Hey everybody. Welcome to our broadcast.
It’s good to see you again this week. This is Business, Money, and Christianity. We’re a financial podcast from a faith perspective, and our goal is to learn practical insights about how money works and how to structure our lives in a stronger, more stable way.
Today I want to talk about time and money. There’s an old saying: time is money. But let me share a little secret with you.
The “time is money” concept is really a poor man’s concept. If you observe very wealthy people, you’ll notice something interesting. They’re not primarily concerned about how much money they make for their time; they’re concerned about how much time they retain. So let’s explore that mindset for a few minutes and understand why the other way of thinking can keep people stuck.
A poor man says, “Time is money. If you use my time, you must pay me my hourly wage.” One of the realities here in the United States is that many average jobs pay by the hour. That structure conditions us to think that each hour of our life is worth a fixed dollar amount.
But time is far more valuable than money. Money can be earned, multiplied, invested, and recovered. Time cannot. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. So it’s difficult to honestly equate time with money.
Of course we need money. Of course we want to make money. But when we start calculating life strictly in terms of how many hours we must trade to earn a certain amount, we’re operating at a lower level of the economic cycle.
I remember when I worked in finance and was paid hourly. Under California law at the time, if you worked over eight hours in a day or forty hours in a week, you were entitled to time and a half. Many people tried to pick up extra hours because it meant more money—after all, time is money, right?
I couldn’t wait to move into management. Once I did, I left the hourly wage system and went on salary. Now, on the surface, salary is often less financially attractive. You may work more hours and not receive additional pay. So why would I want that?
Because I never believed my time was money. I believed my success produces money. There’s a difference.
If I reduce my life into hourly increments, I’ll constantly ask, “How do I fit in more hours to earn more?” But that keeps me from seeing the bigger picture—that success produces prosperity. And within success, purpose produces prosperity.
If my purpose is profitable, then my focus shifts from the amount of time spent to the quality of pursuit. The payoff comes from excellence, not clocking hours.
The Bible says in Gospel of Luke 6, “Give, and it shall be given to you. Pressed down, shaken together, and running over shall men give into your bosom.”
Let’s unpack that. When people hear “give,” they often think only about money. “If I give money, money will come back.” There’s truth there, but the principle is broader.
In that same passage, there are examples like: if someone asks you to walk one mile, go two. That’s giving. You’re giving more of yourself. If someone asks for something, give generously. The principle is about operating at a higher level than simply “give to get.”
When I moved from hourly wages to purpose-driven compensation with bonuses, I discovered something. The money was there if I produced quality work and fulfilled the mission of my employment.
I remember working for a small company years ago. I gave a two-week notice because I was moving fully into the financial field. I had been working nights for this employer. When I went to collect my final paycheck, the owner had reduced my hourly wage by fifty cents an hour.
This was around 1980 or 1981. On a forty-hour paycheck, he might have saved twenty dollars. Twenty dollars meant more then than now—but it still wasn’t much.
I could have called the California Labor Board. He could have faced serious consequences. But I didn’t pursue it. My mindset wasn’t anchored to that hourly rate. I had given my best to help the business grow, and my focus was larger than twenty dollars.
That business owner was very successful financially. Tragically, his son later died by suicide. He eventually closed the business and entered retirement under heavy personal grief.
I’m not saying that twenty dollars led to destruction in his family. But spiritual laws do operate. “Give, and it shall be given.” That principle works in both directions. When we take from others unjustly, when we sow negatively, it returns in some form. Different philosophies call it different things—karma, yin and yang, “what goes around comes around.” The reason they resonate is because spiritual principles underlie them.
So when I focus on giving my best, helping others succeed, and operating with integrity, it returns in ways that exceed what I might have earned by squeezing every last dollar out of every minute.
This is difficult for many people to grasp because hourly pay is immediate and visible. Work an hour, get paid. Simple.
But since leaving hourly employment in the early 1980s, I’ve never returned to it—except in my consulting and coaching business. There, I charge by the hour, but I’m not employed by someone else. And the rate is far higher than most hourly wages.
Even then, I don’t obsess over the clock. Many times I go beyond the hour without charging extra. Just recently, a woman I coach called and asked if I could speak immediately—she needed quick advice. We talked fifteen or twenty minutes. I didn’t charge her. Why?
Because I don’t think, “You used a quarter of an hour, now you owe me.” I think in terms of long-term value, relationship, and purpose. That produces more in the bigger picture.
If you watch highly successful people—outside of professions that require billing by the hour, like attorneys—you’ll notice they don’t structure their mindset around logging every minute. A doctor may charge based on procedure complexity, not strictly time. That’s not the mentality I’m addressing.
I’m talking about the internal belief: “I must be paid for every hour I work.”
I’ve been a Christian most of my life. I’ve served in church in many ways without expecting payment. It was service. Yet God has a remarkable way of honoring that.
This podcast is Business, Money, and Christianity. Business and money matter. But the spiritual component integrates everything and makes it function properly. And part of that understanding is recognizing that time is more valuable than money.
If I offered you $10,000 on one condition—that you end your life—you wouldn’t do it. Why? Because instinctively you know time is more valuable than money. You can earn $10,000 somewhere else. But you cannot regain your life once it’s gone.
So expanding your time capacity is more powerful than merely saving money.
For example, I pay someone $200 a month to mow my lawn. If I did it myself—mowing, trimming, pulling weeds—it might take me two or three hours. The young man I hire does it faster and more efficiently.
In my coaching business, I charge $350 per session. If freeing up that time allows me to book even one additional session, I more than cover the lawn expense. It makes sense. I’m reallocating time toward higher-value activity.
If I can structure my life so that others handle certain tasks for less than the value I generate during that same time, I’ve effectively expanded my productive capacity. We all have twenty-four hours in a day. But if I surround myself with three people who can accomplish tasks efficiently, I’ve multiplied what can be achieved within my twenty-four hours.
The philosophy of “time is money” often limits more people than it liberates.
So I encourage you: value your life. Value your moments. You can earn more money. You cannot manufacture more time.
Align those priorities correctly, and you’ll find your life functions more smoothly and more profitably.
Thank you again for joining us this week. This has been Business, Money, and Christianity—a financial podcast from a faith perspective. I hope something here helps you shift your thinking just a bit toward greater clarity, greater profitability, and better structure.
Like, subscribe, leave a comment, help us reach more people through the algorithms. We appreciate you spending your time with us, and I look forward to seeing you next week.
See you soon. Bye.
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