“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.” – Matthew 7:24-25
The health of the body and spirit all begin with strong foundations. The foundation of physical health is proper diet and exercise. The foundation of spiritual health is the love of God. Examples of both abound in The Bible, but just as we are called upon to make the right choices that will assure us of a good spiritual future we must also be responsible for
making choices that assure our financial future.
I believe that there are several basic principles of a strong financial foundation, they are easily understood but not often applied. The Principles are:
- Be industrious
- Spend less than you earn
- Save and invest
- Increase your ability to earn
While researching, I wondered who was the best model of financial independence and how would they build a firm financial foundation. I asked myself which person in The Bible; best espoused financial freedom and showed how to apply basic principles to cope with economic challenges. The Bible provided many choices and most of them were
males but to illustrate the point I chose “The Virtuous Woman” of Proverbs 31. Why?
- Industry
“Get Up and Go, Hustle,Moxey”, whatever you wish to call it she demonstrates that she has it. Verse 13 states, “She selects wooland flax and works with eager hands”. Verse 24 goes on to say, “She makes linen garments and sells them and supplies the merchants with sashes”. As we all know thinking up new ways to spend money is easy, but thinking up new ways to earn money is not. - Save and Invest
Verse 16, “She goes to a field and buys.” Real estate should be a part of your investment portfolio, but when, where and why to buy requires lots of thought. From making garments (Verse 24) to buying property is a bold step forward. Notice however that she does not entrust the responsibility of inspecting the property to anyone else. She goes herself. - Increase your ability to earn
Verse 16 continues by saying, “With her earnings she plants a vineyard” As the vines begin to bear fruit, her investment of time and energy will be rewarded. - Spending less than you earn
While nothing in this passage speaks directly to controlling expenditure, ask yourselves, would it be possible for her to do all that she had done if she did not save her money and control her expenses?
In the last ten years we have seen the best and the worst in the field of finance. We have heard theories, explanations and excuses as to why we are where we are, but the path to personal financial independence is as old as the book of Proverbs.
This recession has brought hardship to many but it has also been a lesson in why we should stick with simple timeless financial strategies and build strong financial foundations.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Nice article. I’d add one principle to your list: Give on a regular basis, support a charity or person in need. Giving should be a part of our financial foundation; it should be one of the spiritual disciplines we practice.
I’ve been thinking about that Proverbs 31 lady lately & I’m going to put a link to this article on my blog. I want to embody those four points you mentioned. Trying to head there one day at a time.