The Compounding Effect

If you had to pick between two reward options for your weekly work for 2 years, which one would you pick?

1) $10 a week plus 10% compounding interest each week for your work.

2) $5000 a month, guaranteed, no interest.

After 12 months, Plan 1 would only yield $15,541 and Plan 2 would yield $60,000. At that point, Plan 1 would seem like a big mistake, but if you persevered by 16 months things would start looking better. When 24 months was up, those who picked Plan 2 would be experiencing some regret.

One of the greatest principles in life, learning, and leadership is the "compounding effect." When a person consistently makes little investments over time, resulting in small growth (like 10%), those investments will have a compounding effect. Whether it is in financial investments, personal development, farming, or physical goals there is a potential for exponential growth. This is also true regarding spiritual growth.

In Luke 8, Jesus warned that we should be mindful of how receptive we are to the seed of God's Word. Jesus was teaching that when God's Word is sown into our lives its fruitfulness will be affected by how receptive we are. When it falls on hard hearts it is snatched away. When it falls on rocky hearts it whithers as soon as a little heat comes out. When the seed lands in weedy hearts the distractions and worldly desires choke it out. Only the hearts that receive God's Word and cling to it with perseverance produce a harvest.

In Luke 8:16-21, Jesus blows the minds of those hearing when he challenged the idea that whoever has the most Bible knowledge is the most spiritually mature. Isn't the goal to gain the most Bible knowledge? How do Jesus and the Bible measure spiritual maturity?