His widowed mom was so poor that she gave him and his siblings up to an orphanage. Needless to say he grew up poor. With no money in his pocket, he began to work very hard. By the time he was 23 years old, he opened up a little eyeglass frame shop. And although you might not know the name Leonardo Del Vecchio or his company Luxottica, I would bet dollars to donuts that you have worn a pair of his sunglasses at some point, which include both Ray-Ban and Oakley brands.
Del Vecchio is now worth billions of dollars, but said he will never forget the long journey to become the successful businessman that he has become today. Relationships are much like building a business. When we begin our trek, many of us are put in a position of leadership or influence with only a few pennies worth of built up trust in our pockets. Meaning, we must continue to invest into others so that we can grow our relational capital.
My mentor, Kevin, once told me that all of the actions I take in life can be equated to relational capital. Meaning, in every interaction I have, I either deposit money into that relational bank, or I withdraw those relational funds. Now of course there are times we need to make withdrawals, but it should be much less than the investments. Unfortunately, many people do not understand the importance, or the severity of consequences for not following that formula, and they end up in relational bankruptcy.
The very last verse in the book of John is often overlooked, which says:
“Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” ~John 21:25
What a great verse. The Gospels written about Jesus and his time here on earth were all about the works he did. Everything Jesus did was relational. And, he spent most of his time investing into relationships and making deposits into the relational banks of the disciples, the people who followed him, and others that listened to his teachings.
My question for you is: where do your relational balances sit today? Each of us come into contact with many people on a daily basis, some more than others. But whether you see somebody every day or only talk to them once in a blue moon, you have a relational bank account with them. My prayer is that you make a relational deposit, however small or large, into someone in your life today... a family member, friend, or coworker.
Praying for you,
MO
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