The Bible speaks often on the topic of money. In both the Old and New Testaments, the authors of Scripture frequently address matters related to wealth, possessions, and our use of the same. Not all the biblical teaching is negative, nor is all of it positive. Money itself is not evil, but the love of it is (1 Tim 6:10)—and if we are not careful it can become a snare to our souls (Matt 6:24; 13:22).
Nevertheless, Scripture has no problem describing the normal course of life as one where hard work is rewarded financially (Prov 10:4; 21:5). Nor does it shy away from instructing the wise man to avoid get-rich-quick schemes and instead pursue the slow, steady accumulation of wealth (Prov 13:11). There is more to life than money (Luke 12:21), but life cannot be lived without it. While some of us may not like to think about money, and some of us may think too much about it, we must all heed Scripture’s teaching on this important topic.
Defining Discipline
As in any area of the Christian life, our financial life requires discipline. What is discipline? Discipline is the regular, consistent, and focused application of one’s time and energy to a particular activity with the aim of achieving a future goal. In the Christian’s case, the aim of discipline is not the discipline itself but growth in godliness. “Discipline yourself,” Paul told Timothy, “for the purpose of godliness” (1 Tim 4:7). The discipline is not godliness—it is only the means by which we achieve godliness in our lives.
It is important to distinguish between discipline and godliness, for it is possible to be a highly disciplined person yet not harness that discipline for the specific goal of godliness. Jerry Rice, for example, is considered one of the greatest (if not the greatest) receivers in football history. His devotion to the game and his own personal discipline enabled him to reach the highest level of athletic accomplishment. His thirteen Pro Bowl appearances, three Superbowl rings, and thirty-six NFL records would have never materialized without Rice disciplining himself to do serious work today with the aim of achieving something great tomorrow. His discipline, however, was not for the purpose of godliness. Rice was not wrong to devote such effort to his work as an NFL receiver—he actually serves as an example of what can be accomplished through self-control and disciplined work habits. The point here is simply to demonstrate that discipline and godliness are not the same thing.
Speaking specifically of finances, J. D. Rockefeller was meticulous about the money he earned and spent, maintaining an exacting business ledger in order to account for (literally) every penny that flowed in and out of his business. Why did Rockefeller apply such discipline to his business ventures? He wanted to be successful with his oil company and dominate the petroleum market.
So, it’s possible to be disciplined—and even disciplined in your finances—but to not aim your discipline at the goal of godliness.
Discipline and the Gospel
For the Christian, discipline is preceded by the gospel. No amount of personal effort can ever secure our right standing with God (Rom 3:19-20). God must provide everything necessary for our salvation and then bestow that gift through a channel that does not allow for any human contribution. “By grace you have been saved through faith,” Paul reminds us (Eph 2:8). God’s grace supplies the complete package of our salvation—real-time righteousness that satisfies God’s law, full atonement through a substitutionary death, and a bodily resurrection—all accomplished by the incarnate God-man Jesus Christ on our behalf. We don’t get justified and regenerated by discipline. We are saved by grace through faith (Rom 3:26; 4:5; 5:1; Titus 3:4-7).
Having been redeemed from slavery to sin and renewed inwardly by the power of the Holy Spirit, we now discipline ourselves, exercise self-control, and bring our bodies and unwieldy desires under control out of obedience to God. The goal of this discipline? To grow in godliness. The aim of a disciplined financial life is to grow in our ability to do God’s will with the wealth he has entrusted to us.
The implication, therefore, is that a disciplined financial life is not mainly about the money we do or do not have. A person may come to possess great wealth not from discipline and hard work but from an inheritance. Another person may be disciplined with their money but currently poor due to a financial calamity over which they had no control. Someone may appear generous but be reckless and foolish with their money and put their family in unnecessary financial trouble. Even framing our topic in these terms makes it seem like the aim of discipline is to achieve a certain level of wealth.
A Matter of Stewardship
But a certain level of wealth isn’t the end goal of discipline. The goal is godliness. Rather than thinking of achieving a certain amount of wealth, we need to frame our understanding of disciplined finances around the issue of stewardship.
In his Parable of the Talents (Matt 25:14-31), Jesus teaches his disciples to think of their work in his kingdom like servants whose master has entrusted them with significant sums of money. One servant receives five talents (a talent was a large amount of a precious metal, usually gold or silver), another two talents, and the third servant, one talent. When the master returns to account for his property, the first servant offers him a 100% return on his capital: a total of ten talents. The second one achieves the same: four talents. The last servant claims he was afraid of the master’s hard and unjust character and hid the talent in the ground for net gain of zero. Sensing this excuse was nothing more than a thinly-veiled lie, the master cuts to the real problem: the last servant was wicked and lazy.
The point of this parable is not to say that Jesus wants you to invest in the stock market and get a 100% return. Yes, I think Jesus gives a tacit affirmation of the process of investing, which is simply the committing of one’s money to a company, fund, or business venture with the reasonable expectation of future profit. But lucrative investing is not the main point of the parable, nor is Jesus commanding his disciples to invest in the stock market.
In the story, the master represents Jesus, and the servants represent Christians. When the master entrusts these talents to the servants, the talents represent all that a Christian has: wealth, property, opportunities, education, spiritual gifts, natural talents, energy, time, health, and so on. A Christian must steward all these things well. Finances are just a part of our overall stewardship.
We cannot conclude, therefore, that we’ve fulfilled Christ’s calling to steward our resources well if all that we’ve achieved is a high level of wealth. Jesus expects much more than the multiplication of our financial resources. He’s entrusted us with everything we own—materially and spiritually—and we must make the best use of all of it. In this article, I am focusing specifically on the stewardship of our finances, but it’s vital to remember that this is not all the stewardship entails.
Why Should We Exercise Discipline with our Finances?
At this point, a reasonable question would be why we should discipline our financial life. Can’t we just earn, spend, give, and trust the Lord? While that may sound spiritual to some, this kind of simplistic thinking will likely end in frustration at best and disaster at worst. There are many important biblical reasons why we should discipline our finances, both negative and positive.
Negatively, a lack of financial discipline can lead to poverty due to indulgence in too much pleasure (Prov 21:17; 23:21), foolish ventures (Prov 28:19), and get-rich-quick schemes (Prov 21:5). A lack of fiscal restraint and focus can disable us from fulfilling our financial obligations which will put us and our families in unnecessary trouble (Prov 11:29; see also 1 Tim 5:8). Overall, confusion and uncertainty will reign about how much money we can give, spend, save, and invest for the future.
Positively, a disciplined financial life helps us to meet all our financial obligations and avoid being dependent on others (1 Thess 4:11-12). Importantly, personal discipline with our money enables us to be generous because we will know exactly how much we can give, spend, save, and invest in the future.
Where Does a Disciplined Financial Life Begin?
Of course, there are wrong reasons to discipline ourselves financially. Exploiting personal financial discipline to store up wealth for selfish, self-indulgent ends is a deplorable practice in God’s sight (Luke 12:13-21). Nor should we exercise discipline with our money to become rich (1 Tim 6:9-10). Yes, financial discipline may often enable our wealth to grow (see Prov 13:11), and some Christians will be wealthy in this life (1 Tim 6:17), but our aim of our discipline must not be to become rich.
Rather, a disciplined financial life begins with trust in God’s provision (Matt 6:19-34). Jesus counters the temptation to love money with the promise that our heavenly Father will give us all that we need in this life. For this reason, we don’t have to fret ourselves over our food, clothing, and other necessities. Rather, we are free to seek first the kingdom of God because we know that God will give us what we need in this life.
Therefore, a disciplined financial life also begins with contentment. Contentment is vital because it will help us avoid overspending and guard us from the temptation to pursue riches for their own sake (see 1 Tim 6:6-10). Contentment is rooted in humility—in viewing ourselves and God’s providence rightly. Paul says that if we have food and clothing, we will be content (1 Tim 6:8). He can say this because “we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of it” (1 Tim 6:7). We live on pure grace, and all that we currently own is a gift that must remain on the earth after we die. Anything beyond our necessities is a bonus. It’s true that God often blesses us beyond our necessities with “many things to enjoy” (1 Tim 6:17). But we are not to chase after the things of this life as though they are permanent—because they aren’t.
We cannot cultivate a disciplined financial life if we don’t first cultivate a disciplined work life.
Finally, a disciplined financial life begins with a disciplined work life. In God’s design, work is the way by which we earn an income to purchase what we need. Yes, God is the ultimate provider to whom we look for our daily bread (Matt 6:11), but he has ordained that we procure our daily bread through work (2 Thess 3:6-12). If we refuse to work diligently, we will inevitably meet financial difficulty (Prov 6:9-11; 10:4; 14:23). We cannot cultivate a disciplined financial life if we don’t first cultivate a disciplined work life.
What the Bible Doesn’t Say about our Finances
At this point you may have a lot of questions related to your personal finances. You may want to know the answers to the following questions:
- Should I invest in stocks, bonds, or real estate?
- What bank should I use?
- How much should I set aside for retirement?
- How much should I give each month?
- Should I have a credit card?
- Should I take out a loan?
- How high is too high for a home loan?
- Should I take out a loan for a car?
- Should I keep a monthly budget?
None of these questions, however, are directly addressed in Scripture. The Bible doesn’t forbid loans, for example, but it does remind us that debt has its disadvantages (Prov 22:7). The Bible affirms the goodness of investing (see Eccl 11:1-2; Matt 25:14-31), but it doesn’t tell you where to put your money or how aggressively or conservatively to deploy your capital. It is wise to plan for the future (Prov 27:23-27), but Scripture doesn’t tell you how much to save for it. The Bible commends planning, orderliness, and thoughtfulness (Prov 14:15; 16:3; 21:5), but it doesn’t instruct you to keep a monthly budget. Each of these questions (and countless others) requires wisdom and the counsel of other godly believers who have gathered insight over years of carefully applying biblical principles to their finances.
While Scripture does not answer these questions directly, it is sufficient to provide us with the wisdom we need to make God-pleasing decisions with our money (Prov 2:1-11). The best approach, therefore, is to saturate our minds and hearts with what Scripture does say about our finances so that we can apply that truth to our current situation.
The Christian’s Financial Priorities
We’ve already considered a few important biblical truths related to our finances. Now it will be helpful to address how Scripture prioritizes the use of our money. Why do we discipline our financial lives? It is in order to fulfill the following biblical priorities of godly Christian living.
(1) To Provide For Our needs, Fulfill our Obligations, and Avoid Financial Dependence
It is God’s will for his people to provide for their own needs and not depend on others for monetary assistance (1 Thess 4:11-12). While Scripture instructs Christians to help those who have genuine needs, it does not commend a lifestyle of dependence. If a person is able-bodied, they must work for their own living, meet their own financial obligations, and avoid financial dependence on others (2 Thess 3:6-12). The aim of financial assistance should be to get people back to earning their own living. This is a Christian’s first financial priority and an important aspect of their witness to the outside world (1 Thess 4:12). Financial discipline is required so that we might maintain diligence in our work, exercise self-control in our spending, and keep a reasonable handle on our fiscal situation so that we are always able to meet our obligations.
(2) To Provide for our Family’s Needs
Related to the first priority is the requirement for Christians to provide for their own household. Men, if you are married, it is a basic Christian responsibility for you to provide for your family’s material needs. So basic is this responsibility that Paul deems us worse than an unbeliever if we fail to fulfill it (1 Tim 5:8). Why such a sharp word? Because even unbelievers know that providing for one’s family is a fundamental aspect of manhood. If we are careless with our finances—constantly spending more than we earn, accumulating massive amounts of debt, gambling away our paychecks—we endanger our ability to care for our households.
(3) To Give to Your Local Church and Faithful Gospel Ministries
When Scripture tells us to give of our firstfruits (Prov 3:9-10) and give as the Lord prospers (1 Cor 16:2), it is not setting the command to give in opposition to the command to provide for ourselves. Giving must be done wisely, and there is no virtue in giving until one is in financial trouble. Yet, well-meaning Christians imply as much when they use the poor widow as an example of sacrificial giving (see Luke 20:45-21:4).
When Jesus noted the poor widow giving her last two pennies into the offering box, he was not commending her generosity; he was condemning the religious system that would bilk an impoverished, husbandless woman out of her last few cents. It is not righteous to give away all that you have thereby disable yourself from meeting your financial obligations.
Nevertheless, Scripture does instruct Christians to make giving to Christ’s church a top priority. Indeed, when the Bible speaks of giving of our first fruits and giving as the Lord prospers, it means that we are to give whenever we receive an income, and as often as we receive an income. Giving should be our first impulse when money comes into our hand or into our bank account.
Discipline is required to ensure that our giving is consistent. It is easy to develop the habit of haphazard, unintentional, and merely spontaneous giving. Disciplined giving is preferred because it is more intentional and, therefore, more worshipful. It is consistent and, therefore, reliable for those who are counting on it (like your church). And, while spontaneity in giving can be good, if we rely only on the times when we are “moved” to give, we will likely not give as much as we would have if we were disciplined in our giving.
Actually, giving is one of the primary reasons why we should discipline our financial lives. God intends for our giving to be unconstrained, joyful, and sacrificial (2 Cor 9:6-11). If we don’t have a handle on our finances, or if we are spending more than we make, then we will be hindered from giving. If we are constantly overspending, we will hesitate to give because we’ve already spent too much and we will be concerned about having enough. If we are not organized enough to know how much money we can give away, then we won’t be able to meet needs when they arise. It’s true that someone with an organized financial life won’t automatically be generous with their money. But a well-ordered financial life will reduce friction in our giving and enable us to be even more generous.
(4) To Give to those in Need
When Paul instructs the former thieves in the Ephesian church, he instructs them to devote themselves to honest labor so that they can provide for themselves and create a surplus that they can share with others (Eph 4:28). Similar to what we just noted above about giving to the church, we must impose order on our financial lives so that we can know how much we can give to those in need. I am persuaded that many Christians could be far more generous than they are if they would simply get a handle on their finances, determine each month how much they can give away, and start identifying legitimate needs. As the Lord prospers us year to year and we experience the fruit of a disciplined financial life, we may be able to add more to the “give” column in our budgets. But this can only happen if we are already disciplined with our finances.
(5) To Prepare Wisely for the Future
Scripture warns us about being presumptuous about the future (James 4:13-17), but it also exhorts us to wisely plan for it. For example, Solomon reminds us that the “plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance” (Prov 21:5a). Those who fail to plan and act only on their base impulses will miss out on what could have otherwise been theirs had they exercised a little more effort; “…but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty” (Prov 21:5b). Solomon also encourages his reader to take reasonable care of his resources so that he will have enough for the future provision of his household.
Know well the condition of your flocks,
and give attention to your herds,
for riches do not last forever;
and does a crown endure to all generations?
When the grass is gone and the new growth appears
and the vegetation of the mountains is gathered,
the lambs will provide your clothing,
and the goats the price of a field.
There will be enough goats’ milk for your food,
for the food of your household
and maintenance for your girls (Prov 27:23-27).
Here Solomon exhorts his readers to give attention to the self-renewing resources in their possession so that those resources might continue to provide for their families into the future. Stored-up wealth does not last forever—once the money is spent, it’s gone for good. There needs to be another form of income in one’s latter years. In the agrarian context in which Solomon was writing, sheep and goats would provide a self-replenishing source of food and revenue for one’s family. Similarly, we need to apply discipline in our financial lives to prepare as well as we can for the future. We don’t know for certain what will happen—all our efforts may be wiped out in one big tragedy. But as much as it depends on us, we should make an effort to plan well so that our families will be well-provided for in the future, and the money won’t dry up on account of our negligence.
(6) To Enjoy the Gift of Earthly Life
Yes, it is the believer’s responsibility to enjoy earthly life. Solomon makes this point clear in Ecclesiastes where he tells the reader over and over that God created food, drink, work, and the good things of life specifically for our enjoyment. Not content with merely observing that God has created the world for our pleasure (Eccl 2:24-26; 3:13; 3:22; 5:18-18-19) or just commending our joy (8:15), Solomon commands us to enjoy earthly life (9:7-10). But you cannot enjoy earthly life if you are disordered in your finances.
Interestingly, we find Solomon at times in the Proverbs chiding the lazy person precisely because he is too lazy to enjoy life. The sluggard may catch his game, but he is unwilling to put in the work to roast it, so he must eat it raw or simply waste it (Prov 12:27). The lazy person may reach out for something delicious to eat, but he is too lazy to bring the morsel back to his mouth (Prov 19:24; 25:16). Similarly, someone may have sufficient income, but he doesn’t take the time to manage it or designate his savings, so he is never able to spend his money with confidence or joy. Or, due to a lack of self-control, he may spend too much money on worthless pursuits and find that he has nothing to spend on good, wholesome pleasures. By exercising discipline and self-control with our money, we will enhance our enjoyment of earthly life, to the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31).
A Few Practical Suggestions
In this last section, I will offer a few suggestions to help you think practically about how to cultivate a disciplined financial life. None of these are intended to come with the authority of Scripture, but I do think they are undergirded with Biblical principles, and saints have proven these suggestions to be a wise application of what God’s word does say about money and finances.
- Maintain a monthly budget and be aware of your financial situation. This is perhaps the most practical way you can gain a handle on your finances. Establish a monthly budget with specific line items for all your normal expenses (rent, utilities, insurance, medical expenses, groceries, household items, etc.), and at the end of every month, take thirty to sixty minutes to record all that you spent in these areas, and contrast your actual spending with what you budgeted for that line item. Mark where you went over and where you were under budget. Then, account for your total spending and subtract that from your total income for the month. If your spending is greater than your income, account for that overage by taking money from your designated savings (more on that below). Just the practice of accounting for your spending each month will help you gain awareness of your overall financial situation, your spending habits, and how much you have available for specific purposes like giving, spending, and investing.
- Save with a purpose (with designated savings). A helpful practice for making sure you use your money well is to save with a purpose. Some of us may be good at spending less than what we make, so we find our savings growing little by little each month. But God doesn’t call us to merely grow our savings: he has given us financial resources so that we might do something with them. Therefore, our saving must be intentional. What are you saving for? This is where it is useful to create a section on your monthly budget called “Designated Savings.” Under this heading, you can create categories like “Vacation,” “Car Fund,” “Taxes,” “Clothing,” “Giving,” “College,” and so on. When you experience a surplus on a given month, distribute that surplus into the categories of your choosing. When specific needs arise and you must spend more than you make in a month, then subtract from the applicable category. This practice enables you to be intentional with your savings and to be ready for when certain needs arise. Also, by designating a “Giving” category, you can know each month how much extra you have available to give when needs arise. This “Giving” category will be in addition to your first fruits giving that occurs each month.
- Generally speaking, spend less than you make. This point should be obvious, and I’ve already alluded to it above, but a sure recipe for financial trouble is consistently spending more than you make. There will be months when we have medical, auto, or home emergencies that require that we spend more than we earn. But as a pattern, we should aim to spend less than we make so that we can avoid unnecessary financial difficulties that will inevitably impede our ability to provide for ourselves, give generously, and enjoy life.
- Seek wisdom from others who are disciplined with their finances and who have expertise in areas you don’t. As I’ve already noted, there are many questions related to finances that Scripture does not directly answer. Issues related to investing, purchasing a home, taking out a loan, saving for retirement, and many other important questions that need the wisdom of people who have been applying biblical principles to their finances for many years and from people who have experience in the areas you don’t. Thankfully, there are many excellent resources available today to help Christians think through and carefully apply biblical truth to their financial questions. Seek out people who can help you. He who walks with the wise will be wise (Prov 13:20).
- Try to invest if you can. I used to be ambivalent about investing. I didn’t see it as a viable Christian option because I viewed the stock market as nothing more than a glorified slot machine. I held this attitude firmly until a godly older gentleman took me to a lunch of BBQ sandwiches and explained to me that I should consider the stewardship implications of not investing. “If your savings pays you 1% interest a year,” he said as he scribbled a few numbers on the back of a napkin, “and inflation is typically 2.5% a year, then your money is losing value by just sitting in the bank. In contrast, the S&P posts an annualized return of 9% over time. What do you think is a better stewardship of your money?” That was a hard argument to beat.
Shortly after that conversation, I started to educate myself about investing. I came to see that it is possible to invest wisely and conservatively and garner consistent inflation-beating returns. Investing is especially fruitful when it is used for long-term goals like retirement, college, and large future purchases like a home because you can harness the power of compound interest over time.
Some Christians do not consider investing because they are barely making enough to fulfill all their immediate financial obligations. Today, however, there are many excellent, zero-fee investing platforms that allow you to invest with as little as $10. Investing just $10 per week for twenty years at a 9% annualized return would result in a total of $26,775. That’s a $17175 (178%) gain on your principle of only $9600 (only $40/month for twenty years). - Plan for retirement, but never retire. As we saw above, it is wise to plan financially for the future. Specifically, we should be preparing for a time when we won’t be able to work at the same pace or intensity as we once worked. Making sure we have an income for a time when we won’t be able to work or to work as much is a good idea. Again, Scripture does not tell us how much to save for retirement, so we should prayerfully search the Scriptures and seek the counsel of other wise Christians who can help us in this area. (You can read my co-authored book on retirement here.) But Scripture does tell us that we should never fully retire. That is, there is never a time when a Christian should ever stop working. If you are able to step away from your current employment because you no longer need the income, don’t transition into a lifestyle of self-indulgent ease. Rather, pivot to another form of service so that you can continue to be useful to others in your retirement years. Jesus Christ died to make us zealous for good works (Titus 2:14), and there is no retirement age for that assignment.
Conclusion
Disciplining our financial life is meant to create freedom, joy, and greater generosity. It takes work, time, and self-control, but the fruit of this discipline makes all the effort worth it. We will be able to meet our financial obligations and provide for our families, and we will avoid unnecessary anxiety that hovers over the person whose finances are out-of-control (Prov 15:19). We will be able to give freely and give more to Christ’s church and to those in need. We will be able to prepare well for the future and enjoy the gifts of earthly life in their right order and proportion. Overall, we will be found to be good stewards of what Christ has entrusted to us, which is the greatest blessing of all.
