Is Life Insurance Christian?

[Edward Smoth]

In the Bible it says that your life is pre-planned and that the number of days is already known by god. Isn't having life insurance possibly in some way going against that principle.

I've been told by my wife for years that we need life insurance to protect her and our four children, but this has kind of held me up.

[tim_v]

Wouldn't that logic apply to any insurance or planning for the future?

Just because God knows how long you will live doesn't mean you shouldn't set money aside to provide for your family in case you die while they are depending on you.

[DerrikCFP]

I agree with Tim. God's foreknowledge of events is not mutually exclusive with proper planning...just ask the Christian widows that I work with whose husbands did not have enough life insurance.

[clydewolf]

Edward Smoth,

Today while you are still on this earth, do you know what money is available for your family to spend?

What would your family have available to use to meet their needs if you were called home tomorrow?

Do you expect the Christian Community to come together and supply all of your family's needs?

[James]

Life insurance is designed to protect your family and other people who may depend on you for financial support. If you die and lose your income, the people that are dependent on your financial support will lose that income, so life insurance can help cover some or all of that loss depending on the policy you choose. But there are instances where life insurance can be beneficial even whether or not you have dependants, such as covering your debts or funeral expenses.
Christians, however, often ask: “Is insurance scriptural?” and “Does owning insurance reflect a lack of faith?” Well, yes and no.
Although not specifically defined in Scripture; the principle of future provision is. Owning insurance does not necessarily reflect a lack of faith in God, though it is increasingly being used as a substitute for faith in God's provision.
Insurance is neither good nor bad moral nor immoral. It is, quite simply, a tool that can be used wisely as an asset to Christians and their families, or it can be used unwisely to transfer trust from God to insurance. God's Word teaches provision, not protection.
Insurance can be used to provide when a potential loss would be excessive. “A prudent man sees evil and hides himself, the naïve proceed and pay the penalty” (Proverbs 27:12).
If the family's primary wage earner has so much insurance that the family would be better off, financially speaking, after his or her death, the insurance was purchased for protection, which is not biblical.
Life insurance needs will vary as family financial goals, needs, and resources change. Nevertheless, a wage earner should have enough life insurance to replace the financial value that he or she provides to the people who are dependent on him or her.
Insurance should take no more than 5 percent of families' Net Spendable Income (Gross Income minus tithe and taxes). The 5 percent figure does not include house insurance or automobile insurance and assumes that the family has group health insurance with the primary wage earner's employer.
If the husband is the family's primary wage earner and he has an adequate amount of life insurance, any surplus funds may be used to insure the wife at two times the annual salary of the primary wage earner in order to provide funds for the cost of her burial. Unless a family has enough money in savings to cover the funeral costs, such an expense could place them in financial bondage. In addition, coverage on the wife could provide extra funds to give the husband a time of readjustment and to care for the children until he could find a caretaker for them.
However, if a family depends on the wife's salary, she probably needs to be insured. The amount of insurance coverage she will need is much like that of the primary family wage earner: at least five times her annual salary or the financial amount that she contributes to the family.
Concerning the need to insure children, there are two logical reasons to have insurance on children: to cover burial expenses and to guarantee that they will be insurable in later years. Any amount over this minimum is unnecessary.
Conclusion
God said that we are to be responsible for our families, even in the event of our untimely death.
The fact that we do not know exactly when we are going to die and that we may not have the economic resources to provide for our families after death is good reason for buying life insurance adequate to provide for the family in case of death.
Christian financial planning includes being prepared. Proverbs 6:6-8 encourages the reader to:
Go to the ant, O sluggard, observe her ways and be wise, which, having no chief, officer, or ruler, prepares her food in the summer and gathers her provision in the harvest.
We see throughout Scripture the obligation of the Christian to provide for others out of love and reverence for God.
But if any provide not, for his own, and especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. 1 Timothy 5:8
Please visit http://blog.DynamicLifeEnterprises.com and let me know what you think of our new site

[Daniel]

Hi,
Only God knows how long you will live doesn't mean you shouldn't set money aside to provide for your family in case you die while they are depending on you.

[johnmathews]

I think that's not the case. Life Insurance is basically to save your earnings to provide it to your family when your are gone. I think its a Out of context thinking.

[silverstang281]

In 1 Timothy chapter 5 Paul addresses the care of widows, elders, and slaves. Verse 8 states: "Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever."

Ideally the Christian community will always come together and take care of one another. Sometimes they aren't always able to do this in the most effective way though. Insurance by definition is "pooling risk." It is the most efficient way to share risk with others.

I agree that this is out of context. I am in the industry and have never heard this objection from pastors or leaders in the church.

Hope this helps!

[Jonathan K]

In the Bible it says that your life is pre-planned and that the number of days is already known by god. Isn't having life insurance possibly in some way going against that principle.

I've been told by my wife for years that we need life insurance to protect her and our four children, but this has kind of held me up. - Edward Smoth

The verse I believe Edward Smoth is referencing is Psalm 139:16. Here is that section (Psalm 139:13-18) of this Psalm in context.

For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you. Psalm 139:13-18

The context of this verse is that God is the Maker. He appoints the time of our our birth and our death. This does not give us leave to be irresponsible with taking care of our family.

God said that we are to be responsible for our families, even in the event of our untimely death.

The fact that we do not know exactly when we are going to die and that we may not have the economic resources to provide for our families after death is good reason for buying life insurance adequate to provide for the family in case of death. - James

This is true.

God said that we are to be responsible for our families, even in the event of our untimely death.
The fact that we do not know exactly when we are going to die and that we may not have the economic resources to provide for our families after death is good reason for buying life insurance adequate to provide for the family in case of death. - Silverstang

That is a great verse Silverstang. Life insurance is basically for the benefit of your wife and children. Usually you can get term life insurance for relatively cheap ($10-20). I am married but we have no children. I have cheap monthly payments for term life insurance that will take care of costs for a burial and put my wife in a situation where she can look for work (and not have to have something immediate) for a time in the event of my death.

[ProtectorRoss]

There seems to be a misconception about Christian's having life insurance. Life insurance is not designed to prevent death as some people seem to believe. Life insurance helps your family prepare for your death. Did you realize that in 2006 the average cost of a funeral in the US costs over $6,000?

Can your family afford for you to die without life insurance? I know that I don't have $12,000 lying around to pay for funerals if my parents were to pass away without it. Now, what kind of insurance do you need? I think that Term Life Insurance is the best kind.