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In the world of investing, there are basic economic principles you must abide by to gain more money. For example, the average person must invest at least a little money each month if they have any hope of having any savings for retirement. Most financial engines predict that a 25 year old who invests $100 per month, will have close to $120,000 at retirement.
I have friends older than me who have never put any money in retirement personally or through their work. It concerns me because if you start investing $0 at age 25, you will have $0 for retirement.
But in God's kingdom, there is something I call Grace-Onomics because it doesn't follow these principles at all. In fact, in
Grace-Onomics, many things are the complete opposite of economics.
For example, we have spiritual debt which we all owe God. This debt is a result of us investing our lives in sin. Sin is the lifestyle of relying on ourselves rather than Jesus Christ according to Romans 14:23c
For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. As a result, we owe God for every moment we have not lived by faith in Him. We can't begin to imagine how often this has occurred!
When we come to faith in Christ, we give Him our investment in sin which is our debt. Because He operates from grace, He provides returns that are the opposite of economics. In economics, if you give your debt to your creditors over and over, you will receive the return of bankruptcy with 7 - 10 years of bad credit. But in Grace-Onomics, for our debt we give to God, He provides us amazingly positive returns. In this case, the return we receive is His infinite wealth of forgiveness. His forgiveness is not only for our past debt but also any debt from our present or future sins. This gift of infinite forgiveness did not come without a cost, though. It cost God the death of His Son, Jesus Christ on the cross. Hebrews 9:22 ...all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. Jesus removed our debt. Then when He was resurrected, He brought with Him this infinite wealth of total forgiveness for us to receive.
That's a pretty good deal, even better than one Warren Buffett, a genius in the investing world, could provide for you. We give our debt to God and He returns to us forgiveness which has no limits!
Some people have wealth but never enjoy it or bless others with it. Hetty Green inherited $5 million at age 30 and turned it into $100 million by the time of her death, making her the richest women in the United States in 1916. Yet, she apparently never enjoyed any of her wealth, nor did she allow anyone else to enjoy it. She refused to use hot water, wash her clothes or provide her son, Ned, with decent medical care when he broke his leg. He eventually had to have his leg amputated as a result! (Forbes Special Issue; The 2014 investment Guide II and Wikipedia)
You and I have the infinite wealth of God's forgiveness in Christ. (Eph. 1:7) Let's first revel in it but not only for ourselves, let's pass it along by forgiving those who owe us love but have given us indifference, owe us acceptance but have given us rejection and who owe us respect but have given us shame. (Eph. 4:30-31) This incredible forgiveness is not only for us but for others, too.
Why don't you stop for a moment and ask God if there are any sins you haven't believed Jesus died to forgive either for yourself or others. Then jump into the wealth of your gift of forgiveness in Christ by faith. But don't stop there! Ask Him if there is anyone you haven't forgiven. Then before God, tell Him you forgive them, for that "thing" they did.
For the Freedom of Others,
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Mark Maulding, President and Founder
www.GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright © 2015 Mark Maulding but feel free to pass it on!
