Financial Discipleship - the Bible on MultiplicationSample

The Bible provides us with five basic guidelines for investing.

1. Be a steady plodder.

The fundamental principle for becoming a successful investor is to spend less than you earn, and regularly invest the surplus. In other words, be a steady plodder. The Bible says, “Steady plodding brings prosperity, hasty speculation brings poverty” (Proverbs 21:5, TLB). The original words for “steady plodding” picture a person filling a large barrel one handful at a time. Little by little the barrel is filled.

Nothing replaces steady, consistent, month-after-month investing. Just do it—regardless of the investment climate—because when you do, your investments will grow through compounding.

Compounding occurs when your investment’s earnings are added to the principle, allowing both the earnings and the principle to grow.

2. Avoid risky investments.

God warns us to avoid risky investments, yet each year thousands of people lose money in highly speculative investments and scams. Ecclesiastes 5:13- 15 says, “There is another serious problem I have seen everywhere—savings are put into risky investments that turn sour, and soon there is nothing left to pass on to one’s son. The man who speculates is soon back to where he began—with nothing” (TLB).

How many times have you heard of people losing their life’s savings on some can’t-miss, get-rich-quick scheme? Sadly, it seems that Christians are particularly vulnerable to scams because they trust others who appear to live by their same values. If you are offered an investment opportunity that seems too good to be true, it’s probably too good to be true!

The strategy for avoiding scams or risky investments is to pray, seek wise counsel, and do your homework.

3. Diversify.

Money can be lost on any investment. Stocks, bonds, real estate, gold—you name it—can perform well or poorly. Each investment has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Since the perfect investment doesn’t exist, we need to diversify and not put all our eggs in one basket. “Divide your portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what misfortune may occur on the earth” (Ecclesiastes 11:2).

4. Count the cost.

Every investment has costs: financial, time, effort, and sometimes even emotional stress. For example, a rental house will require time and effort to rent and maintain. If the tenant is irresponsible, you may have to try to collect rent from someone who doesn’t want to pay—talk about emotions! Before you decide on any investment, consider all the costs.

5. Listen to wise and experienced godly counsel.

The decision to purchase or sell an investment is best made prayerfully. Despite what so-called financial experts and pundits so confidently express about what will happen to investments in the future, no one knows except the Lord. No one. Period!

God wants to be involved in every area of your finances, including investing. So humbly ask Him for wisdom as you consider an investment. Isaiah 48:17 says, “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to benefit, who leads you in the way you should go.” In Luke 8:18, Jesus warns us, “So take care how you listen.” You could paraphrase those words like this: Be careful what you listen to. And be especially careful of receiving investment advice from those who do not have a biblical view of money.

(excerpt taken from The Compass Curriculum, 2023)