Article June 16, 2014 Issue

Appreciation not depreciation

Andrew Wilson

I have given much thought recently to the words appreciation and depreciation, which play a key role in business, in the community, and in family and church life. Both words have origins in the Latin word pretium, associated with price, value, or reward—increasing or decreasing.

In business, one speaks of the appreciation of assets or money, indicating that the actual value of goods and services is increasing, perhaps because of an improved product or better marketing; or else its usefulness as a product or service is being valued more. Depreciation is used where goods and services are actually diminishing in value or are perceived to be doing so.

The importance of appreciating our assets or talents, in business or in individual lives, was confirmed by Christ Jesus in his parable of the talents (see Matthew 25). It tells how a man who was given five talents actively increased what he had and made another five talents, while a man who was given two talents also doubled his allocation. They were duly commended by their employer for their vision, as “faithful servants,” in adding value to what he had given them.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

'Hardwired' for love, not anger