A lesson in financial stewardship in the wake of the massive trading loss at JP Morgan.
Transcript
[Darris McNeely] How do you lose 2 billion dollars? Two billion dollars is a lot of money. Last week it was revealed that JP Morgan, one of the largest banks in the United States, lost over 2 billion dollars in trades in international markets. Now, people have been fired already. Some of the top executives have departed. The others are under pressure. It's probably going to be revealed as time goes along that more than 2 billion dollars will be the final toll of the losses in this particular episode. JP Morgan is a very big bank that has very smart leadership and some are wondering that because they made mistakes, how—what yet will be revealed when other banks and other financial institutions are discovered—if they find out exactly that they've been exposed on some of these bad trades in international markets.
It's an interesting situation. It's one that you and I probably look at and we wonder, well, how does that impact us?
JP Morgan is not going to fold as a bank. In fact, in the first quarter they made over 5 billion dollars in profits, so the 2 billion dollars they lost is not going to bankrupt them. So people with money in that bank don't need to really worry at this particular point in time.
But you know when you and I stop and think about our finances, there's a big lesson to learn. If smart people lose money—big money in a situation like this—then it should be a lesson that every one of us take to heart and learn to really watch, very carefully, how we use the money that we have, the assets that we have and take care of them very wisely and watch them, week to week or month to month and how our expenses come and go and how we use the money that we have.
Proverbs chapter 27 makes a statement that had the executives of JP Morgan paid a little bit more attention to, perhaps they wouldn't have lost that kind of money. But if you and I listen to very intently what this teaching tells us, it may save us some pain as well. In Proverbs 27:23-24 it says, “Be diligent to know the state of your flocks and attend to your herds. For riches are not forever nor does a crown endure to all generations.”
Be diligent to know the state of your flocks and of your herds. The Bible uses money time and time again as a barometer of character, spiritual character. Jesus used money in many of his parables—the parable of the talents or pounds—to make spiritual points and to show the importance of us having spiritual character in our lives.
And so, how we use our money both what God gives us and what we also give to God and all of our assets and all of the money we have really is a barometer of many aspects of our own personal life.
Pay attention to what we have. Learn the lessons from those who sometimes mismanage large amounts of money in large international investments. And bring it down to our level and pay attention to what you have, what comes into your account and what goes out. By doing so, you and I are going to be wise stewards of what God has given to us and our lives are going to be better as a result.
