Author: Tina Bare
Focusing on Faithfulness in 2024
January 25, 2024by Ron Bare
I learned all about hard work growing up on a farm. I understood that the small,
unglamorous jobs had to be done. Yet this didn’t make my first job off the farm much easier. I
was working at a local lumber yard, and my job was to catch wood as it came through the
saw. Exciting, right? One day, my supervisor asked for someone to work outside to unload a
huge truck full of wood, and you better believe I was quick to volunteer! When I was done, no
one was around, so I went to find my supervisor to let him know. He was baffled. It was a
project he thought would take all day, and it had been done in just a few hours. He promoted
me on the spot, and I said goodbye to my lumber-catching role.
I was trusted with catching wood, and then I was trusted with unloading a truck, and
then I was trusted with even more responsibility. As I continued to prove faithful, I was
entrusted with more. And I believe this principle stands true spiritually as well. As Christians,
we are called to be faithful with what God has given us.
Jesus illustrates faithfulness in the parable of the talents – many of you have likely
heard this story found in Matthew 25. In this story, the master left town and entrusted his
possessions to three servants. Two servants invested what they had been given, making
double what they had received by the time the master returned. One servant buried what he
was given, fearful that he may lose it. The master was pleased with both servants who had
multiplied what they’d been given, and displeased with the other.
In this parable, we see the master, who represents Jesus, giving servants talents. After
he returns, he is pleased with those who have multiplied what he left them with. It all
belonged to him in the end; the servants were just stewarding what had been given to them.
Scriptures like Psalm 24:1 remind us of this very reality. All we have is God’s. And all of
these things we’ve been blessed with – finances, family, time, resources, etc. – we’re meant to
manage them in a way that honors Him.
What a tall task. And don’t overlook the fact that many temptations will arise,
encouraging you not to be faithful with your resources, and most of these dress themselves as
fear. We each have fears, especially when it comes to managing money. If I give some away,
will I have enough? What will others think of my financial decisions? Questions like these
will come from everywhere – culture, others, the enemy, and even from ourselves. We must
decide ahead of time that when we feel fearful, we will still choose to be faithful.
And when we choose to be faithful, we might also be led to ask what things God is
asking us to be faithful with. What does this really look like? First, God gives us time. How do
you spend your time? If you examine your time, what can it tell you about what you value?
Second, He gives us talents. What are you doing with the gifts and abilities God has given you?
Are you serving others with the specific giftings you have? Are you pointing back to God when
others praise you for these giftings? Third, He gives us treasure. How does your financial
management point to God?
When we are faithful with the little that He gives us, He entrusts us with more.
Faithfulness is not for the faint of heart. It demands that you recognize God as the
owner of everything you have. Once you acknowledge that, how much easier it is to be
faithful! God’s gifts to each of us in the form of time, talents, and treasure are unbelievable.
Let us thank Him for these gifts through our acts of faithfulness.
This year at Bare, we’ll be focusing on the year of faithfulness. As we provide
excellent wealth management grounded in Biblical wisdom, we have developed resources to
share with you that will help you identify and focus on key areas to grow in faithfulness. We
can’t wait to meet with you and talk about what faithfulness looks like.
The GREATEST Story Ever!
December 11, 2023
by Tina Bare
“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.” How many of you know what comes next? If you’ve grown up in the church, it’s likely that you’ve heard this story from Luke 2 many times! But have you stopped and considered this wonderful story from a different perspective? I thought about what the shepherds, those men that were not highly esteemed, experienced that night…
(The following perspective is a fictional depiction of the shepherds based on the Biblical account.)
“We tend to our flocks each day and night. Every day it’s the same, nothing crazy, nothing new. Until last night. It was my turn to stay awake to make sure our sheep were safe. I was nodding in and out, and all of a sudden, the sky lit up! The darkness that had settled was replaced with a glow so bright I almost couldn’t look toward it. I turned to wake the others, but they were already up. Who wouldn’t be awakened by that force of light?
I looked up to the sky to see an angelic figure. What was going on? I was convinced it was a dream. Not only was I looking at this figure that I could only assume was an angel, but then it started talking to us! The angel immediately told us not to be afraid. Are you serious?? We were terrified! Before I had time to argue, the angel said that there was good news – that a Savior had been born to us – the Lord of all! The long awaited King! And he was just over the hill in Bethlehem. Before we even had time to process that, the sky was full of angels, and they were singing! They sang praises to our God, and just like that, they were gone.
Suddenly the darkness of night covered our field again. We looked around at each other, and there wasn’t a single hesitation about if we should go or not. We had to go! We had to see if this was true, because if it was, how immensely that would change our lives!
We immediately left and traveled to Bethlehem, and sure enough, we found the baby, our Savior, wrapped in cloth and lying in a manger. And oh how we were overjoyed! What an incredible gift – one we could never have imagined! We told Mary and Joseph of all that we’d experienced that night and how it led us to them. Yet we soon had to leave and tell everyone we knew! The Savior is here! Glory to God! We felt so honored and humbled by the God of the universe sending angels to tell us, as the shepherds. We aren’t necessarily highly respected in society, so what a precious moment this was, to be told of this great news.”
How fun it is to consider the Christmas story from different perspectives! And as we think about it, truly every story is like this. Even those we tell within our families are the same. Have you ever had just a slight disagreement on what really happened between you and your siblings? Each of us will connect with the Christmas story from a different perspective. The parts of the story that shape our heart may be different, but no matter which way we hear the story, it’s still the greatest story of all time.
As you think about storytelling, consider what makes stories memorable. Stories pass down knowledge, information, and wisdom. Without stories, we would not be able to learn from the triumphs nor the mistakes of others. Stories also help us remember things. When information is shared in the form of a story, people tend to remember 65-70% of what they heard. If there was no story involved, they remember only 5-10% (Klongerbo). Why? Because we relate to them and we remember how they made us feel.
Here at Bare, we believe in the significance of each of our stories. This year, we focused on the Year of Story and have tried to help you capture your story so that it can be told to the next generation. You’ve reflected on your understanding of your values, your work, generosity, contentment, and money through resources like the Beyond Abundance booklet.
As we reflect on these pieces of our own life, we’re better able to tell our own stories. The same is true as we seek to share the truth and the hope of the greatest story ever told, story of Jesus. As we take intentional time with the Lord to consider all of what it meant when he came to earth as a baby boy, we are reminded of the hope and grace offered to us so freely and graciously! This Christmas, we invite you to consider a few questions with us.
- Which aspect of the Christmas story is most compelling to you? What moves and shapes your heart as you listen?
- How has the Christmas story impacted your story?
- Who can you share the Christmas story with this year?
We pray that you find strength and hope in remembering Christ’s love and sacrifice toward us. Merry Christmas!
Follow us on social media to read stories of encouragement from staff and clients this Christmas season!
Sources:
Klongerbo, Sarah. “What Does Storytelling in Marketing Mean? (Examples, Statistics & Tips).” Sarah Klongerbo, 17 May 2023, sarahklongerbo.com/blog/storytelling-in-marketing/#:~:text=Facts%20are%2022%20times%20more,remember%2065%25%20to%2070%25.
Celebrating 21 Years & A New Look For Us!
November 21, 2022by Ron Bare
At the end of October, we held a 21-year anniversary celebration event! It was a wonderful evening with great food and friends, an encouraging challenge from Chuck Bentley and amazing musical entertainment from Voices of Lee. In addition, we looked back at the last 21 years of Bare Wealth Advisors and Ron set a great vision for where we hope to head in the coming years. We are committed to helping you have great impact and tell your story intentionally for generations to come. For those of you who were in attendance, we hope you were blessed and inspired. If you could not make it, we missed you!
At our celebration, in addition to the above, we launched a new look and feel for Bare Wealth Advisors! As many of you know, 2021 was our “Year of Intentionality.” We felt that this was the right time to be sure that we were intentionally telling an accurate story of who we are and what we do. We worked through an in depth 6-month process being sure we did this well. We are so excited with the results! We will be sharing more of the details of our rebranding in the coming months through our blogs and social media.
When going through the rebranding process our goal was to listen and think about you and your needs or desires when working with financial professionals. We know one of your biggest desires is to make a difference, an impact – in your families and in our world through causes you support with your time, talent, and your treasure. Knowing that the busyness of life and sometime the worries of this world can get in the way of this kind of living, we are committed to forming trusted partnerships with you to help you plan intentionally and give generously to your impact areas (family and giving decisions). Ultimately, we believe, as many of you do, what we invest into the next generation and charitable causes are what will last well beyond our lifetimes.
Our focus is helping you maximize your impact (with the financial capital you are stewarding) for your family and the causes or good you wish to make on this world as part of your legacy. We do this by providing wealth management and holistic financial planning grounded in Biblical wisdom to encourage generosity, empower vision, and influence the world for good. In the coming months we will continue to share the details of our rebranding including our NEW tagline…”Beyond Abundance.” We look forward to helping you grasp this exciting vision!
