God’s Investment Strategy is YOU!
Harness the Value of Life to Invest in Yourself & Others
All investments throughout the world are investments in people.
The stock market, real estate market, bond market, businesses, governments, etc. are all rooted in the value of people. Stocks may have their own supply and demand apart from the issuing company, but the value of the stock is largely driven by the value of that company; the value of the company is driven by the people involved in the company. The people stewarding the company determine the success of the company and the stock. The value of the stock is also determined by those who are willing to buy the stock, which is a decision made by people who may see the value of that company. If people want it, the price can go up; if they do not want it anymore, the price can go down. It is all based on the decision-making process of people, or human behavior.
The same is true for Real Estate. People take natural resources and turn them into building materials; people use those goods to build structures; people use those structures to provide a need to themselves and/or other people; people exchange their time, talents, and treasures to use these structures.
People are the value behind valuable things.
This seems basic, but it is easy to forget that investments themselves do not provide a return, but the people involved do.
This is the perspective that God has about us. We are His investment, and we produce a return (of sorts) for His purpose. He has taught us these value principles from the very beginning.
From the Beginning
God created people, in His image, to rule over and manage the world according to His plan for the world, with God being the creator and owner of it all. God gives us life and breath; He gives us blessings, purpose, and responsibilities; He provides for our needs as we obediently live for Him (Genesis 1:26–31). God is the source of everything good in life. He can also make good come from bad things that exist in the world (Romans 8:28).
Note: If God is the source from which all things are made, then all the attributes within the whole universe must exist in His character (Romans 1:20).
God gives us a home that He already provided so we can be with Him and have a personal relationship with Him. He gives us a purpose that satisfies our personal desires and brings Him glory. He gives us freedom to live our lives while guiding us unto correct living so we may live to our full potential. God surrounds us with other people to love and unite with for mutual benefits (Genesis 2:7, 15–27).
Even though we make mistakes, God clothes and cares for us in our times of need (Genesis 3:21).
God is at work for our good and His glory. It is His vision for His servants to be blessed by Him so they can be a blessing throughout the world (Genesis 12:1–5).
It is up to us to believe that God will fulfill His vision, then act when He tells us to act. Complete faith in God would compel us to utilize everything in our control for His vision, all our time, abilities, relationships, possessions, etc. God provided these things to us, to begin with, for the very purpose of participating in His plan for the world.
God created us and everything else, including the ingredients to build wealth (Deuteronomy 8:18); He also gives us the abilities to attract, store, and deploy His wealth for His purpose. Having wealth (not necessarily money) is evidence of God’s blessing to us, and our wise management of His blessings, which may attract more blessings (Matthew 25:29). Really just being alive is evidence of His grace and love for us.
When we have accepted God’s vision and plan for our life, and we are actively participating in the advancement of His kingdom, He has promised us that everything we need for the job will be provided (Luke 12:22–23, 30–32).
How does God tell us to participate in the advancement of His kingdom?
How do we live out His vision for our lives and live by faith in His provisions?
We first must acknowledge God’s current provisions in our lives by reflecting and taking inventory of our blessings, then thanking our loving God for them. Now that we have received His blessings, we have an opportunity, and a responsibility, to put them to work to make those blessings grow and maximize the impact for ourselves and others (Luke 19:11–26).
God entrusts us with His property based on our current abilities with the expectation that we will grow/develop as His managers and therefore increase our capacity to receive more to manage (Matthew 25:14–29). Again, I’m not necessarily talking about money, but money is included.
It is remarkable that we have such a loving personal God that wants us to come near to Him so that He can share more of His gifts with us (James 4:8).
God is willing to give us what we ask, help us find what we truly desire, and open doors for us, if we will just ask Him, seek Him, and take steps in faith toward Him (Matthew 7:7–8).
The reason Jesus (God incarnate) chose to live with us as a “normal” man was to reconcile us to God so that we would have life to the full (John 10:10). He purchased our salvation with his life (1Corinthians 6:19–20).
When we have entered into a personal relationship with God, He begins an amazing transformation in us (1Thessalonians 5:23–24, Philippians 2:23, Ephesians 2:10).
We not only discover who God is, He also reveals who he made us to be and the purpose for which He created us (Romans 12:6–8)
Knowing what all God has done for us, what is more valuable than human life in all the created universe?
God has blessed us tremendously; from the breath we breath, to the wealth we build. God has stored so much of His value in people. As mentioned before, “If God is the source from which all things are made, then all the attributes within the whole universe must exist in His character (Romans 1:20),” we can see the value God stores in people, is Himself, for His glory, not ours.
If God values us so much, how can we maximize the value of our life for the advancement of all life?
How much value does one human life hold?
My desire is that the reader, at this point, now sees a small glimpse of the incredible love of God, and the immense value He has placed in every person. It seems God’s answer is: Priceless.
However, a small piece of that value can be measured in the material wealth that flows around a person. Basic economics teaches that wealth is the ability to provide Goods & Services to people (Biblical Perspective: Do Good & Serve Others), not money itself. However, Money is a representation of value in the material Goods & Services that can be exchanged between people.
Even though a person is much more valuable than can be measured with money, we can think through at least the monetary value that flows through a person, by looking at how much money is spent in the different phases of life.
For example, here is an interesting article from Forbes:
“The United States Dept of Agriculture (USDA) issued a report, “The Cost of Raising A Child.” It has been tracking the cost of raising a child since 1960 and the report examines expenses by age of the child, household income, budgetary component, and region of the Country. It used data from the Consumer Expenditures Survey and the numbers are based on 2015 data. The report did not include the cost of a college education. The cost of raising a child, as listed in its Feb 18, 2020 blog, until age 18 at $233,610.00 for food, shelter and other necessities ($284,570 if adjusted for inflation).”
The article goes on to explain that the more income a household has, the greater this number is; especially when education costs are factored in. The annualized average per child would be $12,978.33 ($15,809.44 adjusted for inflation). It is mind blowing to think that this amount of money is flowing through someone’s hands on average for a fraction of one person’s life. Expenses beyond this point typically only increase, not including taxes and inflation.
What if the value of those dollars could be permanently stored prior to actually spending them?
What if these normal expenses, that we are going to spend anyway, could be redirected to build wealth that we can control, while still buying the things that we need?
Is there a way to build wealth no matter the life stage or circumstances someone is in?
In so doing, we potentially could capture the monetary value of our own lives, and easily deploy that value for our needs and the needs of others. We would be able to access large amounts of capital/value for all the major expenses of life, but also to reduce the risks of life.
With sufficient capital/value, ALL the control would be in our hands to deploy when, where, and how we choose. We are only limited by our imagination.
I encourage you to seek for yourself the power of the Infinite Banking Concept as discovered, implemented, and taught for many decades by R. Nelson Nash. He eventually wrote a book titled Becoming your Own Banker: Unlocking the Infinite Banking Concept. This 92-page book may be the most valuable book about personal finance other than the Bible. His second book is a great addition, titled Building your Wearhouse of Wealth.
Mr. Nash’s work is true to God’s design for us to be good stewards of His blessings to build wealth and invest in His people.
