It’s all about money. That is what the world tells us, but the Bible tells us a different story. What does the Bible say about finances? In this post, you’ll learn a biblical perspective on money while reading key scriptures on finances. This is the first post in our series on budgeting and finances.
S4E6 – What Does the Bible Say About Money? | 20+ Scriptures on Finances & Biblical Stewardship – A More Beautiful Life Collective Podcast
- S4E6 – What Does the Bible Say About Money? | 20+ Scriptures on Finances & Biblical Stewardship
- S4E5 – What Do Jerusalem, Athens & Rome Have to Do With Your Faith?
- S4E4 – You Don't Have to Agree With Them to Learn From Them: Why You Should Study Church History
- S4E3 – Bible Alone? Can We Really Just Follow the Bible?
- S4E2 – What If Questioning Your Faith Isn’t a Bad Thing?
Hey everyone! I’m Cayce Fletcher, and this is A More Beautiful Life Collective, where we walk hand in hand together as we grow in grace, build with purpose, and live beautifully. We are kicking off a new mini-series as we head into the New Year. We’ll alternate between this series and our Systematic Theology series. Be sure to subscribe so that you never miss an episode!
If you had to think of the most common New Year’s resolutions, what would they be? Exercising? Traveling? Changing careers? Statista’s Consumer Survey Report says that the top New Year’s resolution for 2024 was to save more money. Being financially responsible, saving money, and paying off debt are worthy goals that should be among your highest priorities.
We are stewards of the money we are given. This means that we need to manage our money wisely.
Over the next several weeks, we are going to be focusing on our finances. We’ll talk about what the Bible says about money, tips, and goals for budgeting, and how to teach your kids about money.
This is all the more important as we look at our current financial situation today.
- The average salary of an American is $64,000, with numbers varying greatly across states. (Median and Average salaries also vary.)
- The average American has “$90,460 in debt, this includes all types of consumer debt products, from credit cards to personal loans, mortgages, and student debt.” An article by CNBC has an interesting breakdown of the total debt and debt type by age group according to a 2019 Experian report.
- The average credit card debt of Americans is $6,501, with the total credit card debt of all Americans equaling $1.15 trillion.
- Interestingly, the higher the credit score of a person, the higher the amount of debt that person is likely to have (potentially due to the greater likelihood of getting a loan). In 2023, the average total debt of someone with a ‘good’ credit score was $94,859. Someone with an ‘excellent’ credit score had an average total debt of $158,839. A ‘poor’ credit score had an average total debt of $43,584.
- The average amount of interest paid in a lifetime can amount to over $100,000. Mortgage Interest could total $142,614.31. Car loan interest could total $4,450.96. Credit Card interest could total $9,624.24 (if you are just paying the minimum payment and not adding to the amount). Student loan interest could total $5,994.07.
- The average savings balance of an American family across checking and various savings accounts is $62,000. This number varies greatly depending on age, marital status, and the number of children in the household.
- Almost half of all respondents to a recent Bank of America poll said they live paycheck to paycheck – no matter if they made $50,000 or $150,000.
These numbers are probably not surprising. We live in a very materialistic world with the constant pull of the new, shiny thing, causing us to make decisions that ultimately come back to hurt us.
At the same time, we are subject to financial conditions outside of our control. Since 2020, we’ve seen meteoric inflation rates for necessities like groceries. Inflation has come from the 2021 high of 7% to 2.6% in 2024. And, wage growth is present. However, we are still feeling the pinch.
We have a pattern set for us by the world that dictates our relationship with money. We are told to make more to spend more to buy more happiness. Our wealth is tied to our feelings of (1) security, (2) status, and (3) well-being. We’ve increasingly bought into a system that requires a certain amount of money just to survive, as we’ve abandoned producing our own food, clothes, and utilities. This means that rather than use our time to produce our necessities, we spend our time in order to earn more money to buy our necessities. The American Dream is a dream of accumulation, as we imagine that having a steady job, our own house, and our own land will result in a life of comfort and ease. We think that this dream will result in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Of course, what we are realizing now is that this dream is faulty. We sacrifice our time and leisure in order to accumulate more and more. This, coupled with the limitless distraction of technology, results in a life of meaningless pursuits.
We feel the strain of the weight that the pursuit of money has placed on us. Though the pursuit of love dominates most of our songs and stories, the pursuit of wealth is probably a close second. From King Midas and the Golden Touch to Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman to The Wolf of Wall Street, the pursuit of wealth and its ultimate results have been a central theme of our culture.
According to Fidelity’s 2024 Couples and Money study, 45% of partners argue about money at least occasionally, and 25% of couples identify money as their greatest relationship challenge. And – More than three in four Americans (77%) report feeling anxious about their financial situation, according to a new Mind over Money survey by Capital One and The Decision Lab. Over half of Americans feel like their finances control their lives.
And, I’m sure that many of us listening would relate to this.
Just anecdotally, I see the response to the recent rise in the cost of living. Almost every week, someone on social media is posting about the impossibility of making the money last to the end of the month. Moms who only want to stay home with their kids are struggling – How can they make it work? Sometimes, they take jobs on an opposite schedule from their spouse. Sometimes, they try to work from home. Sometimes, they just try to live as simply and frugally as possible.
Many shows and songs about money focus on the pursuit of money that leads to destruction. They center around the ways that money can be a dead-end, a pit of despair that never satisfies. As we’ll see, this is a true, biblical statement. But, I think most of us now don’t fall into the trap of the sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll lifestyle that lots of money affords.
Instead, we tend to struggle with having the right relationship with our things. We worry constantly about having enough, and we allow that fear to determine major life decisions. Our primary struggle is that we fail to put money in its proper place. In doing so, we fail to steward it properly.
Today, we are going to talk about what the Bible says about money. We’ll look at the cautions as well as the promises we can find. As we seek the path of virtue, we recognize that we can fall into vice on either side. We can mismanage our money in an attempt to ‘not hold it too tightly’ and consequently not steward it well. Or, we can try to become the best stewards in the world by greedily desiring more and more wealth for our own glory.
Today, we’ll learn how to deal rightly with our money.
If you want to create a budget that helps you to steward your money rightly, get the Spend with Purpose Budget Binder. You’ll walk through the process of putting your money in its proper place while getting in control of your finances.
Money, Wealth, & Possessions
Last season, we talked about how to deal rightly with our stuff. We looked at what the Bible says about possessions. We have to remember that over time, wealth has meant different things. In ancient times, wealth was tied up in livestock. At points, it was tied up in land and possessions. In Jesus’ time and in our own, wealth is tied up in possessions and the amount of actual currency we have in our pockets (or bank).
In our episode on Christian Materialism, we talked about the three principles we learned about our possessions:
- Money, wealth, and possessions never satisfy us. They always leave us wanting more.
- Possessions can be nice to look at, but ultimately, that is all they are. After you’ve gathered up all these things, you are left with just your things if you don’t have God.
- At the end of it all, your possessions amount to nothing. You leave this world as you came into it: with nothing.
We can sum up our view on possessions and money this way: The point is not to get rid of all of our possessions, but instead, to not view possessions as our God. Our possessions do not save us, and so we must not trust in them.
In truth, the principles that we learn about money are very similar to what the Bible teaches about possessions. Their pursuit is a vanity.
What does the Bible say about money?
So, what are some scriptures about finances? What does the Bible say about money? The Bible is full of cautionary statements concerning money. If you want to begin creating a biblical framework, just start with the parables found in the book of Luke. From the parable of the talents to the rich man and Lazarus, there is story after story of when pursuing riches goes wrong.
Mostly, the scriptures about finances focus on the dangers of allowing money to become your primary love. One of the primary idols of Jesus’ day and our own is the love of money. We have to guard against this.
At the same time, the Bible doesn’t just focus on cautionary statements. There are also some promises interspersed throughout the pages, particularly in the book of Proverbs. In Proverbs, there seems to be a correlation between the character of a man and the amount of wealth the person is able to accumulate and keep. Foolish people dwindle away what they get. Righteous people acquire it and pass it on to their children and their children’s children.
We have to remember that the promises of Proverbs are not ironclad. They are more like principles. This is the way that things should go, but because we live in a broken world, righteous people can still have money problems. I do not believe in the prosperity gospel. Jesus himself said that ‘Foxes have holes and birds have their nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lie his head.’ Generally, though, wise living results in wealthy living, keeping in mind that our definition of wealthy may vary from the world’s definition.
Let’s look at some of these scriptures on finances.
The Cautions:
Who are you serving? What is your primary love?
- Matthew 6:19-21 – “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
- Matthew 6:24–25 – No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
- 1 Timothy 6:7–10 – For we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
- Mark 10:21–23 – And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!”*
- Ecclesiastes 5:10–14 – He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes? Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep.
- Hebrews 13:5 – Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
- Proverbs 22:7 – The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.
- Proverbs 23:4-5 – Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven.
What are you trusting in?
- Jeremiah 9:23–24 – Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.”
- Proverbs 11:28 – Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.
- Luke 12:19–21 – And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
- 1 Timothy 6:17-19 – As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.
The Promises:
Putting God first and living wisely and righteously results in a wealthy life.
- Proverbs 3:9–10 – Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.
- Proverbs 13:22 – A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the sinner’s wealth is laid up for the righteous.
- Proverbs 10:22 – The blessing of the Lord makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.
- Proverbs 21:20 – Precious treasure and oil are in a wise man’s dwelling, but a foolish man devours it.
- Romans 13:7 – Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.
Hard work consistently done is the key to a wealthy life.
- Proverbs 28:19–20 – Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty. A faithful man will abound with blessings, but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.
- Proverbs 13:11 – Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.
- Proverbs 10:4 – A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.
- Proverbs 27:23 – Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds,
It is more blessed to give than receive.
- Acts 20:35 – In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
- Luke 21:1-4 – Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”
- 2 Corinthians 9:7 – Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
A key idea in all of these verses is that we should not trust in money or wealth. God should be the central object of our trust. At the same time, God can bless us with wealth. Wise living often leads to a ‘wealthy’ life – though wealth should be defined in Biblical terms not the world’s idea of luxurious living.
What is your definition of wealthy?
As we begin to understand more fully what the Bible says about money and wealth, it helps to define what we mean by those terms. Obviously, money for us would be our bank account balance. In our current lifestyle of subscribing to everything (and owning nothing), the amount of money that we have in our checking, savings, and investments is probably the way that we define our wealth.
But, would this match a Biblical understanding of wealth?
Again, the metrics of wealth have shifted across the millennia. Abraham was a very wealthy man – not because of his stock portfolio or even the amount of land he owned – but because of the amount of livestock he had and the number of people who were in his household. The kings were wealthy because of the amount of land they accumulated and also the fine objects in their households. The tax collectors and Pharisees were wealthy because of their accumulation of money.
Think in your mind of who you consider to be wealthy. What is your metric of wealth?
You may have thought of the person with the nicest house (or maybe the person who has two or three houses scattered across the best vacation spots). It could be the person with the nicest car or maybe someone with a fully funded retirement account.
Our understanding of what makes someone wealthy is really subjective. We have ideas of what generates wealth presented to us in shows and music, but we decide for ourselves if that person is truly wealthy. Much of this is determined by what we value.
So, what if we took some time to change our metrics? Instead of defining wealth in terms of what the world says is important – the latest phone or car, the nice restaurants, being able to give our kids whatever they want when they ask for it – what if we made a new list of what makes someone wealthy?
What could a wealthy person look like?
- Someone who is not enslaved to debt.
- Someone who has the means to bless others and give without expecting anything in return.
- Someone who can support others’ pursuits in ministry and service.
- Someone who can pass on their wealth to their families, creating a legacy.
- Someone who has the time to serve others.
This should be one of our primary motivators for budgeting and spending time on our ‘money goals.’ We are not doing this to get a bigger bank account budget – though that may be a result of our actions. We are doing this so that we can bless others. We are doing this so that we have a reduced mental load that’s focused on money. We are doing this so that we can more effectively glorify God.
If you are looking for a way to get your finances in order, check out the Spend with Purpose binder.
What does the Bible say about finances?
We are told throughout scripture to put money in its proper place. It should not be an idol.
Here are some guiding biblical principles:
- God should be our primary love, not money.
- God should be the source of our trust, not our wealth.
- God is the originator of our wealth. Everything comes from him.
- Wise living can lead to wealthy living.
- Hard work can lead to wealth.
- We are blessed in order to bless others and give glory to God.
Do you view money in a biblical way?
In our next episode in this series, we’ll focus on how to put together a budget so that it follows these principles.
Until then, keep creating a life you love and cultivating your heart for God.
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