The Balance Sheet

The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. (1 Timothy 1:14)

I recently took classes to help me better understand financial statements in relation to my profession. One of the types of financial statements I studied is called a "balance sheet." I've always heard of balance sheets but I've never had to prepare one, save an accounting course I took in sophomore year of college. The goal of a balance sheet is to report a company's assets, liabilities, and stockholder equity. It's called a balance sheet because the stockholder's equity should balance to equal the assets of a company once all liabilities have been settled. Following?

Throughout the course I started to consider how the concept of a balance sheet might translate for our lives. I began thinking about it from a Bible-based perspective and realized that if we were to keep detailed records of what we have (assets), what we owe (liabilities), and what remains between the two (stockholder's equity). Let's start by thinking about what we have and what we owe...

Assets

For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. -1 Timothy 6:7

The Bible is crystal clear that we own nothing. We brought nothing and we will leave with nothing. The possessions and wealth that we accumulate in this life are merely attributed to our name for the short time we have on earth. Everything that we say is "ours" in this life, is borrowed. That includes the land we live on, the communities we are apart of, the families we build, and yes, our very own bodies. They might be "ours" now but when we leave this world, what can we take with us?

Liabilities

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. -Romans 3:23

We may bring nothing into this world, but the minute we enter it, the debt of sin hits the balance sheet. Every man, woman, and child - every human being to ever live is guilty of sin. Looking further into the Book of Romans, 6:23, the apostle Paul writes that there is a price to pay for sin and that price is death. This is our debt, this our greatest liability - not your increasing credit card payments, not your student loans, not your overdue utility bills. Rather, the greatest debt we owe is because of sin.

Now that we have our assets and liabilities covered, you might feel a bit of a despair. And that's OK - it's humbling to realize we can't pay our liabilities. If we have nothing to offer that is our own, what can we offer to cover our debt?

Enter Jesus Christ, the greatest investor in the history of mankind.

Yes, I called Jesus an investor! An investor buys stock (shares) in a company that they feel will grow and turn their dollar into two or three or more. The investor risks their own capital upfront and will do this multiple times across multiple companies looking to grow their wealth.

So why is Jesus an investor? It's because He made an investment in YOU. And not just you, but also me, and everyone. Besides investing His time by teaching us how to live righteously and be His disciples, Jesus also paid our debt in full at the Cross where He died. By giving up His life in place of ours, He didn't just buy a few shares, he bought every single one. Every sin you ever committed (or will) and every time you fell short of God's glory, Jesus paid that debt.

Stockholder's Equity

For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. -1 Corinthian 6:20

Our books balance when God owns all of our shares of stock. Without Him, our liabilities (sins) lead us to bankruptcy. And while it may be a hard pill to swallow that we own nothing, we can take comfort knowing that we can receive something far greater - God's love. We don't own this love, this grace, this mercy. It's not ours. It's a gift that we cannot manipulate by our actions. His love for you, me and everyone is so great that it could never be taken away. His love has the power to save us and bring us into eternal life - but we need to make sure that our lives are God's and not ours. The minute we start treating life as though we are the stockholders, we fall out of balance.

Sell your shares to Jesus Christ. Give everything you have to Him. Your career. Your finances. Your interests. Your families. Your thoughts. Your attitude. Your whole self. Give it all to God and have peace knowing that your balance sheet is in order.

God loves you. I'll say it again - God really does love you.