Life in Abundance
There are a lot of excellent books written about the secrets to obtaining an abundance in finance, as well as in life. Many of them have changed the way I see the world. This is a summary of the best concepts I have discovered in these readings:
Abundance in Finance
Income Expenses
Assets Liabilities
Income - Money you receive in exchange for your time and/or work
Expenses - Money you give in exchange for things
Assets - Things that make you money without requiring your time
Liabilities - Things that take your money without requiring your time
Having a high paying income helps a person become financially well-off. Income comes in the form of jobs, commissions, and salaries. Those who have them have money, but their time is still bound to maintain it.
Having high paying assets helps a person become financially independent. Assets are things that one owns and lends to others to use for a price, such as royalties, patents, property, and stock. These people are free to work how, when, and on what they decide to. They can take vacations when the want because they are always being paid.
Having expenses take money, these are things like food, rent, and entertainment. This results in financial reduction.
Having liabilities drains money, these are things like credit card debt, mortgages, and car payments. The debt lasts a long time and is difficult to get rid of. The result is financial bondage.
Income = Financially well-off
Assets = Financially free
Expenses = Financial reduction
Liabilities = Financial bondage
Key to financial freedom : Invest as much as you can in obtaining assets. Stay away as far as you can from liabilities.
The Abundant Life
Consider these keys to the Abundant Life and how they relate to the keys of Financial Freedom:
In the talk The Abundant Life by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ, Elder Wirthlin mentions three keys to obtaining the Abundant Life:
- Drink deeply of Living Water
- Filling our hearts with love
- Create of our lives a masterpiece
The Living Water referred to is the happiness and joy that comes from knowing and living the truth that comes from knowing Christ and living his teachings. Christ has Eternal happiness. He has happiness and joy, Eternally, and Eternal is abundance. He never runs out. He is the one source of value that a person can constantly tap into. Many things in life sap our energy: trials, hardships, misunderstandings. These things create voids within us. Christ offers to replenish these voids, and teaches us ways to avoid creating these voids in the future.
Filling ones heart with love, as explained in the talk, is done through reaching out and lifting and serving others. The promise is a greater happiness than one has ever known.
Creating ones life into a masterpiece involves hard work and dedication, the dedication of a life time.
Consider the following as it relates to the Key to Financial Freedom and the Abundant Life:
| Physical | Spiritual | |
| Hard work in the service of others | = | Spiritual gratification that stays regardless of time. |
| Expense | Asset | |
| Stealing something of value from another | = | Spiritual haunting that stays regardless of time. |
| Income | Liability |
Notice how in exchange for hard work and service, one can receive Spiritual Freedom.
Notice that in exchange for a temporary income, the result is Spiritual Bondage.
Hard work and serving others are two of the requirements for obtaining the abundant life. I don't find it surprising that the combination of these two principles results in a Spiritual Asset. The third requirement is to tap into an already existing Spiritual Asset, Living Water, or the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I invite you to apply these principles of Financial and Spiritual Abundance in your own life.
