Most believers only think about their money in terms of tithing. However, the Bible says a lot about our finances, including the need to give sacrificially and to avoid grasping onto and loving our money. As Christian author Randy Alcorn said, what we do with our money doesn’t suggest where our heart is. Jesus says it determines where our heart goes. In Matthew 6:21, Jesus teaches us that our hearts will be where our treasure is.
As believers, we should consider where our treasure is going. Are we spending our money to serve ourselves and make our lives generously comfortable? Do we attempt to keep our bank accounts separate from our Christian life? If Jesus is the priority of our lives, then we should start examining the topic of finances from a biblical perspective. So, what does the Bible say about spending money? The following points give an overview so that we can start praising God with our money and using our income to forward the spread of the gospel.
We’re stewards of our finances.
People can assume that they’re the owners of their money. In their reasoning, they work for the money, so their money belongs to them. While people do earn money from their jobs, the Bible teaches us that we’re not owners of our finances but stewards. James 1:17 reminds believers that every good gift comes from above from the Father of the heavenly lights, who doesn’t change like shifting shadows. The ability to make money and work comes from the Lord, as He provides us with opportunities and strength, as detailed in Deuteronomy 8:18.
Since we wouldn’t have anything in life without God’s provision, it’s foolish for us to think that our finances are our own. The parable of the talents shows us that we’re stewards of all the resources God entrusts to us, including the money we earn from our jobs. In the parable, the servants are given various degrees of money, and the Master returns to see how they used it, as we read in Matthew 25:14-30. Likewise, we’re the servants, and the money belongs to God. As Jesus said in another parable, if you’re faithful in small things, you’ll be faithful in large ones. However, if you’re dishonest in small things, you won’t be honest with more significant obligations.
Luke 16:10 reminds us that if you’re untrustworthy of worldly wealth, who will trust you with heaven’s riches? Looking at spending money from a biblical standpoint changes the way we use money. When we understand that we’re stewards of our bank accounts, our viewpoints change. Instead of upholding a temporary focus on building large nest eggs for investing money to make the dollar signs increase or retirement, biblical stewardship helps us understand our finances from an eternal focus.
Watch out for the love of money.
Another important teaching from the Bible about money is that we should beware of the love of money. In 1 Timothy 6:9-10, Paul says in a letter to Timothy that people who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap into many harmful and foolish desires that plunge people into destruction and ruin. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people are eager for money and have wandered from faith, piercing themselves with many griefs.
Although having money isn’t wrong, we should be careful to guard our hearts against greed. When people let the love of money rule their lives, finances become an idol. Anyone, including believers, can wrongly place their bank account as the priority in their lives, but in Matthew 6:24, Jesus reminds us that we can’t serve both money and God. Heeding the Bible’s warning, we can turn away from the idol of money. Putting our trust and hope in money is foolish because it can disappear quickly. The wise person puts their hope in God, who gives us everything for our enjoyment, as detailed in 1 Timothy 6:17.
The need for gratification.
In the same passage that warns us about the love of money, the Apostle Paul encourages us to be happy with necessities, as detailed in 1 Timothy 6:6-8. The writer of Hebrews also mentions the need for contentment when he wrote that we should be content with what we have and keep our lives free from the love of money because God said He would never leave us nor forsake us, as detailed in Hebrews 13:5. God gives us the bare necessities of life like clothing, food, and shelter. The Bible teaches that pagans chase after necessities from a place of worry and fear. However, we can be assured that God gives us what he needs, just as He feeds the sparrows and clothes the field’s flowers.
If we live simpler lives free from the entanglement of unnecessary items, we’re less likely to desire more money to accumulate things we can’t afford. Jesus gave His disciples a critical warning when He warned them to guard their hearts against any kind of greed. Life isn’t measured by how much you own, so using our money foolishly and building a mound of possessions doesn’t reflect a biblical attitude focused on Jesus.
Gratification with necessities is also essential because we won’t take our possessions or finances with us to heaven. In fact, all of our material things will, like the earth, eventually fade away, as we read in 1 Corinthians 7:31. While we need money to live in this world, we shouldn’t hold onto it. Believers are simply pilgrims or travelers in this world, and we should seek to invest in our heavenly homes instead of building wealthy kingdoms on earth.
Laying up genuine treasure in heaven.
During His earthly ministry, Jesus shared the parable about the rich fool. A rich man collected a significant amount of grain and told himself that he could eat, drink and be merry because he had heaps of grain laid up for many years. However, despite his wealth, God demanded the man’s life that night, as detailed in Luke 12:20. Jesus said this is how it’ll be for whoever stores up things for themselves but isn’t rich toward God. Instead of building up our earthly bank accounts, the Bible encourages us to lay up treasures for ourselves in heaven.
Our finances can help us have a genuine treasure in heaven if we invest in making a difference in God’s Kingdom. By living generously and freely giving from our money to help others and spread the gospel, we’ll reap eternal rewards. We might go against mainstream society by living simply and giving more from our resources, but we’ll be rich toward God. Instead of thinking that we own our money, Scripture teaches us that we’re stewards of our money, so let’s invest our money wisely for the Lord’s glory.
