LESSONS FROM MY CAMCORDER (3): DO NOT BE GIFTED BUT FOOLISH 

I started earning some decent money from my video coverage business. I made so much money that I approached my Dad to tell him about it. I even boasted that if they stopped sending me money, I would still be fine. I was eating in restaurants. They had different grades. And even if I had to cook, it was a delicacy. As a student, I ate turkey. I was enjoying life. 

But guess what I didn’t do – I didn’t save. Why should I save? The business only needed me. I was not spending on anything at all. That was my thinking. As long as I had my camera and I could stand on my feet and rent a camera stand if need be, I would keep making money. I charged six thousand naira. I spent just one thousand, five hundred naira on the finishing. I pocketed ₦ 4,500. My pocket money in a month was five thousand naira at that time. Imagine how I enjoyed my life. 

I was gifted but foolish. I had no financial intelligence. Am I being too hard when I use the word “foolish”? Let us learn from scriptures: 

A fool has no desire for wisdom:

“Of what use is money in the hand of a [self-confident] fool to buy skillful and godly Wisdom–when he has no understanding or heart for it?”

Proverbs 17:16 AMPC

A fool spends everything: 

“Wise people save the nice things they have. Fools use up everything as soon as they get it.”

Proverbs 21:20 ERV

Money has wings. It can fly away:

“In the blink of an eye, money can disappear, as if it grew wings and flew away like a bird.”

Proverbs 23:5 ERV

Truthfully, like the saying goes, “A fool and his money are soon parted”. 

Joel Ryan writes: A foolish person is rarely a good steward of their money. Lacking financial wisdom, discipline, and discernment, they will spend on things they do not need, fail to save or invest in long-term gains, and be easily duped or manipulated by unscrupulous salesmen, lenders, or thieves. As a result, a fool will often see his money disappear, hence the saying, “A fool and his money are soon parted.”

Aside from your giftedness, would you also master the financial intelligence that can sustain it? There is the soccer skill, but there is also the business of soccer. There is the skill of broadcasting, but there is the business of broadcasting. There is the skill of teaching, but there is the business of education. Do you have just the skill, or do you also know the business? 

Do you have just the skill, or do you know the system that can keep the flow running? Skill can bring you the cash, but systems will give you the cash flow. If you do not want the flow from your gift to cease, you must become a student of systems- administrative, financial and leadership! 

Do you get it?