead of our own.
We must always remember that we are the hands and feet of Christ on this earth. He has entrusted us with His wealth to be His stewards. Once we realize that everything entrusted to us is to be used for His kingdom, then we take a different stance with how we spend our money. Again, I would like to reiterate that it’s not a problem to be wealthy in this world as long as we know what to do with it. Are we living for this life or the next? Are we building our own castle or are we building the greater kingdom of God?
About the Author
Raymond H. Harris is an architect, executive movie producer, and venture capitalist in God’s kingdom. He is founder of one of the largest architectural firms specializing in corporate architecture. The firm was ranked as the number two retail design firm in America for three years. Raymond has authored The Heart of Business, Business by Design, and Enduring Wealth: Being Rich in this World and the Next. He is also an executive producer for numerous movies distributed by Sony Pictures and Lions Gate Entertainment including I Can Only Imagine, the #1 independent film in 2018. Raymond has hiked all of the continental US National Parks and served as a Boy Scout scoutmaster for 13 years.
