In modern western cultures, we’re not necessarily at the mercy of our family name. Proverbs 22:1Ī verse like this is going to make more sense in some cultures than others. Money principle #5: Protect Your ReputationĪ good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,Īnd favor is better than silver or gold. And more importantly, God is paying attention to these kinds of details. The point is that the worker needs to be paid for work in a way that allows him to look after his personal needs. It’s not as if he’s trying to keep them from the worker. The important thing to notice here is that the boss is only holding the wages overnight. This advice comes from a time when daily wages were needed to meet daily expenses.
As an example, we’re told that a boss shouldn’t withhold the wages of an employee. We’re told that Israelites shouldn’t oppress their neighbor or help themselves to each other’s property. (Jesus will dramatically change the definition of neighbor later.)
#Scripture about being a good steward how to
Here the Lord instructs them on how to treat their fellow Israelite. These passages can often feel laborious, but it’s nice to see how seriously God takes treating each other with dignity and respect.
#Scripture about being a good steward full
A lot of the Pentateuch is full of expectations and laws about how Israelites would treat each other and those outside of their community. The first five books in the Old Testament (Pentateuch) tell the story of God’s creation of a nation who would serve him and worship him-and through whom he could bless the rest of the world. The wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning. You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. Money principle #4: Be Diligent in Paying Your Workers This should be a lesson to us that even a largely uneducated peasant audience knows that you don’t start a project without counting the cost first. It’s obvious from the story that Jesus intends the audience to instantly recognize how foolish of an act this is. He uses the example of a man who begins a building project without considering how much it is going to cost him, and before he is finished, he’s run out of money. If you come to him, he wants you to count the cost and consider the sacrifice. Jesus uses this example to make the point that he isn’t out recruiting followers under false pretenses.
“For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’” -Luke 14:28–30 Money principle #3: Don’t Start Without a Plan It’s when we begin grasping at wealth and desire it above all that it poisons us. Throughout the Bible, God financially blesses others-in fact, so much of God’s work relies on responsible and charitable people of means. Greed and avarice are wrong, but having money isn’t. It’s imperative that we don’t misread Scripture and walk away with the idea that asceticism is the key to right Christian living. Money principle #2: Do Not be GreedyĪnd he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” -Luke 12:15 You’re learning the diligence and responsibility that will help you manage your money better. It’s a living illustration of this Proverb’s principle.Īdversely, when you build wealth over time by making strategic, thoughtful decisions, you’re learning how to care for it.
They don’t have self-discipline to deny themselves ridiculous purchases, they haven’t learned where to go for help for money-management advice, and they don’t know how to deal with all the requests from friends and family for loans. You hear about it all the time, the lottery winner whose life is destroyed by their instant wealth. Money principle #1: Grow Wealth Strategicallyīut whoever gathers little by little will increase it. The more you look at how the Bible addresses money, the more you discover very practical advice about stewardship, devotion, and discipline. The problem that Scripture recognizes and addresses is how money can usurp the place of God in our lives and be used to rule over and control others. It allows the farmer or the carpenter to trade for goods and services without having to carry cows, produce, and lumber everywhere they go. The truth is that money plays a valuable role in society. Scripture makes a lot of strong and pointed statements about wealth, and it would be easy to assume that money is a terrible necessity. If you open up a concordance and just start reading everything the Bible says about money, you might walk away with the wrong impression.
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