Okay, before you start reading this, I need to break the news to you that I am not the billionaire here. The billionaire is someone else and I am just telling the story.
My wife is currently doing a Dave Ramsey Bible Study plan. You know Dave Ramsey, the finance guy who encourages Christians to get out of debt? He’s not the billionaire either.
My wife was sharing with me over coffee earlier this week that there was a piece where Dave was sitting with a billionaire Christian guy when he asked him the question, “What would I need to do today if wanted to get closer to where you are?”
I was intrigued because while I am not trying to become a billionaire, I am trying to expand my asset base and these guys certainly have some unique skills with business and finance that anyone can learn from.
Anyway, the billionaire told Dave that he would give him two pieces of advice. The first is to start giving, as generosity is part of God’s financial world, and the second is to remember about the tortoise and the hare. He went on to say that if you just keep doing the right thing, day after day, over time, opportunities will eventually come your way and you will see success.
I have shared before that when I read The Richest Man in Babylon many years ago, I was really intrigued because I imagined that the man must have had exceptional skill to be that rich. However, I quickly learned that he paid off his debts, he gave away ten percent of all his income, and he saved ten percent of his income.
That was it. Just by having no bad debt like personal loans and credit cards and by being able to save, he built his wealth. Most people think you need to earn more and more money to achieve financial freedom, when what you really need to be able to do is control your spending.
God rarely does anything quickly. He is more interested in our character development and us having solid foundations than he is in taking short cuts.
So from where you are today, to where you desire to be, just start eating that elephant one bite at a time, stop spending money on things that go down in value, like cars and clothes and items for the house, and you might be surprised where you end up if you just don’t lose heart and give up.
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Matt Danswan is the CEO of Initiate Media, publishers of SP. He is also the author of NOT Business As Usual.
Matthias Browning
Matthias Browning | Reporter
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