Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 64 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom.

It's Only Money (Part 7)

Thank you for joining us for our 7 day a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 64 of our Trek, and today we are finishing up our series on acquiring and investing wealth. Wealth accumulation serves us two purposes. One is that it frees us to be able to make wise choices in life that are not dependent on being a servant to others, and second, it allows us the ability to make a positive impact on the lives of others through the distribution of that wealth. As we practice this each day, it will create the living legacy, not to honor ourselves, but to honor our creator.

We are recording our podcast from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. This morning, we worshipped with Paula’s mom at the church where she used to attend when we lived in Marietta full time.  This evening we were blessed to share time with our middle son Barnabas, his wife Leesha, and other family and friends at a baby shower for our soon to arrive granddaughter who is due in late September. As proud grandparents we are excited and looking forward to our sixth grandchild.

We are concluding our “It’s Only Money” Trek today. We have explored a different trail each day on our Trek to true wealth. As we approach our destination on this important trek, the land of financial freedom is in site, and I would like to share some concluding thoughts. So, let’s head out for another day and accumulate the additional wisdom nuggets that we find along the path.

Our guiding map for our Trek this week has primarily been the book of Proverbs, and we have learned that we must be willing to work in order to obtain wealth. There are no shortcuts on this trek of life. After you have done your part in planning, preparing, and executing your work, you must also realize that when you do prosper in any area of life, it is ultimately God that prospers you. When you forget where your material provisions come from, you start down the slippery trail of pride and arrogance thinking you have succeeded on your own. In reality, we are on this Trek together, and we should do all that we can to assist one another.

Here our four areas to consider.

1. Material wealth does not come to everyone. It is a gift that God has given some. In the eyes of most of the inhabitants of this world, all Americans are wealthy, and to a certain extent we are.  Many people, though, are living a false sense of wealth that is dependent on loans and credit cards. There are certain natural and Biblical precepts that, if followed, will allow anyone to be in a position where they can use their wealth, whether it is small or great to positively impact the lives of others.

If you have material wealth now or obtain it in the future by practicing the principles we have gathered this week, please take to heart this advice that the Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to his Protégé Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:18-19, "Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.  Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share."

2. We should always look at our material possessions in terms of the principle of stewardship. A steward does not own anything, but he has been put in charge of its use. This is hard for many to grasp, and I think it is more prevalent in America where we take great pride in ownership.

If you think about this principle, you will realize that all of life is this way. We come into this world with nothing, and we certainly cannot take anything with us ...