Wealth can build walls around one life—or open doors for thousands of lives.
Once a person possesses more than they could reasonably spend, the question changes.
It is no longer:
“How much more can I acquire?”
It becomes:
“What is all this wealth FOR?”
With great wealth comes great responsibility.
Unless the plow is put to the field, both the plow and the field become less productive because neither is being used for its intended purpose.
What is the point of possessing extraordinary wealth merely for wealth’s sake?
That does not pass the tests of functional thinking, common sense or good stewardship.
Wealth is a tool.
Tools are meant to be used.
ONE PERSPECTIVE OF MANY
Billionaires who create and operate businesses provide employment, products, services and opportunities.
Bravo!
Many also contribute to charities, foundations, research, education and causes they personally value.
Charitable contributions may receive tax advantages when they follow applicable laws. That does not automatically make the giving insincere, nor does a tax deduction mean the donor receives every dollar back.
Again, bravo when the result genuinely helps people.
I would like to introduce another way of assessing extraordinary wealth.
Let us not begin by arguing.
Let us explore.
BOASTING ABOUT TANGIBLE THINGS?
Do billionaires gather in one enormous room and count their money?
Is the last one still counting declared the wealthiest and fairest of them all?
“Mirror, mirror, on the wall—who has the largest portfolio of them all?”
LOL!
How about the billionaire who is too busy to count the money because they are responsibly putting it to work?
Now we are approaching the purpose of this post:
Spending and spreading wealth in ways that create growth.
SPEND IT—PLANT SEEDS
To me, creating sustainable jobs is one of the most beneficial and logical uses of wealth.
Investment can support businesses, communities and an economic system capable of generating opportunity.
A job allows another person to provide for themselves and their family.
A growing business creates additional employment.
Education and training prepare people for skilled work.
Transportation helps them reach it.
Childcare may allow parents to accept it.
Affordable housing lets families remain near it.
One wisely planted seed can grow roots in many directions.
This is not merely spending money.
It is putting the plow into the field.
BONDING WITH TEMPORAL THINGS
How many mansions, automobiles, wardrobes, pieces of jewelry and expensive toys can one person own—or meaningfully enjoy?
There is nothing automatically wrong with enjoying the rewards of honest achievement.
Enjoy the home.
Drive the car.
Take the trip.
Ride the amusement-park attraction.
Eat the snack.
The correct way to enjoy something may be to enjoy it fully within the moment you are experiencing it.
But everything material eventually reaches a point of diminishing return.
The first beautiful home may provide security and comfort.
Does the tenth provide ten times the peace?
The first luxury automobile may feel extraordinary.
Can the twentieth still create the excitement of the first?
Possessions can be enjoyed.
They cannot permanently satisfy a spiritual appetite.
CONSIDER
I find it difficult to understand why someone possessing more wealth than could be spent, comprehended or enjoyed across several lifetimes would need to hold tightly to all of it.
Consider the following imaginary headline.
Notice your FIRST reaction.
Do not overthink it.
BILLIONAIRE GOES ON SPENDING SPREE
Mr. Big-Bucks has taken a small city under his personal wing.
He will renovate its libraries.
Repair its athletic fields.
Improve its classrooms and recreational areas.
Encourage responsible small-business development.
Educational grants will be given to students who enroll, complete the required courses and prepare for available careers.
Transportation will be provided for shopping, employment and recreation.
Local entrepreneurs will receive mentoring and access to responsible startup funding.
Abandoned properties will become useful again.
Parks will be restored.
Job training will connect directly with job placement.
The city is not being handed a temporary celebration.
It is being given tools with which to build.
Imagine reading:
“More billionaires are adopting communities.”
Would that headline interest you?
Would it make you hopeful?
Would it encourage other people of means to act?
Would it become competitive?
Perhaps billionaires could compete over whose adopted city becomes the healthiest, most educated and most self-sufficient.
Now THAT would be an interesting scoreboard.
INSTEAD, YOU OFTEN READ
A billionaire purchased a larger yacht.
Another palatial estate.
More acreage.
Rare automobiles.
Artwork worth tens of millions.
Custom jewelry.
Private accommodations surrounded by walls and security.
Five-star travel accompanied by silk sheets, exclusive meals and wine costing more than many people earn in months.
The issue is not that a wealthy person enjoyed something expensive.
The issue is proportion and purpose.
After personal comfort has been multiplied beyond imagination, what responsibility accompanies the remaining abundance?
PAUSE FOR CAUSE.
REAL WEALTH
I remember reading about a humble, loving and giving man who possessed wealth beyond the known universe.
He stepped away from glory to walk among ordinary people.
He visited those considered poor, sick, unwanted and spiritually discouraged.
He became their servant.
He restored hope.
He offered healing.
He fed bodies and spirits.
He promised that separation would not have the final word.
He became a fisher of men—not to collect them as possessions, but to seek their welfare.
Jesus demonstrated what love-directed wealth and power can accomplish.
He did not measure greatness by how many people served him.
He demonstrated greatness by serving others.
THE TRUE COIN
Money is only one form of wealth.
Time is wealth.
Knowledge is wealth.
Influence is wealth.
Health is wealth.
Access is wealth.
Encouragement is wealth.
Forgiveness is wealth.
Love is wealth.
A person does not need to be a billionaire to practice generous stewardship.
We all possess something capable of serving another life.
The question is not merely:
“How much do I have?”
The better question is:
“What am I doing with what I have?”
WEALTH FINDS PURPOSE WHEN IT SERVES
Accumulation may demonstrate ability.
Stewardship demonstrates character.
Wealth can create jobs without creating dependency.
It can build education without demanding worship.
It can support communities while preserving dignity.
It can reward achievement and still recognize responsibility.
It can create something that remains useful after the name on the bank account is gone.
This is wealth planting seeds.
This is the plow meeting the field.
FINAL THOUGHT
The value of great wealth is not found only in how much one person can possess.
It is also found in how many possibilities that wealth can responsibly awaken.
PEARLS INSIGHT (SEO)
Purposeful wealth combines responsible stewardship, philanthropy, job creation, education and community investment. Money becomes more meaningful when it creates sustainable opportunities, strengthens human dignity and serves needs beyond personal luxury.
PEARLS FROM THE BOOKS
Ebenezer Scrooge possessed money, but his transformation began when he discovered that wealth withheld could never equal wealth shared.
The movement from accumulation to generosity gives spiritual meaning to Epilogue of Ebenezer Scrooge: A Second Chance.
PEARLS CONNECTION
You may not possess billions.
What form of wealth do you possess?
Experience?
Time?
A useful skill?
Encouragement?
A business connection?
A spare seat at the table?
A second chance you could offer someone?
Put your plow into the field.
RICHIE SPEAKS
I am not against becoming wealthy.
Create.
Build.
Earn.
Succeed.
Enjoy some of it too!
But once abundance extends beyond anything one person could reasonably consume, purpose begins knocking on the vault door.
Will anybody answer?
FINAL SAY
Wealth builds its greatest legacy when it builds possibilities for others.
Spend some.
Plant some.
Share some.
Serve with it.
That is the true coin and spending of wealth within this earthly realm.
— Richie
Pearls for the Soul
when you feed the soul, you feed everything.
https://pearlsforthesoul.com
Been expecting you