Greedy for God™, the first lesson from my book Spiritual lessons from WALL STREET, blossomed out of a desire to act on God’s mission to all of us: to Love God and to Love Others (Luke 10:25-27).  Spiritual Deposits, as I call them, celebrate our choice to be Greedy for God through deposits of Time and Money for Others, rather than Ourselves.

In the Fall of 2007, I set out late one night, in the mission fields of Juarez, Mexico to reconcile what I do for a living. As a financial advisor for 20 + years of 100 or so of the wealthiest families in the U.S., I had accomplished more financially than I had dreamed possible. I had carved out a very secure life for myself, and now, in Juarez, Mexico, I was face to face with extreme poverty. How could I reconcile what I had accomplished financially, what I knew about wealth in America and around the world, with the pain and suffering I was witnessing?

My problem was that I had it. This so-called American Dream. “Greed is Good” to quote Gordon Gekko—the slick, greedy, money-loving Wall Street executive played by Michael Douglas in the 1987 film Wall Street. Greed was Good. I achieved it. I enjoyed it. But I was still empty. I still had a void. A hole. Having everything, felt like having nothing at all.

Financially secure. Emotionally bankrupt. Spiritually uncertain.

My balance sheet dictated my actions. The debt, the spending, the consumption, the pursuit of all that this life could provide. I had goals to reach. I had to be Greedy. I had to have a job—a way of life—that was Greedy. And my Greed fueled itself. Me. Me. Me.

Which is how I ended up in Juarez, Mexico.

I began to hunger for God. I began to study His Word. I was still Greedy, but it was different now. I was Greedy for God. I was Greedy for something that truly satisfied. I was Greedy for something that was no longer about me, Greedy for something greater than myself.

And you might say that my trip to Juarez, Mexico, building homes for the poorest of the poor, was the beginning of this discovery of my Spiritual Portfolio.

I believe God asks that we make deposits to this Spiritual Portfolio. He wants our faithful service. He watches, records, retains our actions. Our intentions. Our Spiritual Portfolio reflects how we choose to live. How we choose to behave. How we choose to invest our wealth, our time on earth. Our Spiritual Portfolio has two deposit sources: our Calendar and our Checkbook. Deeds and Service from our Spiritual Calendar, and Gifts and Tithes from our Spiritual Checkbook. Time and Money.