Robert T. Kiyosaki, well known Author and Financial coach, teaches about delayed gratification. The principle here is that as one seeks to grow financially there is a process that must be understood. It’s the process whereby we learn to resist the temptation of an immediate reward in preference for a larger or more enduring reward later.
For example; a young man graduates from University with his first degree. He lands a job as a Project Co-ordinator at a Civil Engineering Company. He lives in New York where public transportation can be easily accessed. He can choose to purchase a vehicle immediately through a bank loan or he can choose to save his money. If he is currently servicing a student loan it means that he will be further extending his debt once he pursues a second loan to obtain a car. He assesses his options and realizes that he can only afford a second hand vehicle. He also realises if he waits another four years he should be able to buy a new vehicle without a bank loan. He decides to discipline himself and he waits, saving consistently as he does. This young man has delayed his opportunity to enjoy the comfort, privacy and convenience of owning his own vehicle now so later it would be easier to obtain and he would be able to afford a better quality car.
As I pondered on the term, I thought to myself, so many of us have delayed gratification simply because we had no choice. We were poor; seriously in lack of basic needs, and had to learn how to be content, how to do without and how to wait. We learnt how to appreciate the little that we had. For others, our parents were wise enough to explain to us that because of our co-operation as kids, when we became adults we would experience a better life. We were then taught how to take a little and “stretch” it, how to maximise the available resources around us and avoid spending and the importance of saving a penny.
This term can be extended to so many aspects of our lives, relationship and sex, a job promotion, our own house, improved health and the list goes on. As we seek to pursue God’s purpose for our lives, let’s keep in mind the importance of practicing restraint, contentment, patience, gratefulness, giving, and faith.
Almighty God, Creator of all things, admonishes us to stay away from all the attitudes and behaviours that can draw us away from the principles of delayed gratification and the degrading qualities mentioned hereunder. He warns us against greed, filthy lucre, reveling, wastage, fornication, robbing others, envy, covetousness, and anxiety.
We are encouraged 100% to invest and to seek to grow our wealth. We are encouraged to be good stewards with what we have been given. However, it is paramount for us to understand that pure success comes when it is obtained through the application of godly principles. May we be disciplined enough, may our faith be strong enough to pursue success only in alignment with God’s will. In God’s will and in his timing, the waiting is always worth it.
