Your Finances God's Way: A Biblical Guide to Making the Best Use of Your Money

By Scott LaPierre

“Presents a clear path to financial joy.”
—Mary Hunt, financial expert, speaker, bestselling author, founder of Debt-Proof Living

Nine Kids. One Income. Zero Debt.

Ever since he got married, author and pastor Scott LaPierre has supported his family on a single salary while remaining debt-free. He’s witnessed the stress that accompanies financial insecurity, yet he’s learned firsthand that even those with a limited income can eliminate monetary worries when they abide by biblical principles.

With Your Finances God’s Way, you’ll replace negative spending habits with positive patterns that will set you on the road to financial freedom. Drawing from the Bible’s wisdom on money management, this book provides essential steps backed by proven practices, helping you

• get the most out of your money by paying off debt and building up savings
• make informed spending choices that help you avoid anxiety, regret, and conflict
• enjoy the fruits of managing your money in a way that honors God

Use what God has provided to thrive! Whether you’re young or old, married or single, working or staying at home, Your Finances God’s Way will give you everything you need to be a Christlike steward of the resources you’ve been given.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Harvest House Publishers
• Release date: May 3, 2022
• ISBN: 9780736984010

Scott LaPierre

Scott LaPierre is a senior pastor, author, and popular conference speaker. He holds an MA in biblical studies from Liberty University. Scott and his wife, Katie, live in Washington State, and God has blessed them with nine children. Learn more about Pastor Scott at his website, www.scottlapierre.org, and connect with him on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Stewardship and Faithfulness

Everything belongs to God. Deuteronomy 10:14 says, "Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the LORD your God, also the earth with all that is in it. God said, Every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine (Psalm 50:10-11 ESV). Psalm 89:11 says, The heavens are Yours; the earth also is Yours; the world and all its fullness, You have founded them. First Corinthians 10:26 quotes Psalm 24:1: The earth is the LORD’s, and all its fullness."

Of course, God’s possessions include all the wealth throughout history. This means your money isn’t your money! It’s God’s money. In Haggai 2:8, God said, "The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine." David wanted to build a house (or temple) for God. When he was told he couldn’t, he did everything he could to help his son Solomon make this happen, only stopping short of doing the building himself. David collected the materials, including the silver and gold. After the people gave even more than was needed, David prayed in 1 Chronicles 29:14, 16:

Who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from You, and of Your hand we have given You…O LORD our God, all this abundance that we have prepared to build You a house for Your holy name is from Your hand, and is all Your own.

David understood they were simply giving back to God what He had given them. John 3:27 says, A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. When we understand that all wealth belongs to God, our entire perspective of money changes. We come to view our finances correctly as one big stewardship.

If we understand money is a stewardship, we will be wiser with the money God has given us. We will be less likely to waste it because we understand it is God’s money, versus our own. We will even find it easier to be generous and give it away because we know it is God’s money, versus our own.

ENCOURAGED BY THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS

The apostle Paul said, It is required in stewards that one be found faithful (1 Corinthians 4:2). If you’ve ever put someone in charge of something that belongs to you, you know the one thing you value more than anything else is faithfulness. The parable of the talents gives us the encouragement we need to be faithful.

A talent was the largest denomination of money in the Greco-Roman world, estimated to be worth as much as 6,000 denarii. Because a denarius was one day’s wage, this was approximately 20 years’ worth of work. Although the talents in the parable can represent any of the stewardships in our lives—time, marriage, children, abilities, possessions, positions in life—because Jesus chose a unit of money, this makes the parable particularly applicable to the stewardship of finances.

John MacArthur said this parable illustrates the tragedy of wasted opportunity.¹ Second only to time, there aren’t many things we waste more than money. This parable should inspire us to act otherwise and be faithful stewards:

The kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.

So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them. His lord said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord. He also who had received two talents came and said, Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them. His lord said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord (Matthew 25:14-23).

The man or lord in this parable is Jesus, and the trip to a far country is His return to heaven. So far, a long time has been 2,000 years. The master expects the servants to carry on the work he started; therefore, he gave them talents. The servants are professing believers. I must say professing because it’s clear the third servant is unsaved. The words delivered his goods to them reveal this pictures a stewardship—God entrusts us with His goods that He expects us to use for His service.

The master returned from his journey and wanted to know what the servants did with the talents he gave to them. The first man said, Lord, you delivered to me, showing he understood the talents were entrusted to him rather than earned by him.

GOD JUDGES CHRISTIANS’ STEWARDSHIPS VERSUS THEIR SINS

The master returns and judges the servants, introducing one of the more common questions I receive as a pastor: Will Christians be judged? Yes and no. No, our sins are not judged because they were paid for at the cross. If you’re in Christ, you will never stand before the Great White Throne, which is the terrifying judgment at which unbelievers will learn they will pay for their sins by spending eternity in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15). But even though we won’t find ourselves before the Great White Throne, we will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ to give an account of our stewardship:

•"Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God" (Romans 14:10 ESV).

•"We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil" (2 Corinthians 5:10 ESV).

Paul’s use of the word we shows he’s talking about himself and other believers. The evil we have done is mentioned because even though we won’t be punished for our sins, they can result in loss of rewards: "If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved" (1 Corinthians 3:15). To put it simply, at the end of our lives, our sins will not be judged, but our stewardships will. If we’ve been faithful, we will be rewarded. Keeping this in mind encourages us to be faithful stewards of our finances.

Going back to the parable, because God distributes the talents, we might expect Him to give each person the same amount. Instead, one received five, another two, and the third only one. Likewise, each of us does not receive the same amount of money. This might seem unfair, but there are three ways God creates equity.

First, God Gives What We Can Handle

The first way God creates equity is evident in the words according to his ability. The Lord [knows] all people and [needs] no one to bear witness about man [to Him] (John 2:24-25 ESV). He knows how much to give each person. God does not overestimate or underestimate our abilities:

•The man with much ability was given five talents.

•The man with average ability was given two talents.

•The man with minimal ability was given one talent.

If the man with minimal ability had been given five talents, he would’ve been overwhelmed by the responsibility. Conversely, if the man with much ability had been given only one talent, his potential would’ve been wasted. Instead, God gives everyone exactly what he or she should have because He knows what we can (and can’t) handle.

This is both encouraging and challenging. It’s encouraging in that God does not give us more wealth than we can faithfully steward. It is challenging in that if we are unfaithful, we can’t make the excuse that we would have done better if we had received a different amount.

If nobody receives more than they can handle, this begs some questions: Why do people use the wealth God has given them in ungodly ways? Why do people act like the third servant and squander what God has given them? When people are poor stewards, does that mean God was unwise in the amounts He gave them? Not at all. We are free moral agents who choose to be faithful or unfaithful. This is the main point of the parable. When we are bad stewards, it’s not a reflection of God’s wisdom in distribution. Instead, it is a reflection of our unfaithfulness. When we squander what the Lord has entrusted to us, the blame rests squarely on us. The third servant demonstrated this when he tried to blame God for his results and was rebuked.

Second, God Judges Our Proportion Versus Our Portion

The second way God is equitable is shown in the second servant’s reward. He heard the same words as the first servant: Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord (Matthew 25:23; cf. 25:21). Considering the second servant produced only two talents—less than half of what the first servant produced—we might expect the master to say something different to him, such as, Fair job, mediocre servant. You have been mediocre over few things; I will set you over few things. Enter into the partial joy of your master.

Why would two servants receive the same reward when one servant produced more than twice as much (five versus two) as the other? Our rewards are not based on how much we produce (the portion). Instead, they’re based on our faithfulness (the proportion). Although the first servant’s portion was larger, their proportions were the same. They both doubled what they were given, which means they were equally faithful. The lesson: We’re only responsible for being faithful with the money entrusted to us. No more. No less.

We see this principle in the Old Testament when God commanded giving a tithe (proportion), versus a certain amount (portion), which we will discuss in chapter 7. The application is that God might expect us to give more or less than others (portion). Someone with five talents of wealth might give many times more than someone with two talents or one, but if they’re equally faithful (proportion), they will receive equal rewards.

Jesus communicated the same principle: For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more (Luke 12:48). The Lord expects more from those who have been given more, a fact that should sober people living in first-world countries. The Lord expects less from those who have been given less, which should encourage impoverished people.

Third, God Does Not Compare Us with Others

Again, we encounter encouragement and challenge. The encouragement is we don’t need to compare ourselves. For lack of a better word, we don’t have to worry about being as good as others. The challenge is that we can’t compare ourselves with others. In other words, we can’t say, Well, I’m doing better than him, so I must be doing okay. Should we compare ourselves with others there are only two possible outcomes. Let’s briefly discuss each of them.

The First Danger of Comparing: Discouragement

I’ll use myself as an example. A few of my stewardships are pastor, author, and speaker. The parable challenges me to serve the Lord with the talents He’s given me. At the same time, I’m encouraged regarding God’s expectations. I know that God doesn’t expect me to produce as much as other pastors, authors, and speakers. If I thought I had to be like John MacArthur, Tim Keller, or Paul Tripp, I would be discouraged and feel like a failure. Instead, I’m comforted knowing that even though my ministry doesn’t compare with theirs, I can still equally please the Lord if I am equally faithful.

The Second Danger of Comparing: Pride

Second Corinthians 10:12 says, "We dare not class[ify] ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. Paul said we are unwise to compare ourselves with others because it can lead to pride (commend themselves). We might say things like, I do so much for the Lord—if only others did as much as me." But the standard is faithfulness to what God expects of us, not what others are