I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. Luke 16:9
“Deciding how to steward what God has given us at the end of our earthly lives can be difficult to think about and discuss. The legal aspects can be challenging to comprehend. Some choose to avoid what they don’t understand. A May 2016 Gallup poll showed that 56 percent of US households do not have a will [or living trust]. A Google consumer survey conducted in Canada in June 2016 showed that 62 percent of Canadian households do not have a will [or living trust].”
Marcia Shetler in “Legacy Generosity: It’s all in the (Church) Family” in Giving: Growing Joyful Stewards in Your Congregation, vol. 19 (Richmond: ESC, 2017) 19.
Do you have a will or living trust?
Jenni and I set up a will early in our marriage after having children. Once our children reached 18 years old, we set up a living trust. We put all our assets in the trust. Here’s the list: our townhouse, two cars, two laptops, two phones, our books, our fly fishing rods, our hunting guns, our treadmill, our exercise bike, our home furnishings, our clothing, and our bank accounts.
If something happens to me or my wife, we’ve given each other the gift of far fewer headaches to deal with along with grieving because the survivor legally serves as a fellow steward of these assets. And some ask about our bank accounts. We function with what I like to describe as a mina (cf. Luke 19:11-27), which in antiquity was about three months income. It provides basic margin to live, give, serve, and love. The rest is stored up in heaven.
Need help? Put God first. Live simply. Care for the needs of your children and your aging parents. Store up as much as possible in heaven. Talk about all this with your children. Ask God for daily bread and everything else. Set up a will or preferably, a living trust, and put all the assets you steward in it, so that you are welcomed into your eternal dwelling. The family you leave behind will thank you and likely follow your example.
Sadly, I think most people don’t set up a will or living trust because they are not ready to give an account for their stewardship.