You are on a financial journey. Do you think your financial state will grow and change, or do you feel stuck? Whether you’re struggling to make ends meet or living comfortably in retirement, it’s easy to become stagnant or complacent.
When that happens, it’s important to realign ourselves with God’s perspective. Every resource we have comes from God. He has given you the blessing to “be fruitful and multiply.” With God, there is continual process, growth, and transformation.
When you surrender your financial journey to God, you will be astounded by the hope and newfound vision you have. You don’t have to stay in debt forever, that business dream can become a reality, and you can use your money to leave a lasting legacy.
After I surrendered my life to God in retirement, I realized I could use business and finance for God’s glory. There are 3 types of money that are useful for thinking about your financial journey from a Christian perspective. The 3 types of money describe the process of going from indebtedness to financial freedom, and from financial freedom to using your money for Kingdom impact.
They are:
- Money You Work For
- Money That Works For You
- Money That Works Without You
3 Types of Money
Money You Work For
Purpose:
- Expenses and livelihood
- Tithes and offerings
- Starter money to build assets
Source:
- Job
At This Level, You Are:
- An Employee
- Self-employed
What was your first job? Did you serve fried chicken in a drive-thru or wash dishes in a kitchen? Perhaps you started your own business young, offering to mow people’s lawns or wash cars.
The first type of money is the income you earn from working. This is also called “non-leveraged income” because the amount directly ties to the time you put into your work.
Everyone starts in this category. Unfortunately, many people stay here their whole lives. They only know how to make money by working for someone else. You’ll need to graduate to the next type of money to reach financial freedom.
Money That Works For You
Purpose:
- Foundational Wealth
- Asset Building
- Tithes and Offerings
Source:
- Investments
At This Level, You Are:
- A Business Owner
- An Investor
This is investment or asset income. There are six primary forms of passive income that we teach about at WealthBuilders. Some examples are the rent collected from an investment property or stock dividends.
Leveraged income is money that works for you because it’s not directly connected to your time. For example, my time is leveraged when I speak at other organizations’ conferences and sell my products.
I spent a specific amount of time creating the products, which has paid me a hundred times over. Most of the time, I make more money selling products than speaking. In this way, I have leveraged myself because people can read and hear what I teach without me being present.
Most people who live entirely off asset income are business owners or investors. They still work, but instead of working as an employee, they spend their time as asset managers. At this level, people can take or leave their earned income because their assets generate enough money to meet their needs. Some people choose to keep their jobs, while others choose to march into full-time asset management.
Money That Works Without You
Purpose:
- Philanthropy
- Kingdom Impact Investing
- Preserving Wealth
- Acquiring More Assets
- City and Nation Transformation
Source:
- Absentee Asset Income
At This Level, You Are:
- An Investor
At this level, an individual has multiple assets and is focused on preserving and growing wealth. When you reach this point in your financial journey, your investments produce more than enough money to support you and your family. You can give away or reinvest every penny above your target living allowance.
As you invest your time, talent, and treasure into Kingdom-minded causes, true city and nation transformation can occur. You can receive a social and spiritual return in addition to your financial returns. Out of the 3 types of money, this is where your money starts to work without you. As you selflessly give and invest in churches, nonprofits, ministries, businesses, and more, God will use your money in more ways than you can fathom!
We hope you are encouraged by the various types of money and motivated to make it to “money that works without you.” You are not meant to separate your faith from your finances. God can do incredible things with the resources you have at any level!
