I grew up in a modest
and humble home. My parents were civil servants at the time and they did
whatever it took to make sure we had a reasonable lifestyle. I was told that my
mother run a kiosk and sold charcoal.
When I was of
understanding age, my mother reared chicken for sale and my siblings and I helped
in slaughtering and cleaning these chicken early morning as they needed to be
transported to the restaurants/hotels my mother was supplying. We benefited
from the gizzards and liver and that was our payment.
In my primary, my mother
also run a saloon. I believe all these extra jobs or work she was doing was to
create passive income or increase their meager earnings to better the situation
at home and also help educate us. I strongly see the work ethic and their
attitude towards money was important, if they did not increase their income, we
would go hungry and we also wouldn’t be educated. If money isn’t increased it
diminishes. The parable of the talents shows us how we need to be faithful with
our income/talents/gifts etc and how we need to increase it, the one with one
talent did not invest it, he just buried it in the ground and he was called a
wicked servant.
While in my S.6
vacation, I badly needed money and decided to do a few data entry jobs but
these did not last. My friends and I at the time decided to be part of a
building project and we were paid as porters. The needs in our life at the time
pushed us to come out of watching films the whole day and put in a few hours to
do some work because, at that age, money stopped flowing in every day as our
parents started looking at us as young men who were becoming adults and needed to start managing their own lives. If you
needed airtime to talk to your girlfriend, you had to find a way of working for
it and not stealing. I have learned over time that work is valuable and whoever
doesn’t work actually goes hungry.
I was talking to a young a man at a construction site and I asked him why he had to work, he said, “I came
to Kampala without my mum or dad, I am here alone, If I don’t work, I won’t
eat, I also have to save some money and send it to my mum so that I can prepare
for my return, I have a cow and chicken that she is keeping for me, I might
look foolish doing this work but I know what I am doing”. I was so pleased with
his attitude, such people can develop others with such an attitude.
Our motive for making
money should be with a clear purpose, my love for money made me do a few crazy
things, I loved playing a game called pool, it is a very addictive game, I
found myself finishing the little money I would ask for in playing a game that
only brought self-gratification after winning, If I lost it made me appeal and
that was more money spent. It also brought me to a point in my life where I
started selling empty soda bottles or beer bottles to make money to go and
spend. This worsened with time as I liked nightclubbing (this was something I
did quietly), I would concoct all kinds of stories or sell more bottles just to
look for money to go have the pleasure which would only last for a night and The next day I would be back to zero.
A few times I dipped my hands in my mother’s
bag (I know she will read this but am now a good boy/man helping others) to
pick a few shillings to enrich my lifestyle. It is written in Proverbs 21:20 NLT “The wise have wealth and luxury but
fools spend whatever they get”. I was a big fool just as the proverbs can
tell. When you don’t have a spending plan, the money will be wasted and you end up
having a lot of regrets coupled with anxiety, depression, etc. Don’t waste your
life with things that won’t add value to you, they are a waste of time, money, and other resources.
When we study the
nations that have developed, we realize strongly that their work ethic has been
an important factor, the work ethic of individuals, family heads, and community
leaders. No nation, society, community can develop when it’s people are lazy.
The responsibility of having children and fending for them is one of the
toughest jobs ever. But it is one of the ways of developing and building people
up and in turn, nations are built.
Psalm 19:7 NLT the
instructions of the Lord are perfect, reviving the soul, the decrees of the Lord
are trustworthy, making wise the simple. May God's word transform you as you get renewed in your mind.
If the word of God is
true, then we must understand a few things about money and the value of work,
work is talked about in the bible, the first Job Adam had was to till the
garden.
The bible says that “Now no shrub of the
field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted” because
there were two things that could not allow plants or shrubs to grow.
1. No rain
2. No Man to attend to (cultivate)
it.
This
is the account of Genesis 2:15
It
is written “Then the LORD God took the
man and put him into the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it."
This helps us understand that Work
is profitable
Proverbs 14:23–
“In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.”
When
we read the story of creation, it gives us a picture of how valuable man is to
the things that God has created. He gave man dominion over all his creation.
We
are created to work, there should be no place for laziness. When we diligently
work, we reap the rewards as well. It is also written in Proverbs 12:11– “Whoever
works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits
lacks sense.”
Dave
Ramsey says that the only way to beat being broke is by going to WORK, work
isn't necessarily only a JOB, we have been blessed with so much potential and
we only need to come out and do something. It is also written in Ecclesiastes 9:10 "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in
the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor
planning nor knowledge nor wisdom." So work is for this earth where we are in, it won’t happen in the
grave, we can only transform our families and nation when we still have breath
that God has given us. I reiterate what the above scripture says, “WHATEVER
YOUR HAND FINDS TO DO” just do it, have you found what to do, look deep within,
look around, provide services, solve problems, etc Proverbs 13:11 NIV “Dishonest money dwindles away, but whoever
gathers money little by little makes it grow” in gathering (we are working
and it’s an opportunity to make money the right way)
The
bible teaches me that God will bless the works of our hands. It doesn’t say
that he will bless the complaints and excuses of our mouths.
“Hard work is
always profitable in some way, it builds your character, your bank account, and
your reputation. But when you’re one of those people who always make plans but
never actually do anything about them, you will never succeed”
– Jason Cabler
So let’s not ignore
work, we are God's workmanship created to do good works. You reap what you sow,
if it is laziness, then there will be no fruit. Hard work beats talent if
talent doesn’t work hard enough.
To be continued… to part 2
