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Believers are pulled in opposite directions when it comes to saving. Our culture promotes mixed messages – on the one hand, it’s all about spending without any thought for the future. And on the other hand, financial planners and other experts tout saving for the future, especially in the context of retirement.
Messages from the church are often equally mixed. On the one hand, we (rightfully) warn against the dangers of debt, which provides a motivation for saving. But on the other hand, we caution against saving too much, because we don’t want our people to get carried away by the deceitfulness of wealth.
As usual when it comes to stewardship, Scripture teaches us a balance. It’s wise to save, but sinful to hoard – that is, to over-save to the end of living a self-centered “retirement” lifestyle. Consuming all we have is foolish, but so is hoarding at the expense of generosity.
Wise savers recognize that saved resources – like all resources – belong to God. They save not just for their own needs, but in order to prepare for future generosity. Whereas the rich fool in Jesus’ parable saved only to support a self-indulgent lifestyle, wise savers set aside resources to be used by God when opportunities arise.
Wise saving includes key short-term goals like an emergency savings fund and a safety net for handling larger crises like a job loss. And it includes long-term saving goals like retirement, children’s college and wedding expenses, and others. Wise savers discipline themselves to live on less than their full income in order to free up money for saving.
Join us as host James Lenhoff leads us down the path of saving with wisdom. James offers key principles to guide our own saving and to pass on to other believers as they pursue faithful stewardship.