7 Biblical Principles to Overcome Your Financial Fears

Solomon says, “Finish your outdoor work and get your fields ready; after that, build your house” (Proverbs 24:27). This economic principle is simple: “Begin your financial planning on the basis of your financial resources, not on your desires.”

Too often, we’re seduced into asking questions like: “What do I want? “What does my peer group say I should have?” “What is fashionable?”

We would do better to ask questions like: “What resources do I have?” “What can I do with the resources that I have?” “What buying power do I have?” “What earning power do I have?” When we take this approach, we will allocate our resources rather than attempt to pay for our desires. If we go through life attempting to pay for our desires, we will ultimately crash and burn.

(Brie) I was intrigued by Vladimir Putin’s 2022 comments regarding our dysfunctional US government’s inability to properly resolve the problem of our increasing national debt. He called us a parasite on the world’s economic system. He said that by our inflated, national debt and outright luxurious selfishness we are holding the rest of the world economically hostage. He was not impressed … I read last week that Xi Jinping, China’s leader, wholeheartedly agrees.

Since the early 1920s, our country has increasingly built our economy on what we desire rather than on what we can afford. Our standard of living has so far outstretched our ability to pay that we’re risking national revolt as we try to take back some of what we’ve given away.

Think Social Security and Medicaid. Think entitlements. Think “pork” included in every bill that comes to Congress. Think about the fear and anger directed at any potential austerity or “efficiency” measures.

(Roger) Going into debt, not because of need, but because of desire, is not only a national issue, it’s personal as well. Sheikh Fazaga proclaimed: “The fact that you could not control your desire, there is the problem. Part of having good character is to control your desires, not to let them control you.”

We’ve created a society where it is possible to live on the basis of our desires instead of our resources. We do this though credit cards. We desire a new flat-screen smart TV. We don’t have the money; but, instead of saving up for one, we buy it on credit. But, why let that stop us? We end up with a giant television in our dens by somehow ignoring the pressure of a monthly payment at 19% interest.

We have just lowered our standard of living—but most Americans don’t seem to catch on to what the long-term result of that home theater system in the den does to them financially.

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(Roger) What a shame we can’t print money like the federal government! But because we can’t print money, our alternative is to secure every credit card in sight and use them to the limit. However, we’ve just put off the inevitable. Bills always come due.

For centuries people were evaluated on the basis of how well they managed their resources to help others. That came way before the modern-day concept of spending it all on ourselves.

A friend shared with me that in Judaism the Talmud says that a person was judged on how well he managed his “kiso, koso, and ka’aso.” That is, his “wallet, his cup (alcohol) and his anger.” Because the Torah requires Jews to make provision for those less fortunate, interest payments on credit cards could interfere with that moral duty.

Credit cards are permissible for Muslims only if the user pays off the balance each month before finance charges begin.

What about the Bible? Solomon says: “The rich rule over the poor and the borrower is servant to the lender” (Proverbs 22:7).

It is not a problem for us to owe money as long as we pay it back in timely fashion—and it does not interfere with things we should be doing: like building up our emergency fund, or having money for our children’s tuition, or making our next car payment, or having enough money to take a sick child to the doctor.

(Brie) God never intended for His people to live in financial bondage. People who are over their heads in debt live in constant fear that their car is going to be taken away, or that they can’t make their house payment, or that they can’t pay the minimum monthly required on their credit cards. Talk about stress!

(Roger) A large manufacturing firm opened a new assembly plant in an underdeveloped Latin American country because labor was cheap and plentiful. The plant successfully opened, and the operation progressed smoothly until the first paycheck. The next day, none of the villagers reported for work.

Management waited one, two, three days. Still, no villagers came to work. The plant manager went to see the village chief to find out the problem.

“Why should we continue to work?” the chief responded, “We have already earned all the money we need to live on.” The plant stood idle for almost a month.

Then, someone came up with the idea of distributing cell phones to all the villagers, complete with apps and ads. Their vocabulary was enriched with two new words: “Credit Card.” Since that time there has not been an unemployment problem.

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(Brie) This principle changed my life. My dad gave me a budget worksheet when he started my allowance at age 8. However, I didn’t use a budget until I got into some credit card debt in my early twenties—and I was stressed to the point of stomach ulcers. I used that simple budget worksheet for years, climbing out of that debt inch by inch. Today, I LOVE the budget app my husband and I use together.

(Roger) Solomon says, “Be sure you know the condition of your flocks. Give careful attention to your herds” (Proverbs 27:23).

Since we don’t have flocks and herds, let’s consider some things we do have, like money, savings accounts, stocks, bonds, a house, and a car. We take control of our finances by knowing exactly where we stand. In other words, everybody needs a budget!

Solomon goes on to say, “For riches do not endure forever, and a crown is not secure for all generations” (Proverbs 27:23). In other words, if we don’t know where we’re going, then we will not be secure; we will not succeed financially.

This means that we must have some kind of budgeting system to keep accurate track of expenditures and income. The word “budget” seems to scare many Americans. They see it as putting a limit on their freedom—instead of seeing it as a way to ensure financial freedom.

Charles Dickens, the 19th-century English novelist, knew about living with out-of-control finances. He wrote: “Annual income $20,000, annual expenditures $19,000, result happiness. Annual income $20,000, annual expenditures $21,000, result misery.”

I used to think that only the poor and middle classes needed a budget. Now I am convinced otherwise. Those who have more than enough money are often very poor managers of what they have. When sports stars or celebrities live gold-plated-twenty-four-carat lives, they might do well to reflect on the blessing they could have had if they invested in drilling clean water wells for the parasite-sickened thirsty people in the Sudan.

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(Roger) Solomon says, “Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest” (Proverbs 6:6-8).

What does the ant do that we are to emulate? It stores food for future consumption. What the ant does instinctively, we must do voluntarily. We are not forced to do it. We must do it by choice and to do that, we must act against the instincts of our old sin nature.

If we save, we are wise. If we don’t, we are foolish.

We take the fear out of finances by saving for the future. Solomon says, “In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has” (Proverbs 21:20).

A wise man does not spend all of his income as he earns it. He saves some of it for future consumption. The fool consumes all of it as it comes in.

(Brie) So WHY do we save? And WHAT should we save for?

The Bible teaches that in lean economic times, we must help provide for those less fortunate. Paul the apostle wrote: “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8).

The Greek verb translated here as “provide,” is hard to translate into English; however, it includes the idea of “taking thought in advance … to anticipate … to think beforehand.”

Paul is saying that the Christian who fails to anticipate the financial needs of his family and to provide for them is violating the commands of the Christian faith. Then, he took this principle a step further when he wrote: “After all, children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children” (2 Corinthians 12:14).

When you make your budget, create clear-cut financial goals like for retirement, family inheritance, or funding your children’s education. A great goal is to provide greater financial security for your family by building up an emergency fund. We would be wise not to make any long-term, illiquid investments until we have an emergency fund in cash, in a safe place, available without loss of interest or penalty. Many people recommend at least three months’ salary. Some recommend six months’ salary. In today’s economic climate, I recommend at least that.

We have to save now for our family’s future financial needs.

(Roger) We do well to ask ourselves two questions: “Am I anticipating my family’s future financial needs and setting aside the money to meet those needs?” Or do I just hope that the money will be there when the need arises?”

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(Roger) We know we are following good biblical economics when these seven financial pillars are firmly entrenched in our financial plans and practices. These principles, with slight adjustments, will work in anyone’s financial plan regardless of socioeconomic position, age, or current financial situation.

Foundation Stones for a Biblical Financial Plan 

1. Return the top 10% (tithe) of your paycheck to God (Proverbs 3:9-10; Malachi 3:6; and Luke 11:42). He is your provider, and He promises to honor your obedience.

2. Regularly and honestly pay taxes to the government (Matthew 22:21; and Romans 13:1-7).

3. Spend less than you make (Proverbs 21:20).

4. Anticipate and save for the future financial needs of your family (1 Timothy 5:8).

5. Stay out of debt on depreciating items (Psalm 37:21; and Romans 13:8).

6. Save part of every paycheck to build up an emergency fund to pay for future (usually unexpected) needs (Proverbs 6:6-8).

7. Regularly give to those less fortunate than you (2 Corinthians 8:14 and 9:10-11).

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(Brie) You don’t have to handle your finances alone! God promises to walk beside us in every step of the Christian life. Take the time to pray about your financial situation every day. Ask God for wisdom. Trust Him for His leading. He will guide you through His provision and His peace.

I love what a wise man named Agur prayed in Proverbs 30:7-9:

“Two things I ask of you, Lord;
do not refuse me before I die:
Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.

Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God.”

There’s so much truth here. Too much can be as great a struggle as not enough. Asking God to provide “just enough” leads to freedom!

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(Brie) The apostle Paul wrote: “Godliness with contentment is great gain. If we have food and clothes, we shall be content with that” (1 Timothy 6:6-8).

Handling finances is HARD. God never, ever promised that it would be easy. However, He does promise that He will supply for our needs. When I struggle with financial issues, I always go back to Jesus’s teaching in Matthew 6:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

True wealth comes from trusting God to provide for you and pursuing His will for your life above all things. 

I hope these financial principles help you. I think that handling finances is one of the biggest, most difficult challenges of the Christian life; and yet, when you put in the effort to be a good steward, you will reveal the heart of God. Be encouraged!
Love, Brie (and Roger)

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