Compounded, Not Confounded

We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. – 2 Thessalonians 1:3

Albert Einstein is one of the most famous people to have ever lived. The German-born theoretical physicist is synonymous with intelligence, despite most people having absolutely no idea what his theories mean or what impact they have had on our world. Face it – can you explain E=mc²? Me either.

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s look at something else Einstein said that I think can make greater sense to the masses: his Eighth Wonder of the World. If you’ve never heard this before and were asked to guess what he thought the eighth wonder of the world would be, you might think he was referring to some incredibly intricate or complex scientific process. Perhaps something that explains life or a chemical reaction that impacts the cosmos.

And if you thought that, you’d be absolutely, 100% wrong.

So, what earned this lofty place in Einstein’s thinking? I’ll let him tell you: “Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it. He who doesn’t, pays it.” Did you expect that one? Once again, me either.

Compound interest can be defined as, “the interest on a loan or a deposit calculated based on both the initial principal and the accumulated interest from previous periods.” I am not qualified to give financial advice, so we won’t head too far down that path, but I think most people possess a base understanding of interest rates. If you invest your money, your investment will increase from the interest earned. Most accounts will earn some amount of interest, but those numbers vary based on how much was kept in savings and what was spent. For the interest to compound, you invest the money into an account which provides a good interest rate and simply leave it there. Over time, the money earns interest, but because you didn’t spend any of it, that increased amount of money will make increasingly higher amounts of interest. Over time, hundreds or thousands can grow into hundreds of thousands.

Knowledge of this process can make a huge difference in people’s lives, especially if they are able to save money from an early age and have the discipline to leave that money alone for a long time. Sadly, many people don’t take advantage of this idea until later in life when its benefit is greatly reduced. Some people knew about it but didn’t have the extra money to put away. Others might have had it, but they lacked the foresight to save for a future that seemed oh so far away. Either way, it’s unfortunate that so many people are introduced to compound interest with the phrase, “If you would have…”

As Christians, we too are given the opportunity to compound a commodity that will be of great value throughout our lives: our faith. Having faith in God brings blessings into the lives of believers that can not be matched by anyone or anything. It is by faith we have an understand of who God is and what He has done and continues to do for us. Our faith leads us to knowing Jesus, whose great love for us took him to Calvary’s cross to save us from the missteps of life created by our sin. Our faith is built and grown within us by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, who empowers us to live our lives as a testimony to the love of God so that we might share that same good news with others who need to hear it.

For some of us, we were raised in faith and have known these great gifts throughout our lives. Faith allows us to appreciate the blessings that come from God in the moments they occur. Faith presses us into the loving arms of God when we are suffering pain or loss. Faith puts the daily ups and downs into perspective in a way that provides a greater significance for us as we serve God through growing His Kingdom while we serve others here on earth.

Like compounded interest, there are some who pay no attention to the benefits of faith in God. In fact, the whole idea confounds them, equating it to a fairy tale or fable. Some begin in the faith and give up on it, denying themselves its benefits. This is like a young man or woman who takes an investment made for them at 18 and chooses to spend it at the age of 25. Did it offer a short-term benefit? Sure, but by giving up on it they will lose everything it was designed to have given them for years to come. Others may have never learned about it or chose to ignore it until later in life. With finances, this is a better late than never proposition, but the benefits will certainly be limited due to the late start. With faith, the benefits are still paid out in full and for an eternity – a benefit that no financial institution could ever provide.

As we continue down the path of life that God has placed us on, we may come to realize that we were not blessed with the same level of intelligence of Einstein. We may also never amass the wealth of the world’s financial elite. What we do have is the love of God surrounding us. From this love, He graciously gifts us the faith we need to believe in Christ so that we will ultimately earn our eternal dividend with Him in Heaven. Invest into your faith. Share it with everyone you encounter to the glory of God and watch the Kingdom compound.

Devotion by Richard Schumacher

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