Where to Invest Your Money - Part I

Meredith Curtis — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 00:30:00 -0500

God provides financial surplus so that we can save for the future, give to the needy around us and invest. The purpose of investing money is to grow your money or to produce an income. But, if we decide to invest our money, where should we allocate it?

Invest in the Kingdom of God

We are told by Jesus to seek first the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33) and that where we place our treasure reveals where our heart is too (Matthew 6:31). Since we should not serve money as a master, or seek to grow rich (I Timothy 6:10), but we can use money to serve the Lord by investing in the Kingdom of God: supporting missionaries, tithing to our local church, giving to the poor in Jesus' Name, supporting Christian ministries, and blessing Crisis Pregnancy Centers. These are all ways we can invest in the Kingdom of God.

When my husband, Mike was a young man planning to go to seminary to answer the call of God on his life, an older man invested in the Kingdom of God by investing in Mike. He gave him a sales job with a generous base pay and commission. This money paid tuition at seminary; the beginning of a lifetime of ministry. Not only was this man investing in the Kingdom of God, he was investing in my husband's dreams!

Invest in Your Dreams

We invested in my husband's dreams too. Before we had children, we both worked. But, Mike and I lived off of his income and saved mine. We put the money in savings, along with the extra money Mike earned, to use during our seminary years. We could have lived extravagantly during those early years of marriage, but instead we were very frugal so that we could invest in Mike's dream.

God puts dreams into our hearts. Invest in making those dreams come true. Do you have a dream to paint? Invest in painting lessons. Is it your ambition to write a book? Invest in software to help with the layout. Is your dream to fly a plane? Even though flying lessons are expensive, you can put a little aside each month until you have the money to invest in your aviation dream. We can invest in our dreams!

Invest in Other People

Other people have dreams too. Parents have sent their children to universities since the Middle Ages to pursue their dreams of education and career. Some parents help their children start their own business so they can pay their own way through college.

Dave had some extra money in his bank account so he help a younger brother in the church start a business of his own. Dave gave him start-up money to get the business going. In return, Dave received a portion of the profits.

Sarah also wanted to start her own business, a hair salon. Maggie didn't have money to invest, but she did have expertise and past experience that she could share. Maggie took Sarah out to lunch once a week and shared her wisdom. The cost of this investment? Only the price of lunch for two each week.

Invest in Home Business

Leah homeschools her children and works part-time as a respiratory therapist to help make ends meet. She would love to stay home and run a business online, so she is investing money in building her internet business. She has a few hours each week that she puts into her bouncing baby business. She has had to purchase software, domain name, storage, and a monthly fee for a shopping cart. To find the extra money to invest, Leah is an avid coupon clipper and user. The money she saves is invested in her online business.

For more info on starting your own business, review Starting Your Own Business I and Starting Your Own Business II.

Next time, we will talk about investing in stocks, bonds, gold, land, and property. Until then, remember the best way to set aside money for investing is by Living Below Your Means. And when you do this, you'll have the resources to keep investing in the things of God!

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Where to Invest Your Money - Part I