Chapter One: The Call To Level Up
Chapter One
In March of 2018, I listened to a book titled, “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” by Robert T. Kiyosaki. I listen to books because I can consume a lot of information while doing mundane tasks. I knew the book was older, but I wanted to learn about the different mentalities when it came to managing money. The way you’re raised plays a huge role in how you manage money, and I was never taught anything about money. This book started the journey and was followed up by Dave Ramsey’s “Total Money Makeover”, Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko’s “The Millionaire Next Door”, and George S. Clason’s “The Richest Man In Babylon”. My goal was to figure out how to manage money in a way that would make God proud.
This desire stemmed from the stories in the Bible about the talents. The most notable is in Matthew 25 starting in verse 14.
“THE STORY ABOUT INVESTMENT: It’s also like a man going off on an extended trip. He called his servants together and delegated responsibilities. To one he gave five thousand dollars, to another two thousand, to a third one thousand, depending on their abilities. Then he left. Right off, the first servant went to work and doubled his master’s investment. The second did the same. But the man with the single thousand dug a hole and carefully buried his master’s money.
After a long absence, the master of those three servants came back and settled up with them. The one given five thousand dollars showed him how he had doubled his investment. His master commended him: ‘Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.’
The servant with the two thousand showed how he also had doubled his master’s investment. His master commended him: ‘Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.’
The servant given one thousand said, ‘Master, I know you have high standards and hate careless ways, that you demand the best and make no allowances for error. I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money. Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent.’
The master was furious. ‘That’s a terrible way to live! It’s criminal to live cautiously like that! If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least? The least you could have done would have been to invest the sum with the bankers, where at least I would have gotten a little interest.
Take the thousand and give it to the one who risked the most. And get rid of this “play-it-safe” who won’t go out on a limb. Throw him out into utter darkness.’”
There is an obvious message of handling what God has given you in a way that multiplies it, and how “playing it safe” is not a good thing. “Throw him out into utter darkness” is pretty extreme. Educating myself on how to handle money properly and then warming up to the fact that I’m going to have to take a risk has been my focus for the last year. That coupled with Isaiah 54 (if you’ve read my book, you know how significant this chapter is to my life.) is a pretty clear call to take what God has given me and take risks to multiply it.
This blog series is that story. I’m a year into it now, so I have a lot to catch you up on. Some things are too big to make public until they’re closer to being complete. Well, we’re getting close. If you want to know the story and get inspired to live out your own, then subscribe and stay with me. This is going to be fun and a little terrifying.