How to make money that lasts: principles to follow

Make money that lasts by following these five principles. These principles are also applicable to many aspects of our lives to help us become successful.

This post is Part 3 of what I have learned from The Ability to Produce Wealth Made Practical by Chinkee Tan.

Make money that lasts by …

1. Being faithful with few
2. Following the seed principle
3. Understanding the law of seed time and harvest
4. Making plans and goals for investment
5. Honoring God with our wealth.

Make money that lasts by being faithful with few.

“If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?” Luke 16:11

There’s this parable of the three servants (or talents) which I mentioned in How to make money with active and passive income. In the story, the master was angry with one servant who was unfaithful with the little given to him. Thus, the master took the money away from him and gave it to the one who had more because they faithfully invested what they had received.  

According to Chinkee Tan, when he was starting his speaking engagement, nobody would hire him. So he volunteered to give talks without pay. Because he did well even though it was free, people started inviting him to speak, but this time, he charged fees. For him, it is faithfulness with little. 

The few or little we may have can be intelligence, physical abilities, talent or skill, money, time, and opportunity.  The question is what we do with the little we have.

To those who use well what they are given, more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.  Matthew 25: 29

Make money that lasts by following the seed principle.

Sow good seeds.  Our active income is where we get our seed capital. We can save 10-20% of our monthly earnings even if we don’t know where to invest our savings.  

For many of us, saving can mean giving up some wants or making sacrifices. Thus, we try to be careful on how and where to invest it. We also plan to use wisely future income. Our savings then becomes a good seed.

Sow seeds to multiply them. We invest our savings as seed capital to increase it. In the bank, our savings loses a certain percentage of value in time. For example, in ten years, we plan to save PHP 360,000. However, after ten years, its value will only be about PHP 350,000 or less.  

Therefore, invest your savings to earn more for retirement and inheritance and minimize inflation loss. Then, we can reinvest part of our passive income to yield more passive income.  

Remember this: The person who plants a little will have a small harvest, but the person who plants a lot will have a big harvest.   2 Corinthians 9:6 NCV

Sow seeds into good ground.  Wise farmers analyze what type of soil to sow their seeds in. Like them, we should also research the best investments we can make. 

There are many types of investment to earn passive income, but we must invest only in those we understand. Hence, the key is to learn before we invest.  

By wisdom, a house is built, and through understanding, it is established; through knowledge, its rooms are filled. Proverbs 24:3-4 

Still, other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted! Matthew 13:8 NLT

Make money that lasts …

by understanding the law of seed time and harvest.

The Bible says there is a time for everything. There is a time to sow and a time to reap. Hence, after we sow, we must learn to wait patiently for the time of harvest.  

Often, we want to see quick results. When we don’t see immediate results, we give up and change to another. As Chinkee Tan said, we should “gain wealth one step at a time.”  

Understanding this law gives us time to reap these extra benefits: 

1. Developing patience
2. Improving how we are investing 
3. Delaying gratification
4. Developing self-control
5. Planning how to spend and reinvest the harvest
6. Learning to depend on God who is Sovereign

Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows over time. Proverbs 13:11 NLT

… by making plans and goals for our investment.

And the Lord answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain upon tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its time;it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it;it will surely come, it will not delay. Habakkuk 2: 2-3

For each of our goals, we can determine the length of time we need to reach them. Thus, we can have short-term, medium-term, and long-term goals and write them on a board to see them regularly.

For example, we can have paying debts as a short-term goal and building a house as a long-term goal. These are goals that we want to achieve as the fruit of our investment or as investments themselves.     

In the absence of these goals, we may give up quickly because we don’t have a reason to continue investing. It would also be easy for us to squander the money we have earned. We often hear of people who work overseas, but after many years, have invested in nothing.  

With a plan, we can be diligent and consistent in our investing. When we do, we will reap the fruit of our investment activities.  

Diligent and wise investing make you rich. — Chinkee Tan

The plans of hard-working people earn a profit, but those who act too quickly become poor. Proverbs 21:5 NCV

Steps to take to know where to invest (by Chinkee Tan)

1. Know which type of investment account we should contribute to (e.g., mutual funds, UITF, VUL, and stocks).
2. Know how much you need to save for your retirement.
3. Decide which investments are appropriate for you.
4. Know how much you need to save every month.
5. Seek wise counsel.  

… by honoring God with our wealth.

For this principle, the word of God is more than enough to explain it. Investing is not just into money-making ways. We should also invest in the kingdom to honor the King and the Giver of our ability to get wealth. 

Seek first God’s kingdom and what God wants. Then all your other needs will be met as well.

Matthew 6:33 NCV

But store your treasures in heaven where they cannot be destroyed by moths or rust and where thieves cannot break in and steal them. Your heart will be where your treasure is.  

Matthew 6: 20-21

Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!

Malachi 3:10 NLT

One person is generous and yet grows more wealthy, but another withholds more than he should and comes to poverty. A generous person will be enriched, and the one who provides water for others will himself be satisfied.  

Proverbs 11:24-25, NET 

Does a farmer always plow and never sow? Is he forever cultivating the soil and never planting? Does he not finally plant his seeds—black cumin, cumin, wheat, barley, and emmer wheat—each in its proper way, and each in its proper place? The farmer knows just what to do, for God has given him understanding. 

Isaiah 28:24-26

Truly, honoring God with our wealth multiplies it.

Again, let me end with a prayer.

Father God, thank you for these principles in life that we have learned today. Do not let this knowledge not just stay in our minds. Please help us to remember to apply them in our lives. We know that they are not just applicable for making money or creating wealth, but also for other aspects of our lives.

Forgive us when we waste the little we have and do not invest it properly. We may have made wrong investments and lost much, but we know that as we start honoring You today, You will restore them all. You, indeed, are the source of understanding and wisdom, and You are the God of the harvest.  Thank You, in the name of Jesus. Amen.