George Mueller was famous for living hand to mouth. According to his biographers, he received as much as £2,000 a year (in 1870), which today would be worth $257,000. Yet he only kept £300 a year, or $38,550 in today’s dollars. The remaining money he gave away. He did not believe in having emergency funds or in laying up an inheritance for his daughter.ⁱ

I’ve known believers like that. They don’t believe in saving money. God gives us money to use and once we have enough to meet our needs, we give the rest away.

While there is nothing wrong with that approach as long as you can pay your taxes and bills, I think the Scriptures encourage us to save for emergencies and for our children’s futures. Consider these verses:

• A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, But the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous (Prov 13:22).
• And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: “The daughters of Zelophehad speak what is right; you shall surely give them a possession of inheritance among their father’s brothers, and cause the inheritance of their father to pass to them. And you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘If a man dies and has no son, then you shall cause his inheritance to pass to his daughter…’” (Num 27:6-8).
• Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law (Rom 13:8).ⁱⁱ
• And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance (Gen 45:7).ⁱⁱⁱ

On the opposite side we have verses that warn about loving money or laying up treasure on earth:

• For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows (1 Tim 6:10).
• For a bishop [= elder] must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money…” (Titus 1:7).
• “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt 6:19-21).
• So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:18-21).

Here is how I put all that together:

First, do not borrow money you cannot repay within the month. The lone exception to that, I would suggest, is buying a home. Even there, I would suggest only buying a house if you can afford it. It is fine to rent for years or decades. Even cars can be bought with cash, though you may need to buy one that is 10+ years old to fit your budget the first time around.

Second, if possible, save some of your income for emergencies, some for your children’s inheritance (which could include college funds), some for your spouse if you die first, some for your aging parents, and some for possible retirement. Biblically, it would be wise to invest in safe investments like CDs, gold, silver, land, bonds, and conservative mutual funds. Risky investments are not encouraged in the Bible.

Third, do not have your heart set on amassing treasure here on Earth. Just save enough so that you can provide for your family and for your retirement. When those needs have been met, set your heart on amassing the treasure that you lay up in heaven.

Fourth, save money now by being frugal. My friend Arch Rutherford calls older used cars kingdom cars, since we can save thousands of dollars per year per car and use that money to the glory of God. We can, for the same reason, spend less than we could afford on vacations, homes, clothes, and food.^iv

Fifth, invest money now in your local church, and, if there is money left after you’ve done your fair share for your church, then help missionaries and other parachurch ministries. While it is fine to put your church and ministries in your will, make sure you are giving now as the Lord prospers you (1 Cor 16:2).

Sixth, try to plan it out so that if the Lord tarries and you and your spouse live into your nineties, you have very little money left at the end other than the inheritance you have left for your children. Of course, if you both die unexpectedly in your seventies, you might have a lot of retirement funds in reserve. But that money can be given to your church or other ministries, or used to enhance the inheritance of your children.

Seventh, did I mention the importance of having a will or trust? In today’s world, it is important in order to make sure your money goes where you intend as well as ensuring that your heirs do not pay any more in inheritance taxes than is necessary.

You can’t take it with you. But you can send some on ahead. And you can leave some for your children, church, and others. But whatever you do with your money, do it to the glory of God.

__________

i He had a son, Elijah, who died when he was 15 months old.

ii Zane Hodges commented on Rom 13:8, “From the responsibility not to owe unpaid taxes, Paul now proceeds to urge the payment of all debts, except the one debt that can never be fully paid: to love one another. The Greek text lays stress on the words no one (Mēdeni) and anything (mēden, literally nothing), which precede the verb for owe in Paul’s sentence. Whatever one owes to anyone should be paid. But after that is done, one still owes love” (Romans, p. 390).

iii God had Joseph save up grain and food during the seven plentiful years so that there would a sufficient amount during the seven years of famine. See Gen 41:26-57ff. This establishes the principle that we should save during times of prosperity so that if tough times come we have reserves to meet our needs and the needs of our extended families.

iv One wise man quipped, “If you live beneath your means sufficiently, then budgeting becomes unnecessary.” Even if you budget (which is a good idea), you still should live well below your means so that you can pay all your bills and taxes and store up for emergencies, retirement, and inheritance. Many people sadly live above their means no matter how much they make per year. We may say, “I could live quite comfortably on $500,000 a year.” Yet many people who make that amount or more are heavily in debt, and many are on the verge of bankruptcy.