To develop the ability to make money, we must learn from successful people and honor God with our wealth. Learning from successful people will help us avoid mistakes while we must thank God for our wealth because He is the source of our ability to create wealth.
Victory Metro East aired a webinar titled “Life Talks: The Ability to Produce Wealth – Made Practical with Chinkee Tan.” This webinar was related to a preaching series titled “The Ability to Produce Wealth” of Victory, a church in the Philippines.
I was able to get the following essential learnings which will lead us to a proper perspective about gaining wealth. If you noticed, the image I used in this LEARN category shows a message of “Learn to earn, earn to live.”
All of us want to earn money to provide for our basic needs to survive or live well. However, learning a skill or getting knowledge is necessary if we would like to make a living.
I know that many people like me are searching for many things to learn in this world. However, we should choose what to learn to have the income we want and a life worthy of the Lord.
Key Lessons I learned Part 1
To develop the ability to make money, learn from successful people.
Mr. Chinkee Tan mentioned why we need to learn from successful people. These are to avoid many mistakes and learn the methods they used to make money.
Mistakes are part of learning, but we can avoid many mistakes by learning from those who have already become successful. They are not exempt from mistakes, but they learn from them and continuously improve themselves and their circumstances.
They solve problems, big or small. These people are not necessarily giants like Goliath but are overcomers like David. They turn mountains of obstacles into stepping stones to victory. They turn their failures into successes.
We can do the same. However, there’s a bounty of materials where we can find lessons from what these people share. When we learn from them, we can avoid the mistakes we could be making.
We may still make some errors and failures, but hopefully, they would be fewer. Our journey to success can be faster and shorter.
We’ve heard of “been there, done that.” Most of their mistakes are in the pursuit of ways to succeed in what they chose to do. Thus, we can avoid the mistakes they’ve had and learn the methods they used to become prosperous.
These successful people have not written books and published videos and podcasts to earn money only. They do because they also want to share their successes with everyone who would like to succeed like them. Part of their fulfillment is helping others become like them.
Whatever field we have chosen to earn money from and serve others, we will find someone who has been successful in that field. There are some coaches and mentors who are ready and willing to guide.
Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed. Proverbs 15:22
The best example of a successful person
One person in the Bible who is the richest who has ever lived is King Solomon.
[…] the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”
“Now, Lord my God … I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. [….] So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong.”
The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked.
I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.”
Then Solomon awoke—and he realized it had been a dream.
1 Kings 3: 5, 7, 9, 10-15
From these verses, Solomon first acknowledged his lack of knowledge and then asked for a discerning heart.
To be discerning is to be able to “recognize small details, accurately tell the difference between similar things, and make intelligent judgments by using such observations.”
As a result, God was pleased and gave Solomon even what he didn’t ask for—wealth and honor.
Pray for wisdom
Here’s a partial transcript of what Mr. Chinkee Tan said in the webinar.
So when we pray, don’t ask for money because money can get depleted. Don’t ask for a job because it can be gone. Don’t ask for a business; it can fail. Ask for wisdom from God because that is inexhaustible. It will not run out. God has given you and me wisdom to create wealth.
Thus, I always ask for it every day. That’s why I don’t pray for sales. I always pray, “Lord, grant me the wisdom to create sales” because sales is an after-effect of God’s wisdom. […] says divine empowerment. You know if you can understand this very well, you will not run out. That is what I always say.
A lot of people want to eat cake, but only few people want to learn the process of baking a cake. If you finish the cake, you need more money to buy cakes, but if you know the process of baking a cake, you will never run out of cake.
A lot of people want to become successful but only few people want to learn the process. And that process comes from whom? It comes from God. That is what’s called wisdom. So the ability to produce wealth, if we connect it, comes from God. So what do we ask? Wisdom […] That’s what we should ask from God.
To develop the ability to make money, honor God with your wealth
As we can also see from the story of Solomon, his wealth and honor came from God. God was willing to bless Solomon with wealth and respect because He was pleased with him.
We can say that they are the effects of having wisdom, but wisdom itself is from God. All our innate abilities are from God, our Maker. I don’t think we can acquire abilities without using our inborn talents. Hence, even our acquired abilities are also from God. Mr. Chinkee Tan emphasized that there is no such man as a self-made man.
As our wealth is from God, we should honor Him with whatever we have. When we give glory to God with our wealth, blessings, including money, will flow.
Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce. Then he will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with good wine. Proverbs 3:9-10, NLT
How can we honor God with our wealth?
In the story of Abraham, God promised to bless him to be a blessing to others (Genesis 12:2), and God did. In the same way, God blesses us to be a blessing to many. When we use our wealth well, we glorify God. Here are the many ways we can do to honor God with our wealth.
1. Invest wisely and not be lazy.
I remember the parable of the talents. We know the story. All three servants were entrusted with possessions by their master in proportion to their abilities. He gave five talents to one, two to another, and one to the third.
After the master left, the first two servants with five and two talents went out and traded with the talents. The one given five gained five more, and the one given two gained two more. In contrast, the servant given one did not do anything but hid it under the ground.
When the master came back, he was pleased with the two and said to them,
‘Well done, good and faithful slave You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ Matthew 25:21
However, he was angry with the third servant. Though the money was intact, he called him a wicked and lazy servant. He said,
For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. Matthew 25:29-30
2. Give tithes and offering.
“Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the Lord’s; it is holy to the Lord. Leviticus 27:30
“Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.
And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.” Malachi 3: 8-10
Tithing is giving the 10% of whatever we receive. It is acknowledging that everything we receive is from God. Hence, it is proof of surrender to God. It is also a step of faith in His faithful provisions.
The offering is from the 90% left. It is whatever amount a person sets in his heart to give to the affairs of the church.
3. Support missionaries and their activities.
God has called all His children, believers, and followers to share the gospel. However, not all can go to the ends of the earth or the unreached in far-away lands. Thus, as one body, His children who cannot go as missionaries choose to or should support missionaries.
Many missionaries rely on the support of others even though some of them can find sources of income in the mission field. Nevertheless, there are situations where getting a paid job in the mission field may not be possible. Mission activities can sometimes be more than enough, so finding a job will not be wise.
Paul was a tent-maker while sharing the gospel. Even so, he needed support from others for the people he served.
Hence, we might consider supporting a missionary.
I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you. 2 Corinthians 11:8
So two good things will result from this ministry of giving—the needs of the believers in Jerusalem will be met, and they will joyfully express their thanks to God. 2 Corinthians 9:12
4. Take care of the needs of others who are deeply in need.
We are all called to help others, specifically those in our families and our brethren in the church. However, it doesn’t mean that we should not help those who are neither of the two.
Blessed is he who considers the poor! The Lord delivers him in the day of trouble. Psalm 41:1
Now, should we help those who are lazy and simply dependent on others for no reason at all? What about those who take advantage of a person’s generosity or extra wealth? Some people think that when someone is in a better position than they are, this person has the responsibility to help them even if it was obvious that they are not helping themselves.
Let me go back to the parable of the talents. At the end of the story, the servant who did not do anything with the money entrusted to him. The reason he gave was fear of losing the money and so just hid it.
The master was angry and called him a ‘wicked and lazy servant.’ The master knew deep down in the man’s heart that the man was only lazy and wicked, not wanting to work and give income to his master. (Matthew 25:26)
“‘To those who use well what they are given, even 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. Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ Matthew 25: 28-30
In this story, the master’s giving was according to the receiver’s ability to use the capital to generate income. It was not something like a dole-out to be consumed and then gone. It was not something to encourage someone to be lazy and dependent on others.
5. Leave an inheritance to your children.
Be careful to obey all the commands of the Lord your God, so that you may continue to possess this good land and leave it to your children as a permanent inheritance. 1 Chronicles 28:8
A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just. Proverbs 13:22
When you leave inheritance to your children, you are reflecting God the Father who has given us inheritance through Jesus Christ.
6. Fund community projects or volunteer in them.
If you can afford it, you can fund projects that help communities. If you have the time and skill you can do volunteer work. Volunteering is using time and talent wisely. If you have both, why not do both? These activities honor God because when you give help to the poor, they praise and thank God.
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
To conclude, we need wisdom and the ability to gain wealth, but we can get them first from God. Then, whatever God gives, we have to invest in many ways. To invest wisely and avoid more mistakes, we should learn from successful people. More importantly, we should honor God with whatever we have and gain. As we do, whatever we have will be multiplied.
The how is as simple as that, so let me invite you to pray.
Almighty Father, I acknowledge that the ability to gain wealth comes from You. Hence, I ask for knowledge and the ability to create wealth. I am not asking just for me, but to be a blessing to others. I need you to help me use whatever You have given me wisely. Do not let me become like the servant who was lazy and wicked. Forgive me at times when I had been so. Now, I want to give you glory with my talents, time, and wealth.