For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
1 Timothy 6:10
Personal finance management is a particularly tricky subject to address in the Christian context. For starters, 1 Timothy 6:10 above tells us the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil — and any teaching that asserts otherwise goes directly against the word of God.
So why discuss money at all? For me, the answer is simple. Money can be a blessing or a curse — and the only factor that determines which is our attitude towards it. Why wouldn’t Christians talk about money? And yet…
This subject, so deeply ingrained in our human psyche, is seldom addressed in a Christian context. I suspect that many pastors simply don’t know how to go about this. A survey showed that the majority of pastors:
- feel they are grossly underpaid
- have zero savings and
- have experienced financial struggle in their lives.
This led me to consider the many scriptures that inform my thinking on stewardship and the Godly management of my finances and it occurred to me that I have never heard these scriptures taught in any church I ever attended. They’re in the Bible! Just not generally taught from the pulpit.
Here are a few Bible verses worth considering.
Precious treasure and oil are in a wise man’s dwelling, but a foolish man devours it.
Proverbs 21:20
‘Don’t be greedy!’ We use these words to caution our children when the cake and sweets come out at a birthday party.
Why do we say that?
It’s obvious, really. Left unchecked, most children will consume every treat on the table, like locusts, even long after they are satiated. The sugar-rush turns the event into a feeding frenzy and they won’t stop until every last crumb is gone.
That is greed. It is human nature and we need to train it out of both ourselves and our children.
Don’t be greedy! These are not words we are likely to direct at a farmer who sets aside a portion of this year’s harvest as seed to plant for next year’s crop. That is not greed; it is good management. In this context, the greedy farmer is one who consumes their entire harvest immediately, leaving nothing to plant the following year.
So why do we turn this simple understanding on its head when it comes to money?
Many Christians think putting money to work in order to produce more money (i.e. a future harvest) is greed. It can be; I must acknowledge that.
But greed is far more often an act of consumption than one of sowing and reaping.
If we are not careful, we can fall into this trap without even realizing it. When we receive our paycheck, instead of acting like the wise farmer, we behave like kids at the proverbial birthday party. In other words, we consume every dime until there is nothing left.
As believers, we need to overcome greed and follow the advice we give our own children — or, dare I say, the advice offered in Proverbs 21:20.
The money we receive in our paycheck is what God has entrusted to us. As believers it is our duty to be wise stewards of that blessing and to ensure we employ those funds wisely. This means:
- Giving to further God’s kingdom
- Planting seeds for future harvest (Investing) and
- Keeping the lights on — supporting ourselves and our family
Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies have no sense.
Proverbs 12:11
I have always found this Bible verse particularly interesting. It contains a warning along with a promise. However, for me, the assumption contained in Proverbs 12:11 shouts even louder than the promise and the warning themselves.
The assumption is this; the reader has land!
To understand why this is important, we first need to understand what land was in this context. For people in Old Testament times, land was really the most common type of asset around. And Solomon, the writer, assumes that his readers own land.
It is from that assumption, he builds out the promise. Those who work their land will have abundant food. In other words, those who put their assets to work will experience abundance. Now, a common interpretation of this scripture in modern Christian culture might be that those who work at a job will have abundance while those who do not will experience lack. But that interpretation is flawed.
The Bible verse is clear; those who work their land will have abundant food. Having a job is no bad thing; ask anyone who has been out of work.
But here’s the point. When we work at a job, we are not working our own land; we are working someone else’s land! We do the work and get paid a wage. No shame in that. But the real beneficiaries of our labor are the owners, or shareholders, of the companies we work for. They are paying us to work their land — and our work ensures their land yields abundant food. That is, abundant food for the ‘land-owners’, not the laborers.
We can continue to labor to produce an income for ourselves and our families. But to reap the promise in this verse requires that we also put aside a portion of our income to acquire assets of our own — and that we put those assets to work.
Put your outdoor work in order and get your fields ready; after that, build your house.
Proverbs 24:27
This verse offers some of the most counterintuitive financial advice in the Bible! As already stated, land was an asset in Bible times, just as it is today. This is where the Bible tells us to invest our time and energy.
With respect to investment in the Bible, this proverb teaches us to focus first on our income-producing assets — our ‘fields’ — before we focus on our creature comforts, like our home.
And yet, despite what God’s word says on the subject, most people do just the opposite. They spend their entire working life buying bigger and better homes to live in without even a passing thought of using some of their hard-earned income to buy a rental property or to invest in shares with a good dividend yield which could produce a passive income for life.
Of course, this begs the question; are these verses at odds with scriptures like 1 Timothy 6:10 above? And what about verses like this?
Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’
Matthew 19:24
There is a lot to unpack when considering verses like these, and each is worthy of a post on its own. But let us remember, these verses that we know and love, are taken from the same Bible that includes the verses listed above. Proverbs that focus on exercising financial wisdom in our daily lives. In point of fact, God’s primary concern is not about our money. He cares about our hearts — and nothing reveals a heart’s true state as clearly as its attitude toward money.
This has never been clearer than when Jesus spoke these words…
So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Matthew 6:31-33
Was Jesus speaking to the rich when he told us not to worry about what we will eat or drink, or what we will wear? Or was he talking to hard-working people who lived from paycheck to paycheck? People who were struggling to make ends meet.
Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness — that was Jesus’ instruction. And how we, as believers, manage our day-to-day finances will either lead us closer to, or further away from that goal.
Many believers today prefer not to think about money at all — and many believers live their entire lives locked in a place of constant financial struggle. Instead of seeking the kingdom of God, they find themselves living from paycheck to paycheck, struggling to make ends meet. These sincere, and hard-working, believers often grudgingly accept this as their lot in life without ever understanding why they find themselves in this position.
In truth, God’s word offers an abundance of wisdom on the subject of money and how to manage it — if we only take the time to look. And there lies freedom!
Author biography: S.V. Young became a Christian at age ten and recommitted his life to God when he was 16 years old. He is a published author and property investor with a passion to help fellow-believers shake off the shackles of constant financial worry — what we will eat, what we will drink, and what we will wear (Matthew 6:33) — and find the freedom to ‘seek first the kingdom of God’ in their lives. To this end, he created the rich-abba-holy-abba website and blog, where he contributes regularly.