This week we end our series on wealth transfer. Thank you for participating with us as we walked through the process together. I’ll repeat my challenge to you from July, when we started this series: set aside some time for you and your spouse to begin to work through the six steps in the process sometime this fall. As Plato said, “the beginning is the most important part of the work.” Your “transfer” and “treatment” decisions (to whom and how much) will likely raise the biggest questions for you. As you press forward in determining those two things, the remaining four (“timing,” “title,” “tools and techniques,” and “talk”) will fall more easily into place. 

Today, we have ended by returning to the question of generosity. The longer I live, the more convinced I become that the absolute key to financial freedom is generosity. By “generosity” I mean that someone has chosen to hold all the resources that God has given to him or her with an open hand, ready to “spend” those resources on behalf of purposes and plans that God puts before them. When we really see our resources as belonging to God, and when we really get a taste of the exponential impact that giving those resources to Kingdom purposes can have, our desire and ability to make wise financial choices grows by leaps and bounds. 

 In the video, I addressed the topics of flexibility and of giving money away now. Both of these topics remind me of the quote from Esther 4:14, “and who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?”(NIV) Young Queen Esther was not versed in court ways nor was she Persian in culture. However, she possessed resources and an opportunity…a window that would remain open only for a short time in her life. By being flexible and by giving all that she had in the moment of need for her people, she changed the course of history for the Jews in Persia. She had the king’s ear and the resource of knowing what her cousin, Mordecai, knew. With those resources and a willingness to be used in the moment, her generosity of spirit gave life to thousands. 

While giving money away at death is certainly a great use of resources, I believe that God puts us into our own life’s circumstances, “for such a time as this”. As you live and breathe and walk through each and every day, you will encounter opportunities to spend God’s resources (not just money, but all the resources He’s given you.) He made us eternal creatures and put us into time because He has specific, timely callings for each one of us. While planning to give upon our death is an important part of estate planning, remembering to give generously of our resources while we are living is a critical part of living out our freedom in Christ. 

As we turn our focus away from wealth transfer and on to other things after this week, I pray that you remember that God put you into history “for such a time as this.” Those who came before you shaped your life, and your decisions will have impact on those who will come after you. However, the most powerful thing you can do to break financial bondage from the past or to free generations in the future is to respond to God as He shapes your financial decisions and communications here and now with the Truths of His Word. 

 For such a time as this… 

Let’s begin now. 

May God’s peace encourage you as you pursue financial freedom and depend on His Truth. 

Blessings, 

Ron


Click here for the video transcript