In my younger days I was not keen on investing. I would spend money without regard for the next day. My “Eh, I’ll get paid again” attitude was out of control. It was so bad, sometimes I would be in my room, dead broke, thinking to myself, “What if I hadn’t spent that $10 in 1998?”
Sadly, I was like that in church. I would do outreach and mission work to bring people to Christ as fast as I could, and then would think to myself, “What happened to that couple we invited that came that one time and never came back?” I was more focused on the invitation and not the investment. It was like I was trying to score the most souls. My “got another one” attitude was out of control. I was not trying to disciple and grow new Christians. I felt that was someone else’s job after I did my part.
Discipleship is hard work. It is not easy and it is not cheap. It will cost you your entire life. But the return on investment is more than any earthly stock or bond could ever produce. God is more interested in us growing in our relationship with Him, not just our church attendance records. Start by inviting someone to do life with you. Invest the time and love to make a better disciple out of them and out of yourself. This is one investment that has a 100% guaranteed return.
Heavenly Father, help me to value quality over quantity. Show me how to make disciples out of your children so it may be pleasing in your sight. Remind me how important it is to invest in someone with your love. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Go Deeper — Choose one friend that you do life with and share an encouraging Scripture passage with them every day for a week to help grow. Or, email your friend these daily devotionals and then call to discuss it.
Photo Credit: Paul Rysz