Joe,

We like the perspective offered by John Ortberg, teaching pastor at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in Menlo Park, California. He once told a story about playing Monopoly as a child with his grandmother. He suffered defeat after defeat, until one summer, when he made up his mind to learn the game well enough to beat her. Sure enough, the day came that he won, and he was so thrilled that he considered having the board bronzed as a testimony to his newfound skill in capitalism. But then his grandmother reminded him: “It all goes back in the box.”

Ortberg says that was a great lesson and metaphor for life. All our money, houses, and things are ours to use for a while, and then they go away. He concluded with this thought: “None of it was ever really yours. It was here long before you were, and it will be here long after you're done.” (John Ortberg quoted in Who Do You Believe Really Owns It All? by Brad Hulse, www.moneyandfaith.net .)

The apostle Paul put it succinctly: “For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it” (1 Timothy 6:7).

Quick Cents Application Points:

1. Discuss your financial goals and what you are building toward. What is the legacy you want 50, 100, and 500 years from now?
2. As you discuss the reality that “it all goes back in the box“, how does that impact your thoughts about what you need in this life?
3. Discuss what it means to be a steward instead of an owner and how that impacts your thoughts about money and possessions.