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When I was a student at Freed-Hardeman in the early 2000s, I entered a stock challenge hosted by an organization on campus. It was simple: they opened a newspaper in the student center to the stock listings and each student walked by and picked the one they thought would go up the most in dollars over the next week. Not in percentage terms鈥攋ust raw dollars.

I had never personally bought a stock at that time, but I walked up to that newspaper looking for the stock that had dropped the most the day before. My theory? 鈥淲ell, if it fell yesterday, maybe it鈥檒l bounce back today.鈥� Not exactly the type of reasoning they teach in finance classes, but somehow, it worked. I ended up winning the challenge.

That little victory gave me an inflated sense of what investing was. I thought it was fast, easy, and not all that demanding. If you picked right, you could make money overnight. Simple as that.

Of course, time has a way of humbling us.

By the time I was 26 and living in Chattanooga and had some resources to invest, I had started thinking about a different plan. My new potential strategy was to buy one rental house each year, slowly building a real estate portfolio.

But I never started.

I convinced myself I didn鈥檛 have the time. Real estate seemed messy, complicated, and demanding. I didn鈥檛 want the late-night phone calls about plumbing leaks or the stress of finding tenants. So, I sat on the sidelines.

Looking back now, I realize that if I had followed through, I could easily be sitting on a very profitable real estate portfolio today. But I chose not to invest in real estate鈥攂ecause I didn鈥檛 want to put in the time.

Instead, I went back to stocks where I had the mindset of quick and easy. But unlike my lucky win back in college, I quickly learned the hard way (meaning some big losses) that predicting the 鈥渆asy buck鈥� isn鈥檛 a realistic long-term approach.

Over the past three years, Rachel and I have had the privilege of sponsoring the Hatchett Investment Team at Freed-Hardeman. What an incredible experience this has been for us as we鈥檝e been able to get to know some amazingly bright students! We can鈥檛 wait to see what God does in their lives.

What has struck me the most about this experience is not just the performance of the portfolio鈥攊t鈥檚 the time and diligence the students invest into each position we take and each trade that is considered. These young men and women don鈥檛 just 鈥減ick stocks.鈥� They research. They debate. They build strategies. They track performance. They put in the hours.

And it shows. Their results aren鈥檛 based on luck or a quick glance at yesterday鈥檚 newspaper. They鈥檝e proven that the most important ingredient in successful investing is time. And the proof is in the performance! Check out their results in the past 3 years鈥�

But as valuable as financial investing is, the longer I live, the more convinced I am that the best returns don鈥檛 come from stocks or real estate鈥攖hey come from investing in people.

Just like a stock portfolio, building strong relationships requires patience, consistency, and time. You probably don鈥檛 see immediate results. You can鈥檛 always measure the gains right away. And you can鈥檛 just 鈥減ick鈥� a person the way you pick a stock, walk away, and expect it to grow on its own.

Time is the currency of聽people investment.

The word mentor is thrown around a lot when people think about investing time into others. But there are plenty of people who hear the word聽mentor, and they freeze. They think, 鈥淚鈥檓 not qualified. I don鈥檛 have the skills. I don鈥檛 have the r茅sum茅 for that.鈥�

But in my experience, most people don鈥檛 need you to be a financial wizard, an expert in life, or a motivational speaker. They need you to be鈥� you.

They need someone to listen. Someone to bounce ideas off of. Someone to text late at night when they鈥檙e stressing about a decision they have to make.

Those things don鈥檛 happen at formal events or in structured programs. They happen when time has been invested. When enough hours stack up that trust feels natural, not forced.

And spiritually, Scripture is full of examples of investment through time. Jesus spent three years with his disciples鈥攏ot one sermon, not one conference, but years of daily life, meals, travels, and conversations. That time built the trust and conviction that fueled the early church.

Whether academic research or biblical precedent, the conclusion is the same: time is the most valuable investment you can make in people.

As Rachel and I have spent the past couple of years reflecting on how we invest our time鈥攁nd how the ministries we support incorporate 鈥渢ime investment鈥� into their approach鈥攚e鈥檝e identified three key ingredients that seem to be essential if we are looking for results: be intentional, be available, and be impactful.

Be Intentional

A few weeks ago, I was talking with a friend about how I think the golf course is a fantastic place to invest time in people. You get four hours together. It鈥檚 not awkward conversation鈥攜ou鈥檙e laughing, talking, and just having a good time trying to keep the ball in the fairway. Plus golf is an activity you can do over and over with a person. It鈥檚 a setting that naturally allows you to really get to know each other and grow a relationship.

My friend responded with something that stuck with me: 鈥淩ob, just remember to be intentional. If you鈥檙e not intentional, you鈥檙e really just out there playing golf.鈥�

Those words hit home. There鈥檚 nothing wrong with simply enjoying the game, but if my goal is to see a return on the time I spend with people, I need to approach those hours with purpose. Intentionality means we show up not just to pass time, but to add value. To ask good questions. To really listen. To create space where trust can grow.

Without intentionality, our time becomes recreation. With it, our time becomes investment.

Be Available

Availability is the open door through which investment happens. You can鈥檛 really invest in someone if you鈥檙e never accessible to them. And most people don鈥檛 need someone with all the answers鈥攖hey just need someone who鈥檚 present. Someone who answers the phone or responds to the text.

But let鈥檚 be honest鈥攖his is where time investment gets tricky, and sometimes even messy. It鈥檚 easy to be 鈥渁vailable鈥� if it means blocking a couple of hours on our calendar and asking others to fit within those windows. But true availability means being there when聽they聽need us, not just when it鈥檚 convenient for us.

We鈥檝e all had times when trying to invest in someone ended up consuming far more time than expected. And unless we saw obvious growth in that person, it likely left us hesitant to be that available again. So where鈥檚 the balance? How do we stay open without being overwhelmed?

That鈥檚 where one of my favorite words comes in鈥�discernment. The Bible doesn鈥檛 give us a formula for every situation and decision, but it gives us a method. Paul prayed in Philippians 1:9,聽鈥渢hat your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment.鈥�

Just as we steward our money carefully when giving financially, we must also steward our time. Discernment helps us know when to say 鈥測es,鈥� when to say 鈥渘o,鈥� and when to wait.

Because in the end, availability communicates one simple truth:聽You matter.聽And that message alone can change someone鈥檚 life.

Be Impactful

鈥淚mpact鈥� is a big word, but at its core, it simply means helping someone or making their life better in some way.

Jesus modeled this perfectly. Before He called people to follow Him, He often did something impactful for them. He healed them. He fed them. He touched them. He met a need that mattered deeply to them. Those moments of impact built immediate trust and opened hearts to transformation.

When we seek to make an impact in people鈥檚 lives, it doesn鈥檛 always mean doing something miraculous鈥攊t might just mean doing something meaningful. A word of encouragement. A simple act of kindness. A tangible reminder that they鈥檙e not alone.

When someone feels the difference you鈥檝e made, they鈥檙e far more likely to open themselves to deeper connection and growth.

Watching the Hatchett Investment Team reminds me that the best portfolios are the ones tended to carefully and consistently. The same goes for people.

When you invest in others, the 鈥渄ividends鈥� look different than dollars and cents:

• A student gaining confidence because you believed in them.
• A colleague making a wise decision because of a conversation you had.
• A family member feeling supported because you showed up consistently.
• A friend experiencing hope because you simply listened.

These are returns you can鈥檛 measure on a spreadsheet but will matter more than any financial portfolio ever could.

But here鈥檚 one major difference between financial investing and people investing: when you invest in people, you can鈥檛 expect a return.

That鈥檚 a tough reality.

Jesus told the parable of the soils (Matthew 13)鈥攜es some seed fell on good ground and grew, but much of it didn鈥檛. Only one out of four soils produced fruit. Investing in people means knowing that not everyone will respond. Some won鈥檛 grow. Some will walk away. And some, you may never see again.

But just because you don鈥檛 see the return doesn鈥檛 mean the investment wasn鈥檛 worth it. Every act of love, every bit of encouragement, every moment of time given has eternal value.

Money matters. Stocks matter. Real estate matters. But people matter most.

Time is limited, which is why it鈥檚 so precious. And it鈥檚 the very thing people crave most from us.

So, who are you investing in today?