“Stoll-en” Moments: Investing in Lives
Why does a person invest their money? The answer is for the return. A person invests money with the expectation or hope that the investment returns more than they deposited.
The company that you invest in, or the bank in which you place your funds, benefits as well. However, most of us really aren’t investing for the organization, we are investing for us, for our gain.
What if you invested in a person? What if your primary motivation wasn’t about what you could get, but was about what you could give? What if it was about helping someone achieve something greater than they ever thought they could? What if your reward wasn’t financial, but instead you did it because it was the right thing to do?
Most of us that are adults and have children have done this with our kids. We invest in them. We help them grow. We teach them. We want them to reach greater heights than we have reached. We want them to be better than us. Our reward is seeing that come to fruition. We can’t cash our reward in at the bank, but because we love our children, it’s worth more to us than all of the money in the world. We know it.
We do this because we love them.
What if we applied that thinking to others? Consider Philippians 2:3-4, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
We all stand on the shoulders of those that came before us. We benefit from the investment of others.
We also influence others. Think about the difference we could make if we intentionally poured into the life of someone we know. Perhaps it’s someone that needs help. Perhaps it’s someone that has an incredible gift or talent but they don’t see it. Perhaps it’s someone that recognizes their gift or talent but is afraid to develop it or reveal it. Perhaps it’s someone that lacks self-confidence. Perhaps it’s someone that’s been bullied or abused. Perhaps it’s someone that has a calling on their life and it seems that many see it, but that person doesn’t. The examples could go on and on.
The point is that God wants us to be invested in the lives of others. As the scripture verse says above “in humility count others more significant than yourselves” and “look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
You might discover that your investment in them will return to you. You’ll learn and grow through your investment in someone else. You’ll experience a return on your investment.
Where would you be today if not for the investment of others in you?
Consider that Jesus was the greatest “investor” that ever walked the earth. He prepared himself, he loved, and he suffered a horrific death to give us something we could never gain on our own: eternal life with Jesus. He invested in us. Not for money. Not for power. He’s God. He doesn’t need those things.
He did it because he loves us. Jesus invested his whole self so we could reap the reward that we don’t deserve. The reward of eternal life with Jesus.
Let’s pay it forward!
Stolle is the BCM/D executive director. You can contact him at [email protected].