Time, Talents, Touch, & Treasure

I ordered a book a few months ago from Amazon.com. Amazon had suggested this book based on previous purchases I had made. I ordered the book and it sat on my shelf for several weeks. One day last week I picked up the book and began to read it. It only took me a couple of hours to read through the book (only because it is a pretty short book, not because I am an extremely fast reader).

The book, The Generosity Factor by Ken Blanchard and S. Truett Cathy (the founder of Chick-Fil-A), is a good book if you get a chance to read it. In the book the authors tell a sort of fictitious story about an encounter between a financial broker and an executive. The broker was curious about the lifestyle of the executive, so he spent some time learning from the executive. The executive shared (among other things) he felt he had a responsibility to give of his Time, Talent, Treasure, and Touch. This got me thinking a bit…

Each of us have 4 T’s, we have Time, we have Talents, we have Touch, and we have Treasure (some have more than others), but we all have these gifts to share with others. If I am to spend out of one of these categories, it may cost me being able to do something I want to do. If I spend one of my hours volunteering in the community, it costs me an hour I typically spend in another area of my life. That is at least what many of us think of giving our time. This thought hit me as I was sitting in a meeting with other leaders of the Northwest Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church. We were discussing our use of time and resources as we planned for the future work of our Conference. Our Bishop said something that drove my thoughts back to the executives 4 T’s. We were discussing a lot of things that would be very effective, but the Bishop asked are these things helping us be effective in our Mission?

I can use my time effectively. I can use my talents effectively. I can use my touch effectively. I can use my treasure effectively. But just because I am effective in using the gifts that I have, does not mean I am using them wisely or impacting the world around me. If I want to use my time or my talents to impact lives, I may have to spend my time and my talents in a different way so that I am being effective in the Mission I have for my life. If I want to use my treasure to impact others around me, I may have to delay a purchase so that I can use my treasure to be effective in the Mission I have for my life.

What is your Mission in life? Do you have one? What are some of the hopes you have for your family, your neighborhood, our community? Are you using the gifts you have available to you to make the hopes and dreams you have for those around you a reality? Are you using the gifts you have to make your mission in life a reality?