Hi family! I hope you’re doing great and last week was good for you?
Here in Lagos, Nigeria; the traffic on Wednesday and Thursday was nerve racking! Gosh! You know the type where you start out impatient, then upset, then angry, then frustrated, then tired, and then, exhausted. At the end, you become sober and mellow with only one simple objective – to arrive at your home. All other plans to stop by a friend’s, at the grocery store, the salon, listen to that podcast, etc. become irrelevant and tiring. For anyone who experienced this, I’m sending you e-hugs!
On a brighter note, it was my husband’s birthday last Thursday, and you can be sure I pulled off a little surprise for him. I’m really big on birthdays, all thanks to my mum who did her best to ensure every birthday was fun and memorable irrespective of how far away or ‘old’ you were. I decided, after I got married, that I would do the same for my family. For my husband’s birthday, we had a few close friends and family members record birthday videos for him, and for the very few who could, we had them over at our home. As I tidied up afterwards, I realized that we were truly wealthy. I don’t mean like Jeff Bezos or Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, surely not in that way or even close. Rather, that we are rich in people! I realized that we are richly blessed with friends and family who would truly go the extra mile to see us happy and in great health irrespective of distance or their own convenience. It was such a humbling realization that made me smile and say a word of thanksgiving to God.
This realization also brought a scripture to mind, Matthew 6:19-21 (TPT) which reads, “Don’t keep hoarding for yourselves earthly treasures that can be stolen by thieves. Material wealth eventually rusts, decays, and loses its value. Instead, stockpile heavenly treasures for yourselves that cannot be stolen and will never rust, decay, or lose their value. For your heart will always pursue what you esteem as your treasure”.
If you grew up attending church like I did, I’m almost 100 percent sure you would have heard this verse of scripture. It was usually referenced when we spoke about giving – either to the poor, in church, etc. It is a valuable word on giving that advises us to invest our resources in things of lasting relevance, rather than being solely focused on the acquisition of temporal and material assets.
Could we perhaps consider another angle to these verses? What if, stockpiling heavenly resources doesn’t only mean giving to God – you know in our tithes, offerings, mission funds, and so on? Could we also extend it to mean investing in more eternal and selfless pursuits like other people’s wellbeing?
I am not in any way implying that this scripture has been used out of context; rather I am saying that this same principle can be extended into our relationships. I mean, investing in people and showing them God’s love is part of God’s will and instruction to us all as believers. He explicitly says so in Mark 12:30-31: “You are to love the Lord Yahweh, your God, with a passionate heart, from the depths of your soul, with your every thought, and with all your strength. This is the great and supreme commandment. And the second is this: ‘You must love your neighbour in the same way you love yourself.’ You will never find a greater commandment than these”. From this scripture, we know without a doubt that God wants us to show love to our ‘neighbours’.
Another point to think on is this: showing love and investing in people cannot be stolen, will never rust, decay, or lose its value. Truth is, we can’t put a price tag on this because it is of eternal value, and the input doesn’t often match the output. In simple terms, the return on investment can never be explicitly calculated because it is a divine principle. God will always bless your acts of love and kindness to an exponential dimension beyond the initial cost of your time, access, money, convenience, or effort. By showing love to others and defying self, you are acting in obedience to the Father’s command, and banking in the vaults of heaven which is unaffected by fluctuating exchange rates, changing market demands, global market shocks and other human issues. You are aligning yourself for evergreen profit channels and connecting yourself to heaven’s economy. You access wealth beyond cash; and that my friend, is true wealth!
Thirdly, everyone on earth is a benefactor. We have all received kindness and love from someone else. For instance, someone brought us to life, someone nurtured us, taught us to read, changed our poopy diapers, prepared our first meal, gave our parents and caregivers a job and paid them a salary or wage, led them/us to Christ, built our houses, etc. More so, someone (Jesus) died that we may attain the life we have now. Everything we are or have is only an extension of grace.
As we live our lives, despite our busy schedules and the bustle of traffic, let’s remember to be rich in people. Let’s remember to give love, even if it’s not to the measure we’ve received, just give some anyway. Remember to stop to give a smile, extend a hand of friendship, give kind and constructive feedback, compliment someone, support a small business, tip a waiter, envelop your friend in a bear hug, tell your spouse and family you love them, donate to a food bank, stop, and tell your kids you love them as they scream at the back seat, surprise that child in your Sunday school class, pray for someone in your community, drop a kind text to an old friend, authorize that pending request on your table for the mean old lady in your office, have that appraisal conversation without breaking your staff’s spirit, make that guest in your home feel welcome, say thank you and truly mean it, and so on.
Remember to show love every day; not random acts of kindness, but intentionally live a life of love and kindness. I pray that the Holy Spirit truly works in you to will and to do of His good pleasure. I pray that He causes your heart to beat with love; your hands, and feet to become extensions of His; and your mouth to proclaim His unwavering love.
Never forget,
