Approaching finance in the Light of the Bible is the first step to finding peace in such a challenging area. You’ve already reached the end of the month and asked yourself: ‘Where did all the money go?’
Many Christians feel lost, divided between the advice of financial advisors and uncertainty about what the Word of God really has to say on such an earthly topic.
The good news is that the Bible is not silent on this subject. On the contrary, it is filled with a timeless wisdom that offers us a path of freedom and purpose for our financial life.
the purpose of God It’s not just that we survive, but that we flourish in all areas, including the way we manage the resources he entrusts to us.
In this article, we will explore five practical principles extracted from the Scriptures, a roadmap to transform our relationship with money, going from the anxiety of scarcity to the freedom of good stewardship.
1. The Property: God is the owner of everything
The first and most fundamental step towards a healthy financial life is a radical change of mindset. In our culture, we are taught that the money we earn is ‘our’. We work for him, we deserve it.
The Bible, however, begins in a completely different place. The principle of property declares that God is the owner of absolutely everything, and we are his administrators, or stewards.
Our salary, our home, our talents – none of this is truly ours. Everything belongs to Him and was entrusted to us to be administered for His glory.
This truth is incredibly liberating. When we understand that we are managers, not owners, the weight of the property comes out of our shoulders.
Money ceases to be a primary source of security or identity and becomes a tool to fulfill a greater purpose.
This perspective fights greed and materialism at its root, as we understand that the objective is not to accumulate the maximum for ourselves, but to manage well what belongs to the true owner.
the stewardship
Psalm 24:1 unequivocally declares: ‘To the Lord belongs the earth and everything in it, the world and those who live in it.’ This is not a poetic figure of speech, but a de facto statement. God, as Creator, holds possession of all things.
In Haggai 2:8, he is even more specific about the resources: ‘Mine is silver, and mine is gold, declares the Lord of hosts.’
The life of stewardship, therefore, is to live with the constant awareness that we are managing someone else’s resources. Every spending decision, economy or donation becomes a spiritual question: ‘Am I using my Lord’s resources in a way that pleases him?’.
change your language
Try to consciously change the way you talk about money. Instead of saying ‘my money’, try to think ‘the money that God has entrusted to me’. This small change in language reinforces the mentality of stewardship and can transform your buying decisions.
2. Firstfruit: The Priority of the Kingdom
Once we recognize that God is the owner, the next logical step is to honor him with the first and best part of what he entruses to us. This is the principle behind tithes and offerings.
Instead of paying all our bills and seeing what ‘leftovers’ to God, the Bible calls us to give Him the first portion.
This act is not about God to need our money; He doesn’t need to. It is an act of worship and faith on our part.
By giving first, we are declaring with our actions that we trust that He will provide for the rest of our needs and that He occupies the first place in our hearts, above our financial security.
The tithe, which means ‘the tenth part’, is presented in the Bible as the initial pattern of contribution to sustaining the work of God and the ministry.
The offerings, in turn, are the donations we make beyond the tithe, driven by a generous and grateful heart.
together they form the rhythm of Christian generosity, a constant reminder that our provision comes from God.
The Contribution According to the Bible
In Proverbs 3:9-10, the instruction is clear:
‘Honor the Lord with all his resources and with the first fruits of all his plantations; his barns will be full, and his barrels will overflow with wine.’
The promise of blessing here is a consequence of the priority given to God. In Malachi 3:10, God challenges his people to test him in the practice of tithing.
In the New Testament, the emphasis is not on the obligation of the law, but on the joy of the contribution, as Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 9:7:
‘Each one gives as he determined in his heart, not with regret or by obligation, for God loves those who give with joy’.
Plan the generosity
In addition to tithing, include in your budget a category for ‘offers/generosity’. This prepares you to be able to help a needy, support a missionary or contribute to a special cause without unbalancing your finances.
3. Wisdom: planning, saving and escaping debt
God is a God of order, not chaos. And he calls us to reflect his character in all areas of life, including money management. Spending without planning, living on the limit and accumulating consumer debts is not just financially dangerous; It is spiritually reckless.
The principle of wisdom calls us to have a plan (a budget), to prepare for the future (savings) and to avoid debt slavery.
A budget is not a straitjacket designed to deprive us of all joy; It is a tool of freedom that gives us control over our money, allowing us to align it with our values and with God’s purposes.
The importance of planning
The Book of Proverbs is the great manual of financial wisdom of the Bible. In Proverbs 21:5, we read: ‘The well-designed plans lead to plenty, but excessive haste, to poverty.’ Planning is a sign of diligence.
Proverbs 6:6-8 points us to the example of the ant, which ‘in summer stores its provision and at the time of the harvest gathers its food’, teaching us about the wisdom of saving for the future.
On the debt, Proverbs 22:7 is frighteningly clear: ‘He who borrows is a slave to the borrower.’ Consumer debt robs our freedom, our peace and our ability to be generous.
How to be wiser with finances?
To help you be wiser with your finances and avoid going through unforeseen financial life, we recommend that you take these 3 simple steps:
- Create a simple budget;
- Build your emergency reserve;
- Declare war on consumer debt.
Create a simple budget
You don’t have to be an expert. Take a sheet of paper and list:
- How much money goes in per month;
- their contributions (tithes/offers);
- your fixed expenses (rent, bills);
- its variable expenses (supermarket, leisure).
The objective is that the sum of the outputs is not greater than that of the inputs.
Build your emergency reserve
The first objective of any savings should be to create an emergency reserve (the ideal is to have the equivalent of 3 to 6 months of your expenses). This is the ‘Storage for Winter’ of the ant.
Having this reserve will give you immense peace and prevent an unforeseen (such as the car breakdown) from becoming a financial crisis.
Declare war on consumer debt
If you have credit card or overdraft debts, make a plan to eliminate them as soon as possible.
List all of your debts and start paying the lowest first (‘Snowball’ method) or the one with the highest interest rates (‘Avalanche’ method). Every debt paid is a chain of slavery that breaks down.
4. Contentment: The Fight Against Covetousness
We can have the best budget spreadsheet in the world, but if our hearts are sick with discontent and greed, we will never have financial peace.
We live in a culture that is designed to make us feel dissatisfied. Advertising screams that happiness is in the next purchase, in the next car, on the next trip.
The root of many debts and financial anxiety is not the lack of resources, but the lack of contentment with the resources we already have.
contentment is not passivity or lack of ambition; It is the decision to find our joy and security in God, and not in the things that money can buy.
What the Bible Says About Contentment
The author of Hebrews gives us a direct advice:
‘Keep yourself free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God himself said:I will never leave you, I will never leave you’
Hebrews 13:5
Our security is not in our bank account, but in the constant presence of God. The apostle Paul, in Philippians 4:11-13, reveals that he learned the secret of being content in any and all situations, whether in abundance or necessity, for his strength came from Christ.
Contentment is a spiritual discipline that is learned, it is not felt.
5. Generosity: the ultimate purpose of money
This last principle closes the cycle, taking us back to the first. If God owns everything, and we are his administrators, what is the ultimate purpose of the resources that pass through our hands?
The Bible is clear: we were blessed to be a blessing. The purpose of money in the life of the believer is not the accumulation for our own comfort, but the distribution for the advancement of the kingdom of God and for the good of our neighbors.
Generosity is the ultimate expression of our trust in God as a provider and of our love for Him and for people. It is what turns the money management of a stressful task into an adventure of faith and joy.
What does the Bible say about generosity?
Jesus summarized this principle in Acts 20:35: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ In 1 Timothy 6:17-18, Paul instructs the rich to ‘do not be arrogant, nor put their hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in God… that they do good, be rich in good works, generous and ready to share’.
Note that generosity is what connects us to ‘true life’. The true life is not in having, but in giving.
Conclusion: Finance in the Light of the Bible
Finance in the light of the Bible is much more than just numbers and spreadsheets; They are a reflection of our heart and theology.
By embracing these five principles – recognizing that God is the master, giving him the first part, being wise with the rest, living content and overflowing with generosity – we embark on a journey of transformation.
The ultimate goal is not wealth, but fidelity. It is not prosperity, but peace. May we be found as good and faithful administrators of the resources that the Lord has entrusted to us.
