Catalyst Track: Giving It All Away // Day Two

This track comes from the book, Giving It All Away … And Getting It Back Again by David Green.

A seen legacy looks like those things we manage in this world, like our money and physical resources or assets. An unseen legacy, however, possesses so much more power because it stirs within our hearts and minds. It’s our character, values, and beliefs. I say unseen because it begins inside of us, but the fruit of the unseen legacy is anything but invisible. It is a living, breathing human being living their life for Jesus, using everything they’ve been given—their money, time, and resources—for his glory.

This perspective, however, is counter-cultural in today’s world.

Our culture today has deteriorated. That’s because we’ve gotten so far away from God’s Word. God’s Word takes us away from ourselves. Our culture, on the other hand, points us toward ourselves.

What culture without God leads us to love others? Only God’s Word does this.

It directs us toward others and their well-being. God’s love for us compels us to love others. Imagine what that understanding does for a person, and then another, and then a culture.

This is why I believe it’s so important for our family to commit ourselves to the eternal things: man’s soul and God’s Word. These things are eternal.

In this 3-day track, David encourages leaders to remember the ways in which God has blessed them and challenges them to consider how their lives might reflect this same generosity to others.

Whether you’ve been in leadership for 50 or 5 years, the tension between a world that prompts you to store up treasures for yourself and a different kind of kingdom that asks you to give to others, still stands.

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Day Two - Stockpiling

 

How do you stockpile treasure in heaven?

First, stockpiling treasure is a heart issue. If I value the things of this world and what those things do for me in the here and now, then my heart’s allegiance and love is plain to see.

But if the unseen things of this world hold a deeper value—things like love, grace, service, humility, and faith—then it reveals the size of my soul. I want to be remembered more for the size of my soul than for the size of my bank account.

The second thing needed to stockpile treasure is a heavenly perspective. That means doing my best to look at the world the way God sees it. This is hard, especially in our very loud digital world. It’s difficult to cut through the noise and really see the world with eternal eyes. I have a heavenly perspective when I stop viewing relationships and everyday living as transactions that must happen. Our everyday should be an expression of worship toward the Creator.

This perspective doesn’t just show up at our door. We must cultivate it, care for it. This is not a hermit lifestyle I’m talking about. Rather, it’s an engaged lifestyle in which you and I work hard at our jobs and marriages and families to glorify our Creator.

When we live with our hearts bent in, listening to God, and if we live with a heavenly perspective, then we’ll grab hold of eternal things. Things that will never fade. That’s what I want my resources, time, and money to work toward: building things that last forever.

 

REFLECT:

Think about the places, people and things you invest your time, money and resources in. It could be your work, things you’re saving for long-term, a dream, specific people you lead.

Does your investment in those things reflect a heavenly perspective instead of transactions? What would it look like for you to use those things to build that which lasts forever?