By Bob Barber, CWS®, CKA®
According to many biblical scholars, there are over 1500 scriptures in God’s Word that have to do with money, possessions, and stewardship. Did you know that according to many scholars, Jesus spoke on stewardship more than heaven and hell combined? It’s hard to go to any book in the New Testament without seeing it. So, for 2021 here are 21 stewardship scriptures you can focus and meditate on starting with my favorite scripture when it comes to stewardship.
1) PSALM 24:1 “The earth is the LORD’S, and everything in it, the world and all who live in it.”
2) HAGGAI 2:8 “‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the LORD Almighty.”
These 2 scriptures are the foundation for stewardship, and they help us understand and acknowledge that God owns everything. This includes all of our bank and investment accounts, all of our real estate, all our retirement accounts, all our personal possessions, everything! As a steward, we are called to take care of God’s resources He has enabled us to manage.
3) 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.”
This scripture is giving all of us a warning about getting into too much debt when we may not be able to pay it back. When we borrow money, we are totally presuming upon a future that we really have no idea will happen. None of us can say with 100% certainty that we will even be alive tomorrow. This is why it’s always important to plan for the unexpected and have emergency reserves.
4) Exodus 20:3 “You shall have no other gods before me.”
This is the first scripture of the Ten Commandments. It reminds us to never put the worship of money before God, but it can sure easily happen with all the materialism we are bombarded with on a daily basis if we are not careful.
5) Exodus 20:15 “You shall not steal.”
This is the 8th of the 10 commandments and is a reminder to be forthright in all our dealings with others and the governing authorities. When you follow this commandment, you never have to worry about what you said or did.
6) Exodus 20:17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
This scripture is the last of the Ten Commandments and reminds us to not envy what others have or support the redistribution of wealth that we have not earned ourselves. Envy is one of the biggest problems people have, and many politicians use their platform for redistribution of wealth to get elected to satisfy this desire of coveting.
7) Matthew 6:25-34 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”
Worrying about things we cannot control is totally unproductive. We need to trust that God has the world in the palm of His hand. It comes down to believing that what we believe is actually real, and trust that God is in control.
8) Luke 16:10 “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.”
This scripture speaks into being trustworthy with the little things. When we are, God allows us to manage more of the big things.
9) Proverbs 15:22 “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.”
10) Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”
11) 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.”
As Christians, we should seek Biblical guidance and Godly counsel for wisely handling all the financial resources God has enabled us to manage and not seek advice from the ungodly.
12) Matthew 22:15-21 “Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. ‘Teacher,’ they said, ‘We know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?’ But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, ‘You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax.’ They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, ‘Whose image is this? And whose inscription?’ ‘Caesar’s,’ they replied. Then he said to them, ‘So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.’”
13) Romans 13:1-2 “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.”
We should pay taxes without complaining, realizing it is God’s provision. We can always pay less taxes by making less income or giving more away. We are commanded to submit to the governing authorities whether we like it or not as long as they are not violating Biblical principles.
14) 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.’”
15) Philippians 2:3-4 “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”
16) 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.”
We are to help others in need when we have the ability to do so with the resources God has allowed us to have.
17) Malachi 3:10-11 “‘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.”
This scripture speaks into giving a tithe or a tenth or more of our income to the church and ministries that honor God and the benefits that follow like blessings and protection. It is the only place in the entire Bible that says we can actually “test God”.
18) 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.”
19) 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.”
This scripture speaks into being wise and saving during the good times so we are ready when the financial storms of life that are inevitable in life hit us. COVID19 and the shutting down of the economy is a great example of this and how many millions of people in America and around the world were not prepared.
20) 1 Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
21) Ephesians 5:11 “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.”
These are several of many scriptures that speak into the awareness of greed and how it can destroy our faith in God.
We apply these scriptures to real life here at Christian Financial Advisors® by having nothing to do with companies or banking institutions that support fruitless deeds of darkness. This is called “Biblically Responsible, Values Based Investing”. Being a firm that stands by biblical principles, we do face some challenges because it can limit us in some ways by being Biblically Responsible since we cannot buy many of the well known, large tech companies that support darkness and anti Christian agendas, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
So there you have it, 21 Stewardship Scriptures for 2021.
