What does the Bible say about money?

I can remember when the federal debt hit a trillion dollars under Ronald Reagan in 1981. This year my taxes reminded me that most of us received $1,200 and $600 in stimulus. It looks like another $1,400 is headed our way. Plans include raising the child tax credit from $2,000 to $3,600 for every child six and under. Another thought is to include $3,000 for every child aged seven to sixteen. This money will be paid monthly.

What does the Bible say about money? There are 500 verses in the Bible dealing with faith. Faith is important! There are 500 verses dealing with prayer. Prayer is important! There are 2,000 verses in the Bible that deal with money. Scripture teaches three basic responsibilities with money.

First, every Christian is called to give. Luke 6:38 says, “Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure- pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.” No person can ever out give God. This is not health and wealth but as we give God blesses.

2 Corinthians 9:6 says, “Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” We are to give as God leads us. This includes meeting the needs of our family (1 Timothy 5:8). It also includes the needs of the local church.

We give out of thankfulness to God for His indescribable gift (2 Corinthians 9:15). God the Father sent His Son Jesus to purchase our salvation. He died in our place and paid for our sins.

Second, we must save. Proverbs warns against the sluggard. A sluggard is a person who is lazy or inactive. The sluggard does not start his work. Proverbs 6:9 says, “How long will you lie down, oh sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep?” He also does not finish his work. Proverbs 12:27 says, “A lazy man does not roast his prey. But the precious possession of a person is diligence.”

God commands us to emulate the ant. “Go to the ant, O sluggard, observe her ways and be wise, which, having no chief, officer or ruler, prepares her food in the summer and gathers her provision in the harvest” (Proverbs 6:6-8). We live in a Genesis 3 world. It is a fallen world. Saving is important! Job 5:7 reminds us, “For man is born for trouble, as sparks fly upward.”

Third, we are called to budget. Our Lord Jesus encouraged us to count the cost. In Luke 14:28-30, He said, “For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’”

Good fences make good neighbors! Budgeting is important- especially in a marriage.

The Ten Commandments teach that family is sacred. “Honor your father and your mother.” Life is sacred. “You shall not murder.” Marriage is sacred. “You shall not commit adultery.” Property is sacred. “You shall not steal.” Speech is sacred. “You shall not bear false witness.” I believe that money is sacred. J.P. Morgan in 1912 said, “Money is gold, and nothing else.”

I believe money is not to be printed. People are paid for their labor. It is the backbone of our society. Money comes from the market process- not government. God gave gold (and silver) to be a store of value.

Wisdom is skill in living. It is living life in a way that pleases God. God’s way is the best way! Let’s follow Him even with our financial resources!

Ethan Hansen is a pastor at Faith Bible Fellowship in Big Lake.