By Dr. Josimar Salum
Followed by a response written by Fabrice Bizimana
I asked a young man, 24 years old, if he wants to get married. He answered: Oh! Yes! Then I asked him: How much do you have in savings for your wedding? He replied: I don't even have a fiancé!
That is the problem I find in most of young people! They have dreams, plans, legitimate desires, but they get frustrated as time goes by for not being able to fulfill their dreams.
I told him: if you really want to get married you have to start saving and investing for your new life NOW, even if you don't have a fiancé yet!
This works for someone who wants to start a business. If you want to become a entrepreneur you have to start with what you have.
Ideas without material back up are just dreams of a sleeping night. There is nothing more powerful than an idea that is put into action.
People who are stuck in dreams don't understand that between dreams we wake up. We can't sleep forever! Reality requires more than dreams and ideas to start a business.
Let me share three fundaments for life.
1 - SOMETHING ABOUT SEEDS AND BREAD
2 - SOMETHING ABOUT GENEROSITY: GIVING AND SHARING
3 - SOMETHING ABOUT PERSONAL ECONOMY AND FINANCES
SEEDS AND BREAD
Please, look at this statement very attentively: “Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.” 2 Corinthians 9:10 NIV
God is the Supplier everywhere and He provides for our entire life SEED TO THE SOWER AND BREAD FOR FOOD!
The secret for our true prosperity is to discern from God's provision what it is SEED and what it is BREAD.
Most people I know eat everything. They not just eat the bread, but they eat also the seed.
How many mangos you have eaten in your entire life? What have you done with their seeds?
WHAT HAVE YOU BEING DOING WITH THE SEEDS IN YOUR LIFE?
You may argue: I do not own any land to plant any seed! Why should I plant a mango seed in somebodyelse land. You should have thought instead: Wow! I have always eaten of what somebody else has planted! Seeds will grow wherever you plant them.
I think of seeds anything you can imagine. Ideas, education, books, seeds of fruit trees, cereals, kindness, health, time, myself, anything tangible and intangible that has the power to reproduce in somebody's life.
Don't think that money itself is a seed! Money is just a carrier of seeds. Money is just a channel of finances and economy! Money can purchase bread and seeds, but it is not a seed.
Please, look around and see if you have any little spot that you can plant at least one seed a week!
Our greatest enemy is our own egoism and selfishness! A egotistical and selfish person will never be able to fulfill their potential in life in nothing they do.
I love seeds. Since I was a child more than 40 yeas ago, I have been always fascinated with seeds. At kindergarten our teacher asked us to plant a black bean seed in a wet cotton in a small glass. The bean sprouted and grew! Since then I always carry seeds and plant them wherever I go. You should see my garden in my farm. All the fruit trees! You should see fruit trees that grew in other people lands that I planted myself! The birds of my Father eat the fruits of my little labor. They eat what came from a small seed that I planted one day!
YOU DON'T PLANT SEEDS FOR YOU! YOU SOW SEEDS FOR OTHERS! Because you will never be able to consume yourself all your harvest. God does not increase your bread. God increases your store of seeds.
Jesus spoke about a farmer who harvested all his cereals, stored them and said to himself: Look what you have in store! That night he died! Don't be deceived: Others will eat anyway what you store, unless it is wasted! Wasting displeases God because there are so many people around us in need.
God increases your store of seeds and your harvest of righteousness if you sow the seeds He gives and if you are satisfied with the bread He feeds you.
Remember: God is the one who provides your food! We should not worry about what we eat and what we wear. God takes care of these things!
GENEROSITY: GIVING AND SHARING
Seeking first the Kingdom of Heaven has nothing to do only with prayer. Seeking the Kingdom has to do with practical things described in the whole Mathew chapter 6. Read for yourself! Mathew 6 starts with giving!
We have been always eating what others have planted! We all do!
Poverty is basically a mentality. I can live around abundance and lack everything.
I don't want to be a beggar! I will not be a beggar!
If your mentality is only of a RECEIVER, AN EATER and A REAPER you will never be able to fulfill the PURPOSE of God for your life.
Who is God and how He acts? You are a son of God and His golden purpose for your life is that you may become like Him. Is that possible? Of course it is! All things are possible with God!
God is a giver, a sower and a sharer!
One mango seed has the potential to supply mangos for the whole world! Any seed has the potential to fill the Earth according to its kind and end the hunger of all children in the planet. We don't lack food in the world! We lack sharing!
“Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but MUST WORK, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something TO SHARE with those in need.” Ephesians 4:28
Don't spiritualize things in your life. Jesus de-spiritualized everything. What it is spiritually discerned is really naturally perceived!
Jesus spoke about salt, light, money, gold, silver, seeds, bread, etc. Let the invisible world takes care of itself! Let us be like Jesus! The invisible God became flesh to be visible to all men and women!
I MUST BE A GIVER, A SOWER AND A SHARER!
I WANT TO BE A GIVER, A SOWER AND A SHARER.
Do you know why? Because nobody can give what he/she doesn't have. Do you get it? Do you understand?
You already have something to give! You always have a seed to sow! You always have something to share!
Repeat after yourself: I always have something to give! I always have a seed to plant! I always have something to share!
You give if you want to! You only sow a seed if you don't eat it! You share if your heart is generous!
PERSONAL ECONOMY AND FINANCES
Usually we reproduce in other areas of our lives what we have learnt and practiced in our homes. A wise woman doesn't waste food or resources in her house. A prudent father is a hardworking man who diligently seek the means to feed his children. A son or a daugther are taught by their parents to do their part of working in their households. An orphan learns since his/her childhood that life is very tough and in order to succeed he/she has to work hard and be courageous to face the trials of life.
I see my household as a small entrepreneurship, a company or a business. Even when I was a young man who started making money in a regular job at 15 I used what I have brought in teachings and experiences from my home. And of course I had committed many mistakes, got involved in debt few times during my business life and some of those mistakes were a reproduction of my early life in my home. But I did not stuck in my past, I learnt many things that my parents never had the opportunity to learn. And moved on.
It is not just about savings! It is about investing. A bag of gold will do nothing if it is buried in a soil. SAVINGS AND INVESTING is what we are sharing and it does not mean simply saving money in a bank. It is about planting seeds even little. Remember: We eat the bread and we sow the seeds.
I have to manage my finances with principles. These principles are inspired by constant planning, wise hardworking, proper savings and investing and I am resolute to never be afraid of anything.
At age 21 I became a manager of a mining company with a 12 million dollars revenue per year after two years working in its treasury department. The company CEO saw the way I was organized, diligent and a SouLutionist who was eager to solve problems and gave me that opportunity.
I know that it was very premature because I lacked sufficient knowledge, maturity and experience to run a company like that, but my previous small job experiences, the way I managed my own financial life and a big desire to grow and succeed that helped me to gain that position.
In your own personal life you have to have a budget to manage your finances! If you are someone that goes as life goes you do not have the reins of your life. You have to write your expenses and check out if you have enough revenue to cover them without a deficit.
You may say: I and my family are so poor that we don't need a budget. We don't even have enough to survive day by day!
“Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Bring them here to me,” he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.” Matthew 14:16-21 NIV
God will always multiply what you have. And remember that God is the one who supplies your seed and bread.
I had a budget based on my reality. I have to balance it based on my income
I also had a budget based on what I need to live well, I mean based on how much I would need to live well. I had a reality budget and a dream budget.
I would list what I had to spend to barely survive and I had another list of what it would allow me and my family to live well.
One of my enemies in life was consumerism: the belief that it is good for people to spend a lot of money on goods and services. The problem resides always in spending more than we are able to. There were situations out of control that brought me into debt. But getting out of debt required exactly what we are sharing here: Savings and investing!
A very simple economic premise or presupposition is that you can't spend what you do not have. And another one you should never spend all you have. Yes, you never spend all you have gained. You always must save at least 10% to invest and as you grow this number will increase until you will be spending 10% and savings, investing and giving 90%.
““Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. “ ‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags.” Matthew 25:24-28 NIV
Once again, do not spiritualize what Jesus is saying. He is talking about material talents and bags of gold that He expects we invest and gain more in order He may come and put us in charge of whole cities. Please, read the whole chapter 25! Especially the final verses where He speaks what can we do that really is done directly to Himself.
““Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” Matthew 25:34-36, 40 NIV
When I refer to saving and investing at least 10% and not spending all you have gained I am not talking about "Tithing", if you are a member of a Christian church. I have learned from the Lord Himself that are many ways "to give to Him", specially when you have many children to feed and so many people in your family and around you in need of assistance.
But let us end this introduction on personal economy and finances making a statement very real:
Without learning how to manage your own economic and financial life nobody will be willing to invest in your business.
Recently I met one of my sons for a day of fellowship and conversation. He spoke about a dream he has of helping to educate and disciple about 50 kids in his neighborhood in the city of São Paulo. I asked him if he had a budget to do it, then he gave me some numbers. But I was surprised when he said he had saved already $500 Brazilian money for the project. I could say that what he had it is not enough even to start! I didn't say anything! I was so glad to see that he really meant business and he was not speaking mere words. I say this because I have met so many talkers in life and less doers. People who say they will do things but don't give one step further to do it.
I was blessed to realize that he may not reach out 50 kids at once, but he had already enough to bless at least 3. One day, his wife told me. He called me and said: Darling, Jesus is coming to have dinner with us tonight. And he brought a kid from our neighborhood to dine with our children.
I asked my son about his finances and he said that in his household he has no debt, he has a wife who supports him, they have three wonderful children and he works hard in a bakery!
He is dreaming big. He is already acting. I will not be surprised if in three more years he ends up helping 300 children, feeding them and giving them education for life.
What I have shared here is just an introduction, some basics that can lead us to a more deep conversation on how far you can go with a business of your own that can provide for your family and bless your community and nation.
Comment by Fabrice Bizimana
Hi everyone. I would like to leave my comment on the personal Economy and personal finances subjects that Drs Salum and Tylor are introducing to us.
I liked the concept of avoiding to consume all your income which is called personal savings.
In Burundi where I am from people don’t really understand the importance of saving. There are several reasons that explain why people don’t save. The main reason is lack of knowledge.
I also understand that in my country many people are poor and in debts. People struggle to survive today and to pay the debts to earn trust from those they owe money. That’s a hard situation in a country with a high unemployment rate.
There are also other challenges that discourage people to save. For instance, some families won’t even afford to open a bank account. Many banks will take out some of your money each month.
By the way, saving doesn’t mean always going to a bank or starting with saving an important sum of money. It is truly like eating a mango and remembering keeping the seed to plant it next time for more mango trees.
A seed doesn’t have to be necessary big to produce its kind in the future. It has the potential to produce even more than you think or expect. It requires a different mindset to understand the importance of saving.
Whenever we start to think different, we live different.
We choose to buy an expensive phone, expensive clothes, or rent an expensive car or house without considering our income and we end up eating the seed and tomorrow we go hungry. I wonder why a normal person would do that?
I think when people are more focused on the present life and challenges they become deprived of the ability to think about tomorrow.
When people are starving and trying to survive today, they become hopeless because they have no future. We normally create our future.
So, learning to save is taking a step from the hopelessness situation and start to plan, to dream, to hope and to be aware of the future.
There is power in a seed no matter how small it is because it does multiply.
The other thing besides investing in yourself, you need to invest in people. You need to help others to accomplish their goals. The best way to do it, is being generous with others. There is such joy and peace when people succeed together.
You will never have peace and security when the person next to your door is starving. I can testify how generosity can also will open doors for your success.
There is no way for a sustainable community development when people are selfish and not collaborating, sharing, working together, serving each other or helping, investing in each other.
Change doesn’t just come like that, we collectively make it. These what will our young generation to learn become effective leaders today and in the future.
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