The Greatest Investment You Can Make

Where should you invest what you have? You can put money in an index fund, an IRA, or a Roth IRA, and those are fine. But the greatest investment you can make is in things that last forever: people, God's kingdom, and a life lived with eternity in mind. Here is what that looks like with your money, your time, and your heart.

What is the greatest investment you can make?

The greatest investment you can make is in something with eternal value. Few things return more than a young person God can do something incredible with.

On the weekend this episode follows, Calvary gave enough to fully sponsor about 40 students for camp. Pastor Adrian Cruz knows what that kind of gift can do. Someone helped him get to camp in seventh grade, and that is where he sensed God calling him into ministry. Someone was obedient and generous, and a 12-year-old's life was redirected. As the weekend message put it, nothing gives a better return on your dollar than a student God can use.

Does your life have eternal value?

Yes. Every human life has value because every person is made in the image of God. The harder question is whether you are living as though your own life matters, for now and for eternity.

On Beyond Sunday, Pastor Sean Sloan pointed out that this conviction shaped history. Much of the story of hospitals and nursing grew out of the Christian belief that every life has worth. In that ancient world, the poor, slaves, women, and children were often valued only for what they provided.

Then he turned the question inward. It is one thing to say life has value. It is another to live as if your day matters, your decisions matter, and they matter for more than right now.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart.

Ecclesiastes 3:11

What happens when you come to the end of yourself?

At the end of yourself, you find God. It is far better to reach that point while you still have life to live.

Pastor Adrian's story shows this. After his call at camp, he walked away from God for a season. He reached a point where he was living in sin, in a situation so bad he thought he could die. He cried out, "God, I need you." That was the moment he rededicated his life to Christ. He found that nothing in this world satisfies the way God does.

Pastor Sean named two realizations every person eventually reaches. What matters most is what comes after this life. And every one of us will die. In Jesus' story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16, the rich man understood both only after it was too late. Blessed is the person who comes to the end of themselves in this life, rather than at the end of life.

How do you store up treasure in heaven?

You store up treasure in heaven by investing what God has given you in things that don't expire. We often spend more time investing in the temporary than in the eternal, because we like seeing results now.

But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:20 to 21

Having money isn't wrong. The question from the weekend message was whether your money has you. When money is a tool used for God's kingdom, it does eternal good. Pastor Adrian put it this way: if your treasure is Jesus, everything else becomes a tool to help people know Him.

Is money the root of all evil?

No. Scripture says the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. That is one of the most misquoted verses in the Bible. Money itself is not the problem. Desire for it is.

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.

1 Timothy 6:6 to 10

Paul wrote this to warn Timothy about teachers who imagined godliness was a way to get ahead. Pastor Sean connected it to the prosperity gospel, the teaching that enough faith guarantees health and wealth. That idea ends up judging anyone who struggles as being under God's displeasure.

You can have money without money having you. You can also be poor and still be ruled by the desire for more. Ask yourself: what is my one desire? If it is money, the best you will get is money. If it is Jesus, you have eternity to look forward to.

Is it wrong for a Christian to be wealthy?

No. Paul doesn't tell wealthy believers to give everything away. He tells them where to put their hope and how to use what they have.

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

1 Timothy 6:17 to 19

"The life that is truly life" isn't only about heaven. It starts now: freedom from chasing things for their own sake, and contentment with what God provides. You can be content with little or much, and you can be discontent with either.

What has God put in your hands?

God has put something in your hands, and you are called to steward it well. Stewardship is managing what God has entrusted to you for His purposes. If it isn't money, it is influence. If it isn't influence, it is your character and your example. It is your treasure, your time, your talent, and your testimony.

Are you burying what God gave you to keep it safe, or are you multiplying it? Pastor Adrian's closing question is worth sitting with: if I'm not stewarding well what God has given me, why would He trust me with more?

Common questions

Does the Bible say money is the root of all evil?

No. 1 Timothy 6:10 says the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. The problem is the desire for and pursuit of money, not money itself.

What does it mean to store up treasure in heaven?

It means using what God has given you for things with eternal value. Jesus said that where your treasure is, your heart will be also. Generosity, good deeds, and investing in people are ways to store up that kind of treasure.

Is it wrong for a Christian to be wealthy?

No. Paul tells the rich not to be arrogant or put their hope in wealth, but to hope in God, do good, and be generous and willing to share.

What is the prosperity gospel?

It is the teaching that enough faith guarantees health and wealth. Scripture warns against treating godliness as a means of gain, and it teaches that godliness with contentment is great gain.

Read the blog postLiving with Eternity in Mind: The Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16You won't always be here, but you will always exist. Pastor Marty Sloan explains what Jesus' story of the rich man and Lazarus teaches about preparing for eternity.Read the post