Scriptural Guidelines for Handling Money
What the Bible Says About Wealth
SEEKING WISE COUNSEL
Proverbs 19:20
Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise.
Proverbs 15:22
Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.
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 in the seat of mockers.
Psalm 32:8
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.
SAVING & INVESTING
Proverbs 21:5
The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.
Proverbs 30:25
Ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer;
Ecclesiastes 11:2
Give portions to seven, yes to eight, for you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.
Genesis 41:31-36
The abundance in the land will not be remembered, because the famine that follows it will be so severe. The reason the dream was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the matter has been firmly decided by God, and God will do it soon. “And now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. They should collect all the food of these 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 should 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 may not be ruined by the famine.”
Proverbs 6:6-11
Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest– and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.
HONESTY
1 Corinthians 4:1-2
So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.
Proverbs 13:11
Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow.
Proverbs 20:23
The LORD detests differing weights, and dishonest scales do not please him.
Proverbs 12:19
Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.
Proverbs 15:16
The house of the righteous contains great treasure, but the income of the wicked brings the trouble.
Proverbs 21:16
A fortune made by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a deadly snare.
DEBT
Proverbs 22:7
The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.
Luke 16:10-13
“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. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own? “No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”
Proverbs 22:26-27
Do not be a man who strikes hands in pledge or puts up security for debts; if you lack the means to pay, your very bed will be snatched from under you.
GIVING
Proverbs 11:25
A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.
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.’
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.
TITHING
Proverbs 3:9-10
Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.
Malachi 3:8-11
“Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, `How do we rob you?’ “In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse–the whole nation of you–because you are robbing me. 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 have room enough for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit,” says the LORD Almighty.
OWNERSHIP
Psalm 24:1
The earth is the LORD’S, and everything in it, the world and all who live in it…
Leviticus 25:23
The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants.
Haggai 2:8
`The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the LORD Almighty.
