Today’s post looks at some scriptures from the Bible that relate to using God’s resources wisely. If the end purpose of managing money wisely, including investing in common stocks wisely, is simply to “be rich,” earthly life will come to an end one day and so will whatever momentary pleasures that were extracted from the riches gained.
I’m a Christian. Those who read my book, “Choose Stocks Wisely,” who do not share my faith in Jesus Christ may not see the importance of the book’s inclusion of my Christian perspective toward money. There was a time in my life, before Christ, where I saw money as something that belonged to “me” and as nothing more than a vehicle to attain things I wanted. When Jesus Christ came into my life during my college days, He completely changed my mind-set about living life, including my perspective toward money. I did not previously have regard for His Word, the Bible, like I have since the time I trusted Christ as my Savior.
Today, I see money as something that is to be managed on behalf of the One whom provides it, namely the LORD, and as a vehicle for meeting needs, those of my family and others, as the LORD directs. This perspective is not dependent on how much or little a person is custodian over.
Consider the following Bible verses:
From I Samuel 2:7 (New King James Version): The Lord makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up.
From Ecclesiastes 5:10 (New Living Translation): Those who love money will never have enough. How absurd to think that wealth brings true happiness!
From Matthew 6:24 (Common English Bible): No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be loyal to the one and have contempt for the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
From I Timothy 6:10 (Common English Bible): The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some have wandered away from the faith and have impaled themselves with a lot of pain because they made money their goal.
From Hebrews 13:5 (New International Version): Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
From I Timothy 6:17 (New International Version): Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.
From Ecclesiastes 7:12 (New Living Translation): Wisdom or money can get you almost anything, but it’s important to know that only wisdom can save your life.
My perspective on money is based on the Bible since I embrace the Bible as God’s Word. It has much to say about money. As the last scripture above reveals, money cannot be viewed in the right context without the wisdom that comes from God and that wisdom is available in the Bible. Investing the resources wisely that God has put in our custodianship to generate a good return is completely sensible in light of scripture. However, when investing money becomes all about “money,” whatever is gained loses all significance. I’ll close for this week, hoping that each of you had a wonderful Independence Day with your family and friends. May God bless you.