There are a variety of great reasons why Christians should address the topic of money. Christians should bring it up is because God talks about money. Consider these statistics on Bible verses about money:
- 16 out of 38 of Jesus’ parables deal with money and possessions.
- Nearly 25% of Jesus’ words in the New Testament deal with biblical stewardship.
- 1 out of 10 verses in the Gospels deal with money.
There are more than 2,000 scriptures on tithing, money, and possessions in the Bible, which is twice as many as faith and prayer combined!
Bible verses about money are frequently used because there’s a direct correlation between the way we handle our money and our faith. When it comes to money, we will either worship wealth or worship with our wealth. That’s why I decided to highlight 3 different saving principles that you find in God’s word.
1. Build An Emergency Fund
“Let Pharaoh appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. They should collect all the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh, to be kept in the cities for food. This food should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt, so that the country may not be ruined by the famine.” – Genesis 41:34-36
In this passage from Genesis, Joseph interprets a dream the Pharaoh has had about seven fat cows grazing by a river that get swallowed up by seven skinny cows. Joseph concludes that the seven fat cows in the dream represent seven years of prosperity for Egypt, which will be followed by seven years of famine. To plan ahead for this disaster, Joseph advises the Pharaoh to store up grain during the seven good years and use that stored grain to get the country through the seven hard years to follow.
In simple terms, this is an ancient form of an emergency fund! During the time that they had grain, they stored it up for an upcoming emergency which would ultimately prevent a ton of people from going hungry during this long 7 year period. In present day society, a good emergency fund is between 3-6 months of your expenses. Depending on the reliability of your job, you may want to lean on one spectrum of the 3-6 month more than the other so make sure you consider your own unique situation.
2. Diversify Your Investments
“Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight; you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.” – Ecclesiastes 11:2
This verse from the book of Ecclesiastes is a short, clear explanation of why it makes sense to diversify your investments. Nearly any type of investment can fall victim to risk at some point, whether it’s a plague of locusts that wipes out a grain crop, or a market crash that reduces the value of stocks or real estate. Because of this, it makes complete sense to put money into many different types of investments so that a single disaster can’t cost you everything you have.
If you were a merchant living in Biblical times hoping to make money by trading cloth or spices with neighboring countries, it wouldn’t be wise to load all your cargo onto a single ship. If that one ship sank, you’d lose everything you had in one blow. That would be devastating! However, if you split up your cargo to be shared among seven or eight ships, all headed along different routes, the chances that all of them would sink would be very low. Even if you lost one or two ships, you could still hope to earn enough from the others to make a profit.
It’s a basic principle of investing that the more you diversify, the more you reduce your risk. Simply put, don’t put all of your eggs in one basket.
3. Leave An Inheritance
“A good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children, but a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous.” – Proverbs 13:22
Of course, this verse doesn’t highlight leaving an inheritance to our children, but our children’s children. This will require some generational thinking beyond our own life because when we think about what we want now as opposed to what we desire later, we begin to see how temporary the satisfaction that this world provides. In comparison to generational fulfillment and a legacy of purpose, there is nothing like it! The mindset we should have with our money is how can we honor God with biblical generosity and how to keep that generosity going through our own family line.
I do want to clarify that an inheritance isn’t just referring to monetary gifts or financial assets as a good inheritance also includes godly character qualities like: faith, integrity, selflessness, trustworthiness, and sacrificial love. When you are able to leave a financial inheritance as well as a legacy of wisdom and faith, you will ensure that your next generation not only will honor God with their life, but also with God’s blessings that He gives them.
It’s crucial that no matter where we are at in this life, that we always keep a heavenly perspective and generational view of our money. What decision can you make today that will impact the finances of your children’s children?