Dollars and $ense 4 // How to Invest for Eternity
Here is a link to the video we showed about generosity: https://youtu.be/62CliEkRCso
Matthew 6:21 (NIV) | Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
- We want this to read the other way around, but Jesus knew what he was talking about.
- Our treasures have their own “gravitational field,” pulling the heart in their direction.
- Do you treasure Godly things, good things, or troublesome things?
- REMEMBER: even good things can take a disproportionate role in our lives, causing us to treasure them, and as a result, drift away from God. Sometimes this is subtle, other times dramatic.
God’s Investment Funds
- God’s Growth Fund: invest in your character
– Proverbs 10:16 (NLT) | The earnings of the godly enhance their lives, but evil people squander their money on sin. - God’s Mutual Fund: invest in your relationships
– Romans 12:13 (NLT) | When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. - God’s Service Fund: invest in service opportunities to introduce people to Jesus
– Proverbs 11:24 (MSG) | The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller. - God’s Global Fund: invest in Jesus’ Great Commission
– Luke 16:9 (NIV) | Use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. - God’s Treasury Fund: invest in the church
– Proverbs 3:9-10 (TLB) | Honor the Lord by giving him the first part of all your income, and he will fill your barns with wheat and barley and overflow your wine vats with the finest wines.- Give God your best, not the rest!
- Give God what you have, not what you have leftover.
1 Timothy 6:18-19 (NLT) | They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life.
- Now, make it personal — replace the third person “they” with the first person, “I.”
- Let that be an acid test for your faith.
Reflection Questions
- Do you spend money on things that ultimately damage your character? What could you direct that money towards to build your character instead?
- Why is it important to demonstrate to people that you are in God’s family by taking care of other believers?
- What is your motivation for being generous? How does your motivation affect your generosity?
- Are you tithing—giving God the first 10 percent of all your income? If not, how can you adjust your budget to begin tithing?
- When have you used your money to invest in eternity? How have you experienced God’s blessing through that?
