Talk 7, Family wealth
Pete Thompson
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5 Comments ↓
Money is a great servant but a terrible master. Rather than chasing wealth we should be rich in good deeds and trust God to provide for his family.
Posted in Bible Talk
Hi Pete,
You said at the 29 minute mark to praise God for his generosity and to invest in eternity (based on verse 19 “In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.” You then said “Don’t invest for your retirement. That won’t last long. Invest forever”.
What do you mean “don’t invest for your retirement”? Is it possible to save and invest so you can support yourself and your family when you retire? Do you think that you could be a good steward of the money God has given us and invest it in a way that we can be generous towards others and use it to help further the kingdom of God?
You said the solution isn’t to give everything away and live in a cave. God wants our hearts. God wants to be free from being slaves of money, and instead be slaves of God, doing what is good, being rich in good works, generous, willing to share, storing up for ourselves a good reserve for the age to come, so that we may take hold of life that is real life.
Hi David
My point about not investing for retirement is that retirement shouldn’t be our final horizon as it is for those who believe that this life is all there is. Retirement is often portrayed as one long holiday where you get to kick back and enjoy the hard earned fruits of your working life. I don’t think that’s a Christian way to think about any stage of life. We should be looking to be just as fruitful for God’s kingdom in retirement as at any other time in our lives. We may also choose to work for longer (i.e. past the minimum retirement age) in order to be more generous NOW. As you may have heard me say, “tomorrow” is not a good day to be generous.
hey Dave his is part of two talks on retirement it really good it may explain your question..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jF_x8dsvb_4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc4VX2Ng0Co
C. T. Studd put it, “Only one life, ‘twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last
The two talks are by Francis Chan
“I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc, is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charitable expenditure excludes them.”
― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity