Managing money God’s way
God owns and watches over everything on earth, including the world’s money. He is the One who gives us the ability to gather resources to earn money. Our Heavenly Father also knows that we have a tendency to mismanage our resources and be seduced by the more destructive aspects of money. Hence, He lovingly provides numerous instructions in the Bible on how to manage the money He places in our hands.
(See Chinese versions: 简体中文 > 神的理财方法| 繁體中文 > 神的理財方法)
Deuteronomy 8:18 ESV You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.
When He first instituted His Law for His people, God instructed those with financial resources to share their blessings with the less fortunate. Landowners were instructed to always leave some of their harvests for the poor, fatherless, widows and passing travelers to gather for themselves. God blesses us so we can bless others. We see this in the financial management principles He gives us to follow.
Deuteronomy 24:19 ESV “When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.
Proverbs 22:9 ESV Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor.
Here are 24 Bible verses on how we are to manage money.
1. Do earn money honestly | Ephesians 4:28 ESV Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.
2. Do honour God with our wealth | Proverbs 3:9-10 ESV 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.
3. Do tithe and bring God regular financial offerings | Malachi 3:10 ESV Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.
4. Do regularly set money aside for unplanned opportunities to do God’s work | 1 Corinthians 16:1-2 ESV Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.
5. Do be disciplined in saving money | Proverbs 13:11 Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.
6. Do budget properly | Luke 14:28 ESV For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?
7. Do pay off our debts | Romans 13:8 ESV Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
8. Do provide for needy relatives | 1 Timothy 5:8 ESV But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
9. Do lend without expecting anything in return | Luke 6:35 ESV But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.
10. Do use money to benefit others and make friends | Luke 16:8-9 NLT … And it is true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light. Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home.
11. Do pay our taxes in full | Romans 13:7-8 ESV 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.
12. Do be generous towards the poor | Proverbs 19:17 ESV Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.
13. Do help those around us who are in need | Proverbs 21:13 ESV Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered.
14. Don’t ask for payment from the needy | Luke 14:13-14 ESV But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”
15. Don’t charge interests on loans to the poor | Exodus 22:25 ESV “If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be like a moneylender to him, and you shall not exact interest from him.
16. Don’t withhold payment that is due to others | Leviticus 19:13 ESV “You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning.
17. Don’t resort to dishonest means to handle money | Deuteronomy 25:15 ESV A full and fair weight you shall have, a full and fair measure you shall have, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
18. Don’t be a guarantor for someone else’s loan | Proverbs 22:26-27 ESV Be not one of those who give pledges, who put up security for debts.
19. Don’t accept bribes | Psalm 15:5 ESV Who does not put out his money at interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.
20. Don’t spend it all | Proverbs 21:20 ESV Precious treasure and oil are in a wise man’s dwelling, but a foolish man devours it.
21. Don’t hoard possessions | Luke 12:15 ESV And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
22. Don’t chase money and forget to love others | Proverbs 15:17 ESV Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it.
23. Don’t love money | Hebrews 13:5 ESV 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.”
24. Don’t toil for money | Proverbs 23:4-5 ESV 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.
Also, see Four lessons about money and The dangerous pursuit of happiness.
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