“Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” — James 2:17

Most of us have accumulated more information than we know what to do with.

We have shelves full of books we’ve highlighted, podcasts we’ve saved, sermons we’ve listened to, and conferences we’ve attended. We know the right verses about generosity. We understand the importance of stewardship. We can explain why legacy matters and why our money belongs to God in the first place.

Yet knowledge has a way of creating the illusion of progress. We can become convinced that understanding an idea is the same thing as living it.

Bob Goff’s book Love Does challenges that assumption in an unforgettable way. (I’ve read it multiple times and highly recommend it!) Rather than presenting another systematic theology or step-by-step guide to Christian living, Goff tells story after story illustrating a simple truth: love is never content to remain an idea. Love is an action.

That message resonates deeply with us at St. Croix Advisors because it mirrors what we’ve observed over decades of walking alongside families. Over the years, I’ve discovered something surprising about first meetings. Many people apologize before we ever begin. They apologize for not saving enough, for carrying debt, for waiting too long, or for decisions they wish they could undo. It’s as though they believe they need to clean up their financial lives before they’re worthy of asking for help.

But that has never been the invitation. You don’t have to arrive with everything figured out. Just bring the real story. Financial planning doesn’t begin once your life is perfect; it begins with honesty about where you are today.

Stewardship Is Participation, Not Observation

One of the recurring themes throughout Love Does is that Jesus consistently invited people to participate.

He didn’t merely ask them to believe certain things. He invited fishermen to leave their nets. He called tax collectors away from comfortable careers. He asked ordinary people to feed crowds, care for strangers, forgive enemies, and follow Him into places that rarely felt predictable or safe.

Participation has always been God’s preferred classroom.

That perspective changes the way we think about stewardship.

Many Christians sincerely believe everything the Bible teaches about generosity while rarely allowing those beliefs to influence the way they spend, save, invest, or give. Stewardship quietly becomes another theological category rather than a daily practice.

Jesus never separated belief from action. He continually demonstrated that faith becomes visible through ordinary decisions made over long periods of time.

That’s why financial planning should never become merely an exercise in optimization. Tax strategies, retirement projections, investment allocations, and estate documents are valuable tools, but they remain just that—tools. Their purpose is not simply to create financial efficiency. Their greater purpose is to help position resources for Kingdom impact.

The question isn’t simply whether our financial plan is technically sound.

The deeper question is whether our financial plan is helping us become more faithful in our stewardship of the treasures we’ve been entrusted with?

We’ve all met people who sincerely want to be generous someday. They’re waiting until the mortgage is paid off, until the kids finish college, until retirement feels secure, until there is just a little more margin. Yet stewardship doesn’t begin once every circumstance is perfect. Like every other area of discipleship, it grows through participation. A written giving plan, however modest, often shapes a heart more than years of saying generosity is important. Actions speak loudly!

Success Can Become a Dangerous Goal

One of the most memorable observations in Love Does is the realization that it is far more dangerous to succeed at things that ultimately don’t matter than to fail while pursuing what does.

Our culture rarely encourages that kind of thinking.

Success is usually measured by larger homes, growing account balances, prestigious careers, and increasing influence. I used to think that way, but over the years as I’ve gained wisdom, my thinking has changed. Over time many people experience that. But none of those things are inherently wrong. In fact, many of them may be wonderful gifts from God.

Problems arise when those achievements quietly become our destination instead of our tools.

Jesus consistently redirected people’s attention away from accumulation and toward purpose. He reminded His followers that life does not consist in the abundance of possessions because possessions were never designed to answer the deepest questions of the human heart.

Financial planning often reveals this tension.

Someone may reach every retirement goal they established 20 years earlier and still discover an uncomfortable emptiness because the destination they pursued was never intended to satisfy them. Have you purchased something you were so excited about only later to be no longer enthusiastic about? Or you’ve filled your financial bucket up, now thinking, that’s not enough?

Another family may experience setbacks, unexpected detours, or financial disappointments while simultaneously developing deeper relationships, stronger faith, and a remarkable spirit of generosity.

Which life was actually more successful?

In planning meetings, we often ask a question that changes the entire conversation: “On track toward what?” It’s possible to be perfectly on schedule financially while slowly drifting away from the relationships, generosity, faith, and purpose that mattered most when you first began. Being “on track” only matters if you’re moving toward the right destination.

The World’s Math Isn’t God’s Math

One of the more intriguing ideas Goff explores is what he calls God’s “reverse economy.”

The world’s economy tells us that security comes from holding tighter, accumulating more, protecting ourselves first, and giving only after we’ve determined there is enough left over. The Bible directs us to give from our first harvest. It’s not an afterthought.

Scripture often points in another direction.

Jesus repeatedly taught that generosity produces abundance, that serving leads to greatness, and that those who seek first God’s Kingdom discover everything else placed into proper perspective.

From a purely mathematical standpoint, generosity often appears to subtract.

From God’s perspective, generosity transforms.

We’ve witnessed this repeatedly in conversations with clients.

Some of the most generous people we’ve served are not those with extraordinary wealth. They are people who decided long ago that giving would become one of the defining characteristics of their lives, regardless of their income.

Likewise, we’ve met individuals whose wealth continued to increase while their anxiety did as well. More assets simply gave them more things to worry about.

Money amplifies what already exists in the heart.

If our identity rests in our possessions, more possessions usually create more fear. This is so true and I see it.

If our identity rests in Christ, greater resources simply create greater opportunities to serve. I see this and I want this even for myself.

That is why generosity isn’t merely something Christians do after becoming financially successful. Generosity is one of the primary ways God shapes us into the people He desires us to become.

God’s economy has always worked differently than Wall Street’s.

Quiet Faith Often Has the Greatest Impact

Modern culture rewards visibility.

We announce accomplishments, celebrate milestones, and share nearly every meaningful experience with an audience.

Jesus often modeled something entirely different.

Again and again, He performed remarkable acts of compassion before telling people not to make a spectacle of them.

There is something deeply freeing about quiet faithfulness.

One of my favorite ideas from Love Does is the phrase “secretly incredible people.” They don’t need recognition to stay motivated. In many ways, that’s what faithful stewardship looks like. Some of the most meaningful gifts are the ones few people ever know about. Anonymous generosity reminds us that giving is ultimately an act of worship, not reputation.

Some of the most extraordinary acts of generosity we’ve encountered have never appeared in annual reports or fundraising banquets.

Relationships Will Always Outlast Portfolios

One of the most refreshing themes throughout Love Does is the repeated reminder that people matter infinitely more than programs, systems, or accomplishments.

The same principle applies to financial planning.

A portfolio is important.

A retirement strategy is important.

An estate plan is important.

But none of those things represent the final objective.

Our hope is that wise stewardship creates more opportunities to love spouses well, invest in children and grandchildren, strengthen churches, support ministries, encourage neighbors, and serve communities.

Money is simply one of God’s many tools for accomplishing those purposes.

The relationships remain long after the financial statements have been forgotten.

Living With Open Hands

At some point every Christian must answer a deeply personal question.

What is God asking me to do with everything He has entrusted to me?

For one family, the answer may involve increasing charitable giving. One question to ask: Are we only here for consumption?

For another, it may mean helping adult children establish healthy financial habits instead of simply providing more money.

For someone else, it could involve supporting a missionary, funding a scholarship, mentoring a younger family, serving on a nonprofit board, or simply becoming more intentional about hospitality.

The specific answer is different for every person.

The invitation is the same.

God never intended stewardship to become another item on a financial checklist. He designed it as an expression of trust, worship, and participation in His work.

When we begin to view our careers as opportunities to fund Kingdom purposes, our wealth as something temporarily entrusted to us, and our financial plans as tools for serving others rather than merely protecting ourselves, something remarkable begins to happen.

We discover that faithful stewardship was never primarily about what we own.

It has always been about becoming the kind of people who reflect the heart of the One who entrusted it to us.

At St. Croix Advisors, we believe financial planning should help people do far more than prepare for retirement. It should help them live faithfully today, steward wisely tomorrow, and leave behind a legacy that reflects God’s love long after they are gone.

Because in the end, love was never meant to remain an idea.

Love does.

 

“Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” — James 2:17

Most of us have accumulated more information than we know what to do with.

We have shelves full of books we’ve highlighted, podcasts we’ve saved, sermons we’ve listened to, and conferences we’ve attended. We know the right verses about generosity. We understand the importance of stewardship. We can explain why legacy matters and why our money belongs to God in the first place.

Yet knowledge has a way of creating the illusion of progress. We can become convinced that understanding an idea is the same thing as living it.

Bob Goff’s book Love Does challenges that assumption in an unforgettable way. (I’ve read it multiple times and highly recommend it!) Rather than presenting another systematic theology or step-by-step guide to Christian living, Goff tells story after story illustrating a simple truth: love is never content to remain an idea. Love is an action.

That message resonates deeply with us at St. Croix Advisors because it mirrors what we’ve observed over decades of walking alongside families. Over the years, I’ve discovered something surprising about first meetings. Many people apologize before we ever begin. They apologize for not saving enough, for carrying debt, for waiting too long, or for decisions they wish they could undo. It’s as though they believe they need to clean up their financial lives before they’re worthy of asking for help.

But that has never been the invitation. You don’t have to arrive with everything figured out. Just bring the real story. Financial planning doesn’t begin once your life is perfect; it begins with honesty about where you are today.

Stewardship Is Participation, Not Observation

One of the recurring themes throughout Love Does is that Jesus consistently invited people to participate.

He didn’t merely ask them to believe certain things. He invited fishermen to leave their nets. He called tax collectors away from comfortable careers. He asked ordinary people to feed crowds, care for strangers, forgive enemies, and follow Him into places that rarely felt predictable or safe.

Participation has always been God’s preferred classroom.

That perspective changes the way we think about stewardship.

Many Christians sincerely believe everything the Bible teaches about generosity while rarely allowing those beliefs to influence the way they spend, save, invest, or give. Stewardship quietly becomes another theological category rather than a daily practice.

Jesus never separated belief from action. He continually demonstrated that faith becomes visible through ordinary decisions made over long periods of time.

That’s why financial planning should never become merely an exercise in optimization. Tax strategies, retirement projections, investment allocations, and estate documents are valuable tools, but they remain just that—tools. Their purpose is not simply to create financial efficiency. Their greater purpose is to help position resources for Kingdom impact.

The question isn’t simply whether our financial plan is technically sound.

The deeper question is whether our financial plan is helping us become more faithful in our stewardship of the treasures we’ve been entrusted with?

We’ve all met people who sincerely want to be generous someday. They’re waiting until the mortgage is paid off, until the kids finish college, until retirement feels secure, until there is just a little more margin. Yet stewardship doesn’t begin once every circumstance is perfect. Like every other area of discipleship, it grows through participation. A written giving plan, however modest, often shapes a heart more than years of saying generosity is important. Actions speak loudly!

Success Can Become a Dangerous Goal

One of the most memorable observations in Love Does is the realization that it is far more dangerous to succeed at things that ultimately don’t matter than to fail while pursuing what does.

Our culture rarely encourages that kind of thinking.

Success is usually measured by larger homes, growing account balances, prestigious careers, and increasing influence. I used to think that way, but over the years as I’ve gained wisdom, my thinking has changed. Over time many people experience that. But none of those things are inherently wrong. In fact, many of them may be wonderful gifts from God.

Problems arise when those achievements quietly become our destination instead of our tools.

Jesus consistently redirected people’s attention away from accumulation and toward purpose. He reminded His followers that life does not consist in the abundance of possessions because possessions were never designed to answer the deepest questions of the human heart.

Financial planning often reveals this tension.

Someone may reach every retirement goal they established 20 years earlier and still discover an uncomfortable emptiness because the destination they pursued was never intended to satisfy them. Have you purchased something you were so excited about only later to be no longer enthusiastic about? Or you’ve filled your financial bucket up, now thinking, that’s not enough?

Another family may experience setbacks, unexpected detours, or financial disappointments while simultaneously developing deeper relationships, stronger faith, and a remarkable spirit of generosity.

Which life was actually more successful?

In planning meetings, we often ask a question that changes the entire conversation: “On track toward what?” It’s possible to be perfectly on schedule financially while slowly drifting away from the relationships, generosity, faith, and purpose that mattered most when you first began. Being “on track” only matters if you’re moving toward the right destination.

The World’s Math Isn’t God’s Math

One of the more intriguing ideas Goff explores is what he calls God’s “reverse economy.”

The world’s economy tells us that security comes from holding tighter, accumulating more, protecting ourselves first, and giving only after we’ve determined there is enough left over. The Bible directs us to give from our first harvest. It’s not an afterthought.

Scripture often points in another direction.

Jesus repeatedly taught that generosity produces abundance, that serving leads to greatness, and that those who seek first God’s Kingdom discover everything else placed into proper perspective.

From a purely mathematical standpoint, generosity often appears to subtract.

From God’s perspective, generosity transforms.

We’ve witnessed this repeatedly in conversations with clients.

Some of the most generous people we’ve served are not those with extraordinary wealth. They are people who decided long ago that giving would become one of the defining characteristics of their lives, regardless of their income.

Likewise, we’ve met individuals whose wealth continued to increase while their anxiety did as well. More assets simply gave them more things to worry about.

Money amplifies what already exists in the heart.

If our identity rests in our possessions, more possessions usually create more fear. This is so true and I see it.

If our identity rests in Christ, greater resources simply create greater opportunities to serve. I see this and I want this even for myself.

That is why generosity isn’t merely something Christians do after becoming financially successful. Generosity is one of the primary ways God shapes us into the people He desires us to become.

God’s economy has always worked differently than Wall Street’s.

Quiet Faith Often Has the Greatest Impact

Modern culture rewards visibility.

We announce accomplishments, celebrate milestones, and share nearly every meaningful experience with an audience.

Jesus often modeled something entirely different.

Again and again, He performed remarkable acts of compassion before telling people not to make a spectacle of them.

There is something deeply freeing about quiet faithfulness.

One of my favorite ideas from Love Does is the phrase “secretly incredible people.” They don’t need recognition to stay motivated. In many ways, that’s what faithful stewardship looks like. Some of the most meaningful gifts are the ones few people ever know about. Anonymous generosity reminds us that giving is ultimately an act of worship, not reputation.

Some of the most extraordinary acts of generosity we’ve encountered have never appeared in annual reports or fundraising banquets.

Relationships Will Always Outlast Portfolios

One of the most refreshing themes throughout Love Does is the repeated reminder that people matter infinitely more than programs, systems, or accomplishments.

The same principle applies to financial planning.

A portfolio is important.

A retirement strategy is important.

An estate plan is important.

But none of those things represent the final objective.

Our hope is that wise stewardship creates more opportunities to love spouses well, invest in children and grandchildren, strengthen churches, support ministries, encourage neighbors, and serve communities.

Money is simply one of God’s many tools for accomplishing those purposes.

The relationships remain long after the financial statements have been forgotten.

Living With Open Hands

At some point every Christian must answer a deeply personal question.

What is God asking me to do with everything He has entrusted to me?

For one family, the answer may involve increasing charitable giving. One question to ask: Are we only here for consumption?

For another, it may mean helping adult children establish healthy financial habits instead of simply providing more money.

For someone else, it could involve supporting a missionary, funding a scholarship, mentoring a younger family, serving on a nonprofit board, or simply becoming more intentional about hospitality.

The specific answer is different for every person.

The invitation is the same.

God never intended stewardship to become another item on a financial checklist. He designed it as an expression of trust, worship, and participation in His work.

When we begin to view our careers as opportunities to fund Kingdom purposes, our wealth as something temporarily entrusted to us, and our financial plans as tools for serving others rather than merely protecting ourselves, something remarkable begins to happen.

We discover that faithful stewardship was never primarily about what we own.

It has always been about becoming the kind of people who reflect the heart of the One who entrusted it to us.

At St. Croix Advisors, we believe financial planning should help people do far more than prepare for retirement. It should help them live faithfully today, steward wisely tomorrow, and leave behind a legacy that reflects God’s love long after they are gone.

Because in the end, love was never meant to remain an idea.

Love does.