Faith Based Investing

Many people “give” to “get”.  They choose to give money so they will be blessed.  This is backwards thinking and God sees through false intentions.  We as God’s people should seek to “get” in order to “give”.  Having a financial plan based on the proper intentions of your heart can allow you to pursue both God and wealth.  As long as He is your top priority and you are seeking wealth to be more generous, you can pursue Him and wealth.  It all begins with an assessment of your heart.

Your heart reveals who you are.  It reveals your desires, your motivation, and ultimately who you become. Matthew 6:21 says “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also”.  So I ask you what is YOUR treasure and where is YOUR heart?  How do you view money and how important is money to you?

Now you may be like many and say money does not matter to you.  You may even say that money is the root of all evil or that it’s hard for the rich to enter heaven so you do not pursue wealth.  It’s not your thing… You may even think that your money struggles and challenges are your sacrifice for God.  Often many people falsely identify riches as evil because of the Rich Young Ruler in Matthew Chapter 19.

When you break God’s Word down and look at God’s most basic interest in you, he wants to know the intentions of your heart.  Your heart reveals how you view money. Are you in love with God or money?   It is “the love of money” that is the root of all evil, not the money itself.  Money is neither good nor evil.  It can be used for both good and evil purposes.  Most people I have observed who say money is not important, act otherwise. The words speak, but the actions speak louder.

A person who struggles with money is often a slave to money.  Many who say money is not important focus and desire money more than those who have abundance.  This is because those struggling are often up to their eyeballs in debt, are less likely to be able to “afford” to tithe, and choose jobs rather than callings to “pay the bills”.  In other words, they let money control their choices – what they can and cannot afford to buy, whether they can or cannot give and where they work.

This can be as dangerous as the person “in love” with money.  It can have the same power over you.  The Rich Young Ruler needed to get rid of his riches because the riches were first in his life – above God.  If you place God above riches, there is no reason to view money as evil.  In fact, it can be used for His purposes.

If you instead choose to have power over money, you can use money as a tool to advance God’s kingdom – support ministries, build churches, save lives and souls for God’s glory.  How you think about money and your relationship with money reflects your true intentions.  How you earn money and what you do is what matters most.  A desire to be wealthy so you can be more generous is not wrong.  However, a desire to be wealthy so you can be self indulgent is wrong.

I wrote The Faith-Based Millionaire to help people “get” more so they could “give” more. The “Get to Give Manifesto” involves Seven Commitments:

1)      Commit to tithing (10 percent of your income and financial gains) and commit to offerings (additional gifts above your tithe).

2)      Commit to having a larger vision of how you can help advance God’s kingdom – your specific calling and how God can use your time, talents, and treasure.

3)      Commit to change your perspective of wealth – it is a tool that is used to do more of God’s work.

4)      As a Christ follower – Commit to take more risks! Stop being so cautious all the time; stop seeking safety! God wants you to lay it on the line.

5)      Commit to increase your assets so you have more to give.

6)      Commit to become better educated about your finances – choose sound investments that complement your faith.

7)      Commit to seek wise counsel – a team of professionals that share your faith.

Poverty does not spread the Gospel, it spreads hopelessness and despair.  It costs money to fund ministries, build churches, print tracts, and feed bodies and souls.  You can win at the money game and experience financial freedom that will fully allow God to use your time, talents, and treasure!  Learn how to truly “master” your money rather than being “enslaved” by it.  This is a choice – which path will you choose?

You may be investing in companies that violate your morals and val­ues. Make a conscious effort to find out where your investments are going and what you are involved in. Look at your mutual funds and stocks and analyze your various accounts. I will show you how you can go about doing this as you work through the book. The first step is to commit to becoming aware and consider the alternatives that you may not have known you had. First, let’s look at the definition of blood money:

blood money (blud mune) n.

1. money paid to a hired killer

2. money paid as compensation to the next of kin of a mur­dered person; wergeld

3. money gotten ruthlessly at the expense of others’ lives or suffering

Source: http://www.yourdictionary.com/blood-money

You have values and beliefs that are important to you. When you compromise your values to enhance your finances, profits can resemble blood money. Both your personal internal value system and our coun­try’s external legal system define immoralities and crimes, thus both illegal and legal profits can have negative results. Even if good out­comes ultimately result from immoral or illegal activities, the underly­ing source of profit is coming from an activity that either is breaking the law or compromises your value system. This can resemble blood money as defined by definition number three below:

3. money gotten ruthlessly at the expense of others’ lives or suffering

Examples of blood money include, but are not limited to, profits from a prostitution ring given to a church, illegal drug money being used to help the poor, even legiti­mate profits from an investment in a company that explicitly violates your values. Your investment dollars may be funding immoral activities. Edmund Burke once said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

• If you disapprove of embryonic stem cell research, would you want to invest money in a company conducting this kind of research?

• If preventing the distribution of pornography is important to you, would you want to invest in companies that produce and distribute adult entertainment?

• If abortion is a key issue for you, would you want to invest in companies manufacturing abortion drugs or performing elective abortions?

Take the time to discover what values your portfolio represents. With investing comes a great moral responsibility.  Do your investments reflect your values?  If you are unsure, send me an email and I can review your portfolio for free.  Read The Faith-Based Millionaire for more strategies to help you incorporate your faith into your financial plan.