The world says to take. Find what fulfills you. Go after what you want.

And yet, despite America being one of the wealthiest countries in the world, Americans are some of the most dissatisfied people in the world.

That’s because we’ve developed a backwards view of value.

What you give to, lives. What you take from, dies.

The value of bank accounts, houses, and relationships are all built on what you give, not what you take.

What you give to increases in value.

What you take from loses value and eventually becomes detestable to you.

The things we hate the most are usually the things we’ve taken from the most.

Taking says, “I need more. Why can’t you give me more?”

Giving says, “I’m secure. I have more than enough. You are valuable to me and I’d like to invest in you.”

Abundance comes from security. Poverty comes from insecurity.

In finance, a “security” is a financial asset. It’s value that can be given in order to receive value back from the investment.

You can’t receive value from something you haven’t given to, and you can’t give what you don’t already have.

So if you find yourself lacking, the question, is, where is your security?

If your security is found in anything other than God alone, you’ll always find yourself lacking.

And you’ll never have enough.

But if you can stop chasing the false security of comfort, achievement, and control, then you’ll find that the security you have left, in God alone, leaves you content and open-handed with the world.