How to be a millionaire
Read time: 7 mins
“Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.”
Matthew 6:1-4 NLT
Dave Ramsey conducted the largest survey of millionaires ever and some of the facts are rather interesting. He found that 79% of millionaires are considered self made. Only 21% received an inheritance from their family and only 3% received an inheritance of over a million. By the stats, most millionaires are made not born. That means that contrary to popular belief, what’s possible for them is also possible for you.
Another commonality amongst those surveyed was that 93% of millionaires credit their work ethic and not their salary as the largest contributor to their wealth. This may sound arrogant or like they may have lacked self awareness or a pulse to the common working class plight but the stats shined light on the mindsets behind this statement. Believe it or not, teachers were in the top 5 most common careers for this study of millionaires. And we know they aren't making crazy money. Only 15% of those studied were in even senior leadership or C-Suite positions such as president, VP, CEO, or CFO. Only 31% averaged a six-figure salary over their career while one third never made 6-figures in any single working year of their life. Crazy right? So how are these regular people accumulating this wealth of resources without high pay or family bail outs?
For one, If I'm talking about Dave Ramsey I have to stop and let you know that they’re staying out of debt and living below their means. 9 out of 10 millionaires have never taken out a business loan and 73% have never carried a credit card balance in their lives. But this isn't what I'm focusing on. You want to know what really struck me from this study that I believe is countercultural to the way many of us live life?
Millionaires didn’t credit their jobs, their families or even luck. But they did credit consistent and regular investing over a long period of time. Sounds simple. Ramsey found that 8/10 people surveyed invested in their employers 401(k) plan. Yes, a retirement account. Nothing grand or special. Nothing flashy or with immediate gratification. I know this sounds boring and a bunch of ya’ll may have already stopped reading but can I point something out?
These are actual millionaires, not your aunt who is drowning in debt or your Facebook mutual with a fluke opportunity. These millionaires credited consistent, unflashy and seemingly inconsequential sacrifices and slow, consistent investing as their secret to success. This wasn’t even single stock options or the exciting opportunity that already hacked your instagram. Not one person in the survey said single stock options were a secret to their success. This wasn’t about being fast, flashy or even public. It was about consistency, doing the little things without looking for any immediate praise or acclaim.
Honestly, it sounds like a let down. I wanted something flashier and faster. And you may feel the same way. Many of us are struggling financially because we’re impatient. We want to experience the fruit now instead of doubling down and letting the tree grow. We want the flashiness without the foundation. We want to be viewed in a certain way without doing the work to actually earn that respect. We want the people who have never been where we want to go to sign off on the directions we’re taking to get to our dream. This is what leads us to spend money we don't have in order to buy things we don't need so that we can impress people we don't like. When the people who actually have what we are looking for are sitting back, quietly doing their job, and confidently working on things no one else can see while others clamor to be seen.
So what does this have to do with the Bible? I guess you imagined I wasn’t just talking about financial wealth, right?. What does that have to do with you? I’m glad you asked. I believe many of us will never be wealthy, financially, relationally, emotionally or spiritually, because we are too afraid of delayed gratification. Yet delayed gratification is at the core of Christianity, relationships and finance. The majority of millionaires didn’t reap the benefits of their hard work and sacrifice in an instant. They consistently sowed in struggle so that they could consistently reap in celebration. They poured privately without praise and now they are overflowing with the fruit. But we often don't trust God enough to sow into long term, sacrifice laden, private investments. We are only getting shallow blessings because we aren't trusting and sacrificing the way God asks us to. If we did, God promised to open the windows of heaven and pour out blessings that we wouldn’t have room to receive.
Let me unpack this more for you. This passage outlines two types of people and two types of blessings. It outlines two types of investment strategies and two different returns. One is about a quick turn around while the other is about a life changing reward. One is about the easy and flashy investment and the other takes a personal and sacrificial step of faith. Read along with me.
Group one is the hypocrites. They blow trumpets and set up their ring lights and live streams before they do anything for God. Everyone must know how great they are. That’s their first priority. They care so much about the fruit that they aren't committed to the actual investment. They’re like the kids on my middle school basketball team who only practice the moves they saw on Ball Is Life Mixtapes but can't bring the ball up the court with one hand. Everyone must see them as fruitful, but they never actually plant real seeds. They’re the group with outside adornment and accolades but they’re drowning in debt with a negative bank balance. Their goal is immediate admiration from the people and the Bible says that's all they will ever get. Their reward is that moment. Nothing more. This is like a get rich quick scheme. It’s fast and flashy but shallow and risky.
But the other group discussed are the real millionaires. They get the benefit of time and spiritual compound interest. They’re like Joseph, being misunderstood for putting away grain in the good times, but being needed when they’re the only person with excess in the bad times. They understand that what they do is for the glory of God and not the glory of them. Others may not see all they have done or respect all they have accomplished for the Kingdom but God does and has a significantly better reward for them.
Jesus says that we can have the choice to rush ahead, draw attention to ourselves and do life our way. And that will bring its reward on earth but nothing in heaven. But we can also make the decision to humble ourselves, make the hard decision to sacrifice, take up our cross and bring glory to God. And the latter choice allows us to gain every spiritual blessing that Jesus has. The Bible says we are joint heirs with Christ. That means everything He gets, we get. It’s like being carbon copied on an email. If you share in His crucification you will also share in His resurrection.
Many of us want the benefits Christ had without the sacrifices He made. Imagine being walked out on by your family to accomplish the call God had on your life? Imagine loving Judas and allowing him to stay around, knowing he would betray you. The life of Jesus wasn't flashy or fun all the time. There was an immense pain that led to the glory we see after the fact. Sacrifice behind closed doors is what leads to real success.
A pastor once told a story of a man telling them how inspired they were by them and asking if the pastor could pray that he would receive the same anointing and power they had. So the pastor asked if they were sure and then with their nod of approval he began to pray and said this, “God, I pray my friend has an opportunity to publicly protect the people they know are privately crucifying them. I pray that they have an opportunity to obey what You said to do even when others physically threaten them and their family because of it. I pray they have an opportunity to get cussed out by and walked out on by the very people they fought for and created a seat at the table for. I pray they have an opportunity to be overworked, unappreciated and constantly mistreated as they sacrifice for a church that doesn't appreciate them. I pray that they have an opportunity to give two thirds of their already tight income to an ungrateful church because no one else has the faith to believe in what God is doing and give…” The man stopped the pastor with shock on his face. He was confused why the pastor would pray about such pressure, stress and sacrifice. But the pastor looked up and said “if you want the anointing and power you see in public you have to go through the crushing and faith I experience in private.”
Many of us are seeing the blessings in others’s lives but not agreeing to the work of investing that earned that for them. We don't know the private sacrifices that led to public success. We are jealous of those who were sent to inspire us, as we discount the private work they put in. Personal time sacrificing and being sanctified by God acts as roots to make us the flourishing trees we are meant to be. But we still want quick and easy results. We want to play like Lebron, but don't want to be in the gym alone on holidays. We want their marriage but don't want the intense counseling, hard conversations and selflessness. We want their money but don't want their call to radical generosity and sacrifice for ungrateful people. We want their influence but don't want the self control it takes to not use God’s gifts for personal gain. We want their popularity but not the constant voices, ridicule and opinions of others they’re constantly flooded with. We want the level but not the loneliness. We want the platform without the pressure. We want their impact but forget that the Bible says teachers will be held responsible for every idle word. We want their anointing but not the crushing, abuse and heart ache they’ve experienced. You have to trust God enough to go through the private battles that will bring forth public victories.
The investment takes trust. An investment takes time. It takes confidence to know that you have value regardless of if people know how much you brought to the table or even how much you did for them. It takes humility to shut up and let people think you aren't good enough while you sacrifice in private. We have to get out of our own heads. This is about God, not us. God will trust you with more when you steward what you have. Stay humble. Stay grounded. Others don't have to know how great you are if God does. Would you rather invest into the opinions of those who don't have the power to transform reality, or present yourself to the Creator of the universe as someone He can trust with more? Humility isn't a lack of power, it’s power under control. God says to humble yourself and at the right time, He will exalt you (James 4:10). Invest in the right place.
__
I'm asking for your support as we walk into what God has called us to in this ministry. I’m proud to announce that this devotional platform is now reaching over one thousand people every week with the good news that is Jesus, primarily in the seemingly missing demographic of 19-24-year-olds. Yes, that's one thousand people each week and I can't praise God more. But we aren't stopping there. God has given vision for bigger things than just devotionals. The Thoughts, LLC team doesn’t just want to do devotionals. We want to do books, podcasts, events and continue to sponsor our ROAR Worship Experience. We’ve had ROAR 3x now, and it’s led to nine baptisms and the impact of thousands of young adults across North America. God has so much more coming down the pipeline but we need to prepare.
I'm asking that you pledge a monthly donation so that this platform can be self-sufficient and we can build an infrastructure for more. Since college, I have been stepping out on faith and paying for this platform personally with the help of donations, even as a jobless student, and as of now, it has grown to cost up to $5,000 a year to do just the devotionals. That will only go up with the more people that subscribe and join this movement. So I'm asking that you prayerfully partner and sow into what God is doing and continue to pray and prepare for the harvest. I can't thank you enough for your prayers, shares, and donations as God accomplishes what His Word set out to do. You can donate on this website.
Dave Ramsey Sources:
https://www.ramseysolutions.com/retirement/how-to-become-a-millionaire
https://www.ramseysolutions.com/retirement/the-national-study-of-millionaires-research
