You could soon find yourself not needing to leave your house to make money!

It certainly got my attention as a college student: I could sit in my dorm room, make a few phone calls, maybe do a little showing of products and—poof!—I’d be a millionaire before I even graduated.  Well, I’m not a millionaire and I’m a long way after that graduation.

If you want to get someone’s attention really quickly, start talking about money.  From Fox Business to CNBC, we Americans are very interested in how to get money, how to spend money, and how to repeat the process so we get more to spend more.  Granted, it’s not everybody but it certainly seems to fit many (most?).

But did you know there’s a type of wealth more fragile, but infinitely more valuable?  It is THE key to your relationships, spiritual vitality, and emotional well-being.

To master THIS type of wealth makes you rich…really rich.  And it’s found in Proverbs 22:1.

A good name is more desirable than great riches;

to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.

Now I know what some of you might be thinking: “Hey!  You tricked me!  My reputation has nothing to do with me being rich!” 

Oh beloved of the Father, how mistaken you are.

Your name is what you have control over.  You can’t change what comes and goes into your bank account sometimes.  You can’t change what property values do.  You can’t change what your employer might do to your 401K or what the insurance companies do to your rates.  But you can, however, seek the great riches of a good name.

A good name makes you rich.  To be a person whom others know is a person of dignity, respect, and honor is worth more than money.  You can always make more money, but your reputation—once spent—proves very, very (very, very) difficult to rebuild and reclaim.

It pays to be cautious with the wealth of your good name.  Perhaps this is why we are encouraged to “reject every kind of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:22).

So today, seek to be a person of character, competence, and constancy.  Be the one taking the high road.  As a follower of Christ, you are a son or daughter of the King.  And this King Whose Name you bear has the Name above all names and gives us His Name.  This Name testifies to the world of the change He’s made in our lives.

With our good name, empowered by Him, we can learn the secret of being rich…really rich.