How to invest into your relationships.

I’ve never been much a financial investment expert. My idea of a good money investment is buying a $5 pizza from Little Caesar’s instead of a $10 pizza from Papa Johns. Five bucks saved and you still get full! Feel free to use that little secret.

Even with my limited knowledge of stocks and bonds, there is one financial investing principle which has helped me shape the way I view investing into relationships. Any financial planner would tell you that the best way to maximize a financial investment is to invest when the stock is low, not when it’s high. That might sound like an overly simplistic description (and it probably is), but I want you to consider how this principle looks in your life and relationships…

I want you to think for a moment about the people in your life you love the most. They’d be the ones you consider the most loyal to you and the ones to whom you feel the most loyalty. I’m willing to bet that those people invested in you with their love, support and encouragement in those times in your life when you were the lowest.

Everyone wants to be your friend when you’re on top of the world, but true loyalty and intimacy is built by being the one to rush to a person when everyone else is rushing away. It requires giving them your best when they’re at their very worst. If you truly care about someone, you must invest into their lives even when they’re not in a place to reciprocate. You must share in their struggles if you ever want to celebrate with them in their successes.

In every meaningful relationship in your life (your marriage, your friendships, etc.) let me challenge you to be the one to pick up your loved ones when life has knocked them down. That type of investment will bring health and strength to the ones you love and will bless you in the process!

“A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need.” Proverbs 17:17

For additional ways to invest into your marriage, please watch our (now FREE) video series The 4 Pillars of a Strong Marriage and check out our bestselling book iVow: Secrets to a Stronger Marriage.