- Work hard
Col 3:23-24 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
One of the biggest steps in creating financial stability is to learn to work hard. I don’t mean physically working hard, but as the Bible says whatever you do, do it will all of your heart. While hard work alone is no guarantee of financial stability lack or of a good work ethic will almost certainly lead to instability.
- Spend less than you make.
Prov 22:7 The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.
If you are in debt you are serving someone else. While the Bible does not specifically prohibit debt, it does warn against it in many ways. We can not live long spending more than we make, we are not congress.
Prov 6:6 Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.
The ant prepares for tough times. We must know that emergencies come up, bad things happen and we need to be able to prepare for them. If we are not spending less than we make we will never be able to prepare for our own emergencies let alone help others with theirs.
- Give generously
Deut 15:10 – Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.
There are so many passages of scripture that call us to give generously that I can’t go into them all here. But we are not called to a specific amount or percent but to give generously, cheerfully, and as you have decided in your heart. If you are reading this then you are incredibly blessed and while the world wants to talk a lot about privilege the Bible does talk about grace and reminds us that as we have been freely given to we should freely give. We should be a people marked by generosity because it is a proof of our faith. (2 Cor 8)