Jesus ends the Sermon on the Mount with a familiar picture: two men building two houses. One builds on rock. The other builds on sand. When the storms come, only one house remains standing.
The difference isn’t the weather. Both houses face the storm. The difference is the foundation.
That picture from Matthew 7 offers a helpful way to think about our financial lives. Job losses, medical expenses, market declines, and unexpected bills eventually test every household. The question is whether our financial lives are built on something strong enough to withstand them.
John Cortines, a Family Office Advisor with Blue Trust and co-author of God and Money and True Riches, offers a helpful framework: Think of your financial life as a house. Christ is the foundation. Gratitude, contentment, trust, and love form the walls. Our identity as stewards serves as the roof. And wise financial practices furnish the rooms.
The Foundation: Christ, Not Money
Every house begins with a foundation, and the Christian financial life begins with Christ.
Jesus taught that we cannot serve both God and money. So before we ask how much to save, spend, invest, or give, we have to settle a more fundamental question: What—or whom—are we trusting?
1 Timothy 6 warns against placing our hope in wealth. Money is useful, but it was never designed to carry the weight of our security or identity.
Instead, biblical stewardship begins by recognizing that everything ultimately belongs to God. Haggai 2:8 reminds us that the silver and gold are His. What we possess has been entrusted to us temporarily.
That changes the way we approach money. Rather than asking, “What do I want to do with my money?” a steward begins asking, “What is the next faithful decision with what God has entrusted to me?”
Money moves from being our master to becoming a tool we manage for God’s purposes.
The First Wall: Gratitude
Once the foundation is in place, the first wall is gratitude. Gratitude protects us from one of wealth’s most subtle dangers: pride.
Pride says, I earned this. I deserve this. Look at what I’ve accomplished. Gratitude answers, God provided this.
Deuteronomy 8:18 warns God’s people not to forget that He is the One who gives them the ability to produce wealth. Our abilities, opportunities, relationships, education, health, and circumstances are all gifts we did not create for ourselves.
That doesn’t diminish the value of hard work. It simply puts our work in its proper place.
A grateful steward can work diligently without believing everything depends on personal achievement. Gratitude opens our hands because it reminds us that every good thing ultimately comes from God.
The Second Wall: Contentment
The second wall is contentment, which guards us from coveting and comparison.
Our culture constantly invites us to look sideways. Someone always seems to have a nicer home, a newer vehicle, a larger portfolio, or a more comfortable lifestyle.
The result can be a restless appetite for more. But biblical contentment allows us to experience peace in seasons of abundance and in seasons when resources are limited.
In Philippians 4:12-13, Paul explains that he learned the secret of being content whether he had plenty or was in need. His famous statement, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me,” comes in the context of learning contentment through Christ.
Contentment does not mean we stop planning, working, or pursuing worthwhile goals. It means our peace is no longer waiting on the next financial milestone.
We don’t have to keep telling ourselves, I’ll finally be satisfied when I get there or when I have that. In Christ, we can receive today’s provision with gratitude while faithfully preparing for tomorrow.
The Third Wall: Trust
The third wall is trust.
Financial anxiety often grows from the assumption that our future rests entirely on us.
Am I saving enough? What if something happens? Will there be enough for retirement? What if the economy changes?
Wise stewardship certainly includes preparation. But preparation can quietly turn into self-reliance if we begin believing our savings account is ultimately responsible for keeping us safe.
In Luke 12, Jesus reminds His followers that the Father knows what they need. That frees us to seek His Kingdom first rather than allowing fear about tomorrow to dominate today.
Our deepest security goes even further. For the Christian, our ultimate hope is not that we will avoid every financial problem. Our hope is in Christ, His victory over death, and the eternal future He has secured for His people.
That perspective doesn’t eliminate wise financial planning. It puts planning in its proper place. We prepare faithfully while trusting God completely.
The Fourth Wall: Love
The fourth wall may be the one we least often associate with money: love.
It is easy for financial planning to become entirely inward-facing. We think about our budget, our goals, our retirement, and our future without considering how God may want to use what He has entrusted to us for the good of others.
But Christian stewardship is shaped by Christ’s love. 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 point us to Jesus, who gave Himself generously for us. Our generosity toward others becomes a response to the generosity we have first received from Him.
As we grow spiritually, we begin asking not merely, How much can I keep? but, How can what God has entrusted to me become an expression of love?
That may mean financial generosity, hospitality, using our abilities to serve someone, supporting the local church, or simply noticing a need we might otherwise have ignored.
Money becomes one more way to love God and love our neighbor.
The Roof: Your Identity as a Steward
Resting on those four walls is the roof: our financial identity.
There are two unhealthy extremes. The first is ownership: It’s mine. I earned it. I’ll do whatever I want with it. The second is helplessness: Nothing I do matters. I’ll never get ahead. Life just happens to me.
Stewardship offers another way. A steward says, “Everything belongs to God, and I am responsible for faithfully managing what He has entrusted to me.”
That perspective brings both responsibility and freedom.
We take our decisions seriously because stewardship matters. But we also recognize that we are not the ultimate owners or providers. God is. Our task is faithfulness.
Furnishing the House With Wise Financial Practices
Only after the foundation, walls, and roof are secure do we begin furnishing the house.
These furnishings represent the everyday financial habits Scripture commends: working diligently, spending purposefully, handling debt carefully, saving steadily for future needs, investing patiently and wisely, practicing generosity, and showing hospitality.
These practical decisions matter. But they work best when they flow from the right heart.
Otherwise, we can follow every financial rule and still be driven by pride, comparison, fear, or selfishness.
That’s why biblical financial wisdom goes deeper than behavior. God is interested not only in what we do with money but in what is happening in our hearts while we do it.
Four Questions Before Your Next Financial Decision
This financial-house framework can become a practical tool whenever you face an important money decision. Before making a major purchase, investment, career move, or other financial choice, prayerfully ask:
- Am I approaching this from pride or gratitude?
- Am I being driven by coveting or contentment?
- Am I responding from anxiety or trust?
- Am I acting with indifference or love?
Those questions can expose motivations that a spreadsheet never will.
Sometimes they may lead us away from something we originally wanted. Other times, they may give us greater freedom to move forward.
Either way, they help us consider not merely whether we can make a financial decision, but whether that decision fits the kind of steward God is shaping us to become.
Build From the Inside Out
It’s tempting to begin our financial lives with tactics: budgets, investments, debt repayment plans, and retirement accounts.
Those things are important. But Scripture invites us to start deeper.
Build your foundation on Christ. Strengthen your life with gratitude, contentment, trust, and love. Remember that your identity is not owner but steward. Then let wise financial practices flow from those convictions.
Storms will come. Jesus never suggested otherwise. But a financial life built on the Rock has something stronger than money holding it together.
On Today’s Program, Rob Answers Listener Questions:
- I have a 3% mortgage on about $300,000 and keep seeing ads promoting simple-interest home loans. Would it make sense to convert my current mortgage, or consider a simple-interest loan when we move in a few years?
- My husband and I are considering living off our savings for a year while I attend an accelerated nursing program at full out-of-state tuition. We live very frugally and have built up substantial savings. Does using that money to fund my schooling make financial sense?
Resources Mentioned:
Remember, you can call in to ask your questions every weekday at (800) 525-7000. Faith & Finance is also available on Moody Radio Network and American Family Radio. You can also visit FaithFi.com to connect with our online community and partner with us as we help more people live as faithful stewards of God’s resources.
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