Baby Boomers are expected to bequeath more than $68 billion to their children, making Millennials the wealthiest generation in U.S. history. What will they do with their new-found riches? They’re likely to blow it! Research shows that 70% of family wealth is spent or lost by the end of the second generation, and 90% by the end of the third.
The culprits? Uncontrolled spending. Undue investment risk-taking. Poor business decisions. Self-destructive lifestyle choices. Family disharmony and infighting caused by greed for more of the family fortune. The wealth-management industry (yes, there is an entire industry dedicated to helping the rich stay rich) clearly has its hands full. Those who inherit large sums may have wealth at their disposal, but that doesn’t mean they know how to live well.
A high quality of life can be difficult to come by even though we live in the most affluent society in all of history. Why? Perhaps it’s because our society has steadily moved away from the Judeo-Christian ethic upon which our country was founded.
"Jesus said, 'Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.'"
Consider the differences between society’s prevailing attitudes toward life, work, family, and money versus the historical biblical view. Society and government’s perspective is that we came into existence strictly by chance. Accordingly, we are simply animals seeking to fulfill our needs. Furthermore:
Contrast these views with a biblical perspective that maintains we are essentially spirit beings with an eternal purpose, and we came into existence through the creative hand of God. It follows that:
Jesus is almost universally regarded as the wisest moral teacher of all time, even by millions who don’t consider themselves Christians. At the end of what we call “The Sermon on the Mount,” He said, “Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
Our society and government may ignore His words, but at the personal and family level we still can choose to prepare for the inevitable storms of life by following biblical precepts. Take a good look around you. Rarely has the truth of the old hymn been so obvious: “On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand. All other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.”
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