92 – 21 Financial Scriptures to live by in 2021

Christian Financial Perspectives

English - January 15, 2021 06:15 - 40.1 MB - ★★★★★ - 11 ratings
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Previous Episode: 91 – Setting Goals and Living Life with Purpose in 2021

Next Episode: 93 – Dealing with Investment Uncertainty

Bob and Bailey read and discuss 21 of Bob’s favorite stewardship verses that are a great way to start 2021 off right when it comes to your financial decisions. Did you know that the Bible contains over 1500 scriptures that have to do with money, stewardship, and possessions? Jesus actually spoke on stewardship more than heaven and hell combined. It’s hard to go to any book in the New Testament without seeing it.

Click below to listen to Episode 92 – 21 Financial Scriptures to live by in 2021

21 Financial Scriptures to live by in 2021

Learn the many ways the Bible teaches us about stewardship.

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In this episode, Bob and Bailey read and discuss 21 of Bob’s favorite stewardship verses that are a great way to start 2021 off right when it comes to your financial decisions. Did you know that the Bible contains over 1500 scriptures that have to do with money, stewardship, and possessions? Jesus actually spoke on stewardship more than heaven and hell combined. It’s hard to go to any book in the New Testament without seeing it.

With so many scriptures on stewardship and financial matters, it can be difficult to choose only 21, but here is our list in this episode of Christian Financial Perspectives:

Psalm 24:1

Haggai 2:8

Proverbs 22:26-27

Exodus 20:3

Exodus 20:15

Exodus 20:17

Matthew 6:25-34

Luke 16:10

Proverbs 15:22

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Psalm 1:1

Matthew 22:15-21

Romans 13:1-2

Matthew 25:35-40

Philippians 2:3-4

2 Corinthians 9:6-7

Malachi 3:10-11

Genesis 41:31-36

Proverbs 6:6-11

1 Timothy 6:10

Ephesians 5:11

HOSTED BY: Bob Barber, CWS®, CKA®

CO-HOST: Bailey Theaker

Mentioned In This Episode

Christian Financial Advisors

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Bob Barber, CWS®, CKA®

Bailey Theaker

What God’s Word Says About Money

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

[INTRODUCTION]

Welcome to “Christian Financial Perspectives”, where you’re invited to gain insight, wisdom and knowledge about how Christians integrate their faith, life and finances with a Biblical Worldview. Here’s your host Christian Investment Advisor, Financial Planner, and Coach, Bob Barber.

Bob:

So welcome to the 92nd podcast where we’re going to be bringing you God’s word today, and the richness of scripture is just going to go throughout this whole podcast. Bailey, when I was putting this together, I always get so excited. I can hardly sit down. I mean, I just want to kind of go jumping around because God’s word excites me so much, and these 21 financial scriptures that we’re going to share today for living in 2021. And you can take all these scriptures and apply them. I’m calling these financial scriptures because all these scriptures speak into how we’re handling money and stewardship. I was just beside myself. I am so excited, and it’s hard to even sleep because as you start looking at all the scriptures on stewardship, it’s mind boggling. According to many biblical scholars, there’s over 1500 scriptures in God’s word that has to do with money, possessions ,and stewardship. And today, we’re only going to cover 21 of them. So it was really difficult to choose which 21 out of these 1500. How are you going to choose 21? But I had to do it because I don’t think we would have time to go over 1500 scriptures in a podcast.

Bailey:

We’d be here awhile.

Bob:

Yeah, it’d be hours and hours and hours. But these are great ones to look for in today’s podcast. And on our podcast website, we’re going to have all these scriptures listed. Most people don’t realize this. Jesus spoke on stewardship more than heaven and hell combined. And it’s hard to go to any book in the New Testament without seeing it. You can just turn, like in the book of Matthew, and you can’t go more than a page or two without seeing something that has to apply to scripture and finances. So let’s get started.

Bailey:

Yeah. So we’re going to go through 21 financial scriptures for 2021. And the way that we’ve kind of planned this out, Bob put a lot of time into studying the scriptures and searching for how to look at our finances through the lens of the Bible. And so I’m going to read the scriptures that Bob picked out, and then Bob, you’re going to offer up like a commentary on why you think that those are so vitally important as we look at our finances through the Bible.

Bob:

You mean Bob’s going to comment on something, huh?

Bailey:

Unheard of, right. So number one is Psalm 24:1. “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world and all who live in it.” And number two is going to be Haggai 2:8, “T,he silver is mine and the gold is mine declares the Lord almighty.”

Bob:

So, there’s a reason we started with these two scriptures because this is the foundation for stewardship because these scriptures help us to understand and really acknowledge that God owns everything. You’ve got to start with that. Like I said, that’s the foundation. When we acknowledge that God owns everything. I just think of everything. And that’s all our bank accounts, our investment accounts, our real estate, our retirement accounts, and all our personal possessions. And if he owns it and we’re managing it, then we really want to take care of everything that God’s given us with respect and honor, because that’s honoring God when we do, so this is number one. Psalms 24:1, you’ll hear me mention that time and time again that the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it and all who live in it. That means every single one of us. So hopefully, everyone’s going to go to that scripture and really look at that, put that over your doorpost, and put it on your desk

Bailey:

Right at the top of your checkbook.

Bob:

You got it. It’s a good one. That’s a very good one. I like that to put that at the top of your checkbook.

Bailey:

Number three is Proverbs 22:26-27. And it says, “Do not be a man who strikes hands in pledge or puts up security or debts. If you lack the means to pay, your very bed will be snatched from under you.”

Bob:

That’s a big one. And you notice what it says at the very end. Your very what will be snatched out from under you? This is a real warning to us about getting into too much debt that we may not be able to pay back. And I like this little quote saying from Ron Blue, who I’ve had on the podcast many times, that when we borrow money, we’re always presuming upon the future, but we really have no idea if the future is going to happen. None of us know if we’re going to even be here tomorrow with 100% certainty. So, this is why it’s always important, too, to plan for the unexpected, but take this scripture to heart if you’re going to be refinancing that house or buying a new one, or if you’re going to go buy a new car and you’re going to finance it, be very careful what you borrow money for and don’t get over your head. And really, the best thing is no debt at all. It’s very hard for many people. I mean, the price of cars today starts at like $30,000, and most people, they just don’t have 30, 40, $50,000 sitting around, but this is the importance of cash reserves, which we’ll go into later. Some good scriptures on that.

Bailey:

Number four is Exodus 20:3, “You shall have no other gods before me.”

Bob:

That’s the first scripture of the 10 commandments, and the 10 commandments have three or four scriptures in them that have to do with finances. And you say, well, how does that have to do with finances? Because it is warning us to not put anything before God and the worship of money, especially here in America and materialism, we’re bombarded with it every single day. And we need to be very careful about putting our work and putting other things and materialism in front of God, because it’s very clear here. You’re not to put other gods before me. So whatever you’re worshiping, that’s your god.

Bailey:

Hmm. Wow. Well, staying in line with those 10 commandments. Number five is Exodus 20:15, “You shall not steal.”

Bob:

This is the eighth of the 10 commandments. And it’s a reminder to us to be forthright and all of our dealings with others and the governing authorities. And you notice I said governing authorities. How could we be stealing from the governing authorities? If you’re not reporting your taxes properly and you’re not doing the proper accounting, trying to hide money, that’s stealing. So when you follow this commandment, what I love about this is you never have to be worried about covering your tracks behind you. You don’t have to worry about that concern. And there’s a scripture about not worrying, and we’re going to cover that one too.

Bailey:

Number six is Exodus 20:17, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

Bob:

Yeah. We’re not going to probably covet somebody’s ox or donkey today, but are we going to covet their income? Are we going to covet what kind of car they drive or where they live or how much time they get off. And this scripture is the last of the 10 commandments, but it really reminds us not to envy what others have or support the redistribution of wealth we have not earned ourselves. How are we supporting the redistribution of wealth if we’ve not earned it ourselves? Well, one of those ways is by how we vote, and are we voting in politicians that are are going to redistribute wealth. They’re taking from one class that has not earned it or one class that has earned it and given it to the other. That scripture is warning us to be careful about coveting. Envy is one of the biggest problems many people have, and politicians, as you know, they use this platform to run on, to legally take earnings from one class of people to satisfy the sin of envy and give it to another class of people. Never thought about it that way, have you?

Bailey:

No, that’s a whole new perspective. I feel like we live in a social media age where it’s so easy to compare my life to everybody else’s and see what everybody else has and to want that and want my life to look a certain way. But this is just a really solid reminder.

Bob:

It is. And this is a reminder whenever you hear that term that the wealthy don’t pay their fair share. Well, that’s just a false statement. I mean, all you have to do is go look at the IRS website and look at the tax tables. And the wealthy are paying the largest percentage of their income of anybody. And the reason is that’s because that’s redistribution of wealth.

Bailey:

Wow. Wow. Well, number seven is Matthew 6:25-34, and it says, “Therefore, I tell you do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink or about your body and 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 stow 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?”

Bob:

Isn’t that last part good? Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And you look at the birds of the air, and I mean, they’re always out and they’re gathering food. They’re not lazy, but they’re not worried about it. And I think this really speaks into that. Worrying about things is so unproductive. We can’t control things. We’ve got to leave that to God and trust in God that God has the world in the palm of his hand. So, it really comes down to believing that, do we believe truly that what we believe is really real and trusting that God has got it, has got all this. And there’s so much worry today. Especially, like you say, on social media that you were mentioning. Man, you’ve got to turn the news off or it will worry you to death because what’s going to happen? But that’s not what God has called us to. And I look at this, like worrying is a sin. It’s saying, do not worry. Okay.

Bailey:

Number eight is Luke 16:10, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much. And whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much”

Bob:

I would think this scripture speaks into being trustworthy with the little things. And when we are, God allows us to manage more of the big things, because it’s saying it’s very clear. Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much. There’s a test. How are you doing with this small amount? I remember with our children when they were growing up, if we would give them a dollar or two, how did you do with that? Or you give them a $5. And I always talk to many of our clients about doing a pre inheritance experience with your children, especially those clients of ours that have done very well, and they have a million or 2 million plus, and the children going to inherit a large part of that. I always tell them, give them $10,000 and see how they do with that. Come back three or four months later, because are they really ready to inherit that million plus dollars? And if they’re not handling it well now, what makes you think they’re going to handle it well then?

Bailey:

The next couple go hand in hand. Number nine is Proverbs 15:22, “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisors they succeed.” Number 10 is Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, “Two are better than one because they have good return for their work. If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up. Also if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered. Two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” And then number 11, Psalm 1:1, “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit at the seat of mockers.”

Bob:

We’ve had entire podcasts just on these three scriptures because these scriptures have a lot to do with counsel and seeking biblical guidance because godly counsel is wise, and wise men and women who have handled it correctly can help you with all the financial resources and enable you to manage it well. And we’ve gotta be very careful about accepting advice from anyone that’s ungodly. Like it says there, “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked.” So when you’re looking for advice, and you need counsel, look for biblical counsel. And first, look at God’s word and see what God’s word says about it. You’ve heard me mentioned before my favorite book of the Bible is Proverbs, probably cause I’m a financial guy, because Proverbs just speaks so deep into how we handle our finances throughout the whole book. Of course, all of God’s word speaks into that too, as we’re talking about today. So this next one, these are a couple pretty long scriptures, but this also has something to do with what’s very, very important, and it’s how we handle our finances.

Bailey:

And number 12 is Matthew 22:15-21, and it says, “Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. They sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, ‘Teacher,’ they said. ‘We know that you are a man of integrity, and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others because you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the Imperial tax to Caesar or not?’ But Jesus, knowing their evil intent said, ‘You hypocrites. Why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax.’ They brought him a denarius and he asked them, ‘Whose image is this? And whose inscription?’ ‘Caesar’s,’ they replied. Then he said to them, ‘So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.'” And then number 13 is Romans 13:1-2, “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted. And those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.”

Bob:

These scriptures really go with each other, don’t they? Cause it’s speaking of paying taxes. It’s like Jesus said, well, who’s picture is on this coin. And he said, well, give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s. And then you come right over in Romans 13 about how we should submit to the authorities. There’s rules that we have to go by. We should pay our taxes. And I’m thinking about this comment I’m about to say. I’m pointing right at myself. Okay. We should pay our taxes without complaining about them. I’m guilty. Okay. Because we need to realize that’s God’s provision. So if we’re paying a whole lot of taxes, that’s God’s provision. Don’t complain about that. We can always pay less taxes. Everyone can pay less taxes. Well, how do you do that? By making less income or giving more away. So we’re commanded to submit to the governing authorities, whether we like it or not, as long as they’re not violating biblical principles.

Bailey:

That’s good. That’s a good reminder. Wow. Number 14 is Matthew 25:35-40, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in. I needed clothes and you clothed me. I was sick, and you looked after me. I was in prison and you came to visit me. Then the righteous will answer him. Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you something to drink. When did we see you a stranger and invite you in or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you? The King will reply. I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”

Bob:

What do you think this scripture is speaking into? It’s about speaking into helping others? And there’s another one right here in Philippians 2:3-4, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, rather in humility, value others above yourself, not looking to your own interests, but each of you to the interests of others.” This goes right with that scripture. They go hand in hand about helping others with what God has given us and being a good manager of that. This next one speaks even more into these two. It’s kind of like the icing on the cake. Go ahead.

Bailey:

Number 16 is 2 Corinthians 9:6-7, “Remember this, whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

Bob:

He does, doesn’t he? He loves us to be cheerful about it. I remember when I used to be invited in a smaller church we were in, and they would always want me to, when it was time for the tithes and offerings, they’d want me to do the prayer. And I’d say, now I want to see everybody smiling when you’re putting money into the plate. We’re here to help others in need when we have that ability to do so with the resources that God has given us. These scriptures really speak into that. And there’s another one that goes into this too that is more icing on the cake.

Bailey:

Number 17 is Malakai 3:10-11, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, says the Lord almighty and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not be able to have room enough for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops and the vines in your field will not cast their fruit, says the Lord almighty.”

Bob:

This scripture really speaks into giving a tithe or a 10th or even more of our income to the church and ministries that honor God and the incredible benefits that follow and also the protection like it says there. I will throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing. You’ll not have enough room for it. And that next one, I will prevent pests from devouring your crops. Now, we don’t have crops. Neither one of us are farmers, but I will prevent your car from breaking down on the side of the road. Things like that. I mean, you can take this and apply this scripture of tithing and protection, the protection that comes along with tithing. I’ve heard so many stories of people over the years that have tithed and seen a portion returned. And like I said, things just last and things just continue to go. And I hear so many good stories about tithing. I never hear any bad stories about it. And it’s the one place in the Bible, what does it say? We can what? We can actually test God in this. It says that. Test me in this and see if I will not throw open the heavens so wide that you won’t have enough room for it. So it’s the one place in scripture that it says that you can test God.

Bailey:

You can’t out-give God.

Bob:

That’s very hard when he owns everything. I’m going to read this next scripture. I love the story of Joseph and how he has the dreams. And this scripture is going to speak into being wise and saving during the good times for those bad times.

Bob:

So, listen to this Genesis 41:31-36, “The abundance in the land will not be remembered because the famine that follows it will be so severe.” You know that’s speaking of when tough times come. You kind of forget about the good times cause you’re in those tough times. “The reason the dream was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the matter had been firmly decided by God, and God will do it soon. And let the Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt.” That was Joseph. “Let Pharaoh appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest,” that’s 20%, “to take a fifth of the harvest during the seven years of abundance that they should collect all the food of those good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh to be kept in the cities for food. This food shall be held in reserve for the country to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt so that the country not may not be ruined by the famine.” So this was this dream that he had. And if you go to the 41st chapter of Genesis, you’ll see this dream. Joseph was in jail, basically, and he could interpret this for him, not the Joseph in the New Testament, the Joseph in the Old Testament. I want to make sure that people understand that. And he interpreted this dream in saying tough times are coming. Right now, they’re good. Save 20% of everything you have. Because when those tough times come, you’ll be ready for them. And we’ll have grain stored up. Or in this case, this would be like cash reserves, saving your cash reserves. We’ll have cash reserves stored up when those tough times come. And there’s another scripture I liked that goes with this one as well.

Bailey:

Yeah. It’s number nineteen. It’s Proverbs 6:6-11, “Go to the ant you sluggard. Consider its ways and be wise. It has no commander, no overseer, or a ruler. Yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When you get up from your sleep, a little sleep, a little slumber, a little fondling of the hands to rest and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.”

Bob:

He’s saying you sluggard. Yeah. I mean, you’ve watched ants. They’re always busy. They’re not lazy. They’re working. They’re storing up, and here it’s saying the summer is the good times. Things grow in the summers. In the winter, things die out. And so it’s saving for those good times and it’s saying if you don’t, when those tough times come, scarcity, like a bandit, is going to come and it’s going to take you. A little folding of the hands and poverty will come on you. So, these two scriptures, Genesis 41 and Proverbs 6, really speak into how we should save up. And it’s been interesting during all this COVID-19 because we’ve seen during this time that no one had anything saved up and that’s why the government had to come in and bail out everyone because they hadn’t saved up for the bad times.

Bob:

And we’ve had really good times here in America for the past four or five years. The markets have been up. Unemployment has been at its lowest level and pretty much history, but you don’t see people saving up. And then when those times come, the government had to come in and print money. It’s still good right now, but what’s going to happen from all this borrowing that we’ve done. It’s going to have to all be paid back someday. And that’s either going to be through a massive weakening of the dollar and inflation, or we’re going to have to be taxed extremely high to pay back all this debt that we’ve incurred because we didn’t save up and didn’t follow this scriptural principle. All right. So we’ve gone through 19 scriptures. We’ve got two more. That’s going to make 21 scriptures to live by in 2021. So, here we go to these last two.

Bailey:

All right. Number 20 is 1 Timothy 6:10, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people eager for money have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs,” and number 21, Ephesians 5:11, “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.”

Bob:

So these are interesting scriptures and people might be thinking, why would you choose that number 21? How do you apply that to finances, right? Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness but rather expose them. These are several of many scriptures that you’ll hear me talk about on Christian Financial Perspectives that speak into the awareness of greed and how it can destroy our faith in God.

Bailey:

Well, Bob, these are so helpful just personally as I look at my own finances as our listeners look at their own finances, but as a financial advisor, how do you apply these scriptures and these principles to that?

Bob:

Well like these last two, we apply these to real life here at Christian Financial Advisors by having nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, by not investing in companies or banking institutions that support that. We call that biblically responsible investing or values-based investing. And that’s what it really has to do with. It’s not supporting the fruitless deeds of darkness.

Bailey:

And being a firm that stands in those biblical principles. What are some of the challenges that you face that are unique?

Bob:

Well, when you’re not invested in companies that are involved in fruitless deeds of darkness, it does limit you in some ways and being biblically responsible because we can’t buy some of the well-known large tech companies that are so involved in supporting darkness and anti-Christian agendas and even anti American agendas. But our clients here and I believe following biblical principles is more important than selling our souls out and buying the companies because of greed. So we’re very careful that and not allowing greed to dictate us, but what’s interesting is the amazing thing about biblically responsible investing, based on the past, is that returns have been just as good or better. That’s a great thing, but that’s not the only reason to be biblically responsible in your investments because we want to follow God’s word, and that’s the most important thing. That’s number one is following God’s word. So there are 21 scriptures. We’re going to have, again, this all on our website for christianfinancialpodcast.com, and we do have “What God’s Word Says About Money” on our website. And you can click on that, but I would just invite you to take these scriptures, these 21, and live by these 21 scriptures in 2021. You can’t get hurt by them. I’ve never seen anyone hurt by following God’s word and following these biblical principles that are timeless. These were written over 2000 years ago, but they’re timeless and they’re still relevant to the day. And that’s what’s so amazing and wonderful about God’s word. It goes across the times. It’s infinite. You can always apply it no matter what time you’re in.

Bailey:

Well, Bob, I’ve said it before, but as a financial advisor, you really serve as a financial shepherd for people. And you really pastor them in that. So thanks for taking the time to study the scriptures and search the scriptures and share them with us. It’s been really helpful.

Bob:

That is Christian financial planning.

[CONCLUSION]

That’s all for now.

We invite you to listen to all of our past episodes covering many financial topics from a Christian Perspective. To make sure you don’t miss any of Bob’s upcoming episodes you can subscribe to Christian Financial Perspectives on iTunes, Google Play Music, Spotify, or Stitcher. To learn more about integrating your faith with your finances, visit ciswealth.com or call 830-609-6986.

[DISCLOSURES]

Investment advisory services offered through Christian Investment Advisors Inc. DBA Christian Financial Advisors, a registered investment advisor. Comments from today’s show are for informational purposes only and not to be considered investment advice or recommendations to buy or sell any company that may have been mentioned or discussed. The opinions expressed are solely those of the host, Bob Barber. Bob does not provide tax advice and encourages you to seek guidance from a tax professional.

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