The ONE book on wealth...📖
David LeBlanc- 3 days ago
- 9 min read
What if I told you that one of the oldest and most influential books ever written holds the secrets to true wealth?
It's The Bible.
"The Bible mentions money over 2,000 times—more than prayer or faith. That tells us something: how we handle money matters deeply. In this article, we’ll explore some of the most powerful verses about money and what they reveal about God’s design for financial stewardship. From avoiding debt (Proverbs 22:7) to giving generously (2 Corinthians 9:7), these Scriptures offer a roadmap to managing our finances in a way that honors God and blesses others."
Did you know that it contains not just spiritual but also actual tangible and practical wealth-building strategies and methods? Whether you believe in The Bible or not, many of these principles I believe are foundational and transcend any religion more as human qualities and guide-posts for how we live.
As someone who's read countless books and literature about investing and wealth, what I've discovered is that many of them employ the same principles used in The Bible. It is bursting with info on building wealth, managing resources and securing your family's future for generations. These principles have passed the greatest financial test of them all - time. These timeless principles and methods have survived thousands of years and are still very relevant and used today.
Money is not the root of all evil. It's the love of it.
ELEVEN PRINCIPLES OF WEALTH FOUND IN THE BIBLE
1. WORK
Genesis 2:15 "The Lord God took the Man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
Right out of the gate in Genesis, the Bible talks about work. It is a foundational aspect of human purpose and dignity, even before the introduction of human sin. Work allows us to feel a sense of self worth and confidence; and to have purpose in our lives towards building and achieving something tangible and spiritual. We as people are meant to have dominion over the Earth and thus work the land, sea and air and take care of it - not just to leave it alone. The value and virtue of work. Embrace the value of work and use our skills to improve the lives of others and the Earth.
2. BUILDING WEALTH
Deuteronomy 8:18 "But remember the Lord your God, for it is He gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which He swore to your ancestors as it is today."
While we are working and taking care of the Earth, we are building wealth. Today, we tend to see wealth as a bad thing - being greedy and having too much power for example. Wealth is actually a gift from God as a reward for doing good work. The divine skills you received from God which you use to work builds wealth. Many people who don't understand the gift they've been given too often waste their wealth selfish and foolish things (i.e. (vacations, cars, boats, jewelry, etc.) and lose it. It's not until this happens that they begin to understand and appreciate that divine gift and have to start over. These gifts are not to be squandered but cultivated and shared with others in order to grow again.
3. STRIVE FOR EXCELLENCE
Proverbs 22:29 "Do you see someone skilled in their work? They will serve before kings; they will not serve before obscure men."
So we are using our skills to work and building wealth. Many people tend to strive or rather settle for the average, do what others are doing, and don't really move the bar higher. Why not stand out and above your competition? Why not be the premium and excellent service compared to others? Just don't be normal or the same as everyone else. Compete at the top, not at the average. We've been given gifts, working hard, and cultivating our skills so why not strive for excellence in everything we do? Having highly-developed skills can elevate your standing. Wealth is a by-product of having skills and relationships. Seek to improve in your own life and business.
4. PROVIDE FOR YOUR FAMILY
Timothy 5:8 "Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever".
Most of us in Canada likely grew us middle-class it's likely that our parents didn't/couldn't always provide everything we wanted but usually everything we needed. Many of us were fortunate enough grow up in a nice environment with enough food, love, care, security and fun. As adults, we likely transferred the values we saw of our parents of hard work, sacrifice, frugality, savings vs spending, caring for others and community, and being grateful for what and who we have in our lives.
Providing for one's family is a fundamental responsibility that reflects our own faith and integrity. Providing for your family really means that you're prioritizing your wealth to make sure that you have your household in order and cared for with enough savings, insurances, retirement needs making sure that our family has what they need today and into the future.
5. BUDGET AND FINANCIAL DISCIPLINE
Proverbs 21:20 "Precious treasure and oil are in a wise man's dwelling, but a foolish man devours them."
A wise man look ahead by storing up those items that are needed for survival and thriving. Some of us may have made lots of money really quickly and lost it just as fast. Maybe we started a business that crushed it then another that got crushed. Lessons of financial discipline are sometimes learned from books but often experienced during life. Many learn the hard way to build budgeting and financial discipline into their personal and business lives to build and protect their wealth today and for the future.
What could this look like? Owning real assets (e.g. real estate, physical precious metals), having strong cash flow, regular savings and investing, spending less than you earn. Budgeting, planning and saving are timeless resource management techniques that can keep your flock healthy for many years as the shepherd. Having the discipline to implement and stick to them can weather storms, disease and predators over time to help maintain and build your family's wealth. They're the hallmark of wisdom.
6. BE CAUTIOUS OF DEBT
Proverbs 22:7 "The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is a slave to the lender."
In The Bible, it says debt is a form of slavery. In modern times and because our fiat currency, debt is a different beast compared to Biblical times. Today, having debt is normal for just about everyone such as a mortgage, car loan, line of credit, credit cards, student loan, etc. It is woven into the fabric of our financial system and a symptom of fiat currency. Our financial system is designed to make and keep us in economic slavery with debt, interest rates, inflation, and fiat dollars. With all of these different kinds of debt, using your well-developed skills to work can be severely compromised towards building wealth for yourself and family but is done for someone else. Debt in our modern world is a necessary evil so use it wisely.
For example, there's nothing wrong with using your low-interest line of credit for a winter trip South knowing you have a plan and the discipline to pay it off quickly. There is "good debt" used for building wealth such as as using a loan to buy an asset such as a real estate or a rental property. However, needless and unchecked spending using high-interest credit cards can keep you a slave to the lender. Be careful and cautious so you are not the slave to the lender..
7. INVESTING FOR GROWTH
Matthew 25: The Parade of the Talents.
There's a Biblical story involving using your talents to generate more. The Master went away but before doing so he entrusted each of his three servants with 5 talents. Two went away brought back even more. One dug a hole and stored them in the ground to preserve them. When the Master returned, he praised the first two who returned even more and rewarded them, and banished third as evil for not reaping what he had sowed.
This Biblical principle is about using our talents to generate more. There is a difference between having a "wealthy" and "poor" mentality. Someone with a "poor" mentality approaches things in life as an expense, they have to spend money...ugh. A glass half empty attitude. A "wealthy" mindset approaches life as an investment - investing my money, investing my time. Spending wisely is not an expense rather an investment. They know they will get more back in return be it time, money, satisfaction, etc. The trick is how can we invest wisely (time, money, energy) to get more back and build wealth. Low risk - high return. The shepherd invested in good feed for his flock, invested in more pasture land so his flock could multiply and flourish, invested in more labour to build wealth for this family and community, invested in himself so he could be an excellent shepherd and pass his skills, knowledge and wisdom to his children. Investing vs spending mentality. Investing for growth.
8. ACTIVE INVESTMENT STRATEGY
Proverbs 4:15 "The simple believe anything, but the prudent give thought to their steps."
Too many people these days don't think. There is too much YOLO and FOMO and just about anything can be had at a drop of a hat. Too many decisions, resulting in bad ones, based on impulse without any thoughtful strategy. In our personal and business lives, we need to be actively managing. This means applying and honing our skills, managing our resources, looking at work as a virtue, and budgetIng and having financial discipline towards a goal which has been well thought out.
9. GENERATIONAL WEALTH
Proverbs 12:22 "A good person leaves an inheritance for their children's children, but a sinner's wealth is stored up for the righteous."
It's usually only until we start getting older when we start to reflect on our legacy and what and how we may leave to our children. Practical methods such as trusts and insurance can help protect and preserve wealth, for example from excess or needless taxation, to help protect and flow wealth to the next generation and hopefully onward.
Some people today have a different notion of not wanting to leave an inherence for their children as they fear it will be squandered. They are going to spend every last dime as they've worked hard for their money and deserve to enjoy it. This is almost a Marxist-Communist mentality which treats building and leaving wealth as a bad thing and only perpetuates keeping the next generation poor, and dependent on the State.
This goes against Biblical principles. It's not the money that's going to ruin your kids. It's not having taught them the Biblical values and principles around money, and all of the above above principles, in the first place. The Bible supports the idea of building wealth, taking care of your family, and having assets which survive you and transferred to the next generation.
10. HAVING TANGIBLE ASSETS
Proverbs 19:14 "House and wealth are inherited from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the Lord."
This builds on the previous principle of generational wealth. In today's financial system, our fiat dollar system is designed to steal future value of our wealth with inflation and debt (payable in the future). What's more practical and "wealhful" are those assets that we accumulate and build during our lifetime such as real estate, precious metals, etc. These are not only proof of your skilled work in this world but also tangible assets that can stand the test of time and be transferred to the next generation.
Just imagine if we never needed to buy a home and shackled with a 20 year mortgage? What if we inherited our parent's (family) home and kept it in good repair for generations. Our family for generations would be better off just from this. The goal is to earn fiat currency and convert it into tangible assets such as real estate, gold and silver, art, etc. The son/daughter of a shepherd rarely needed to start his/her own flock from nothing but inherited the skills, wisdom and flock of his father/mother.
Fiat dollars > assets > pass along to our children
11. GENEROSITY
Malachi 3:10 "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. test me in this, says the Lord, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of Heaven and pour out
so much blessing that there will not be rom enough to store it."
You receive more in return when you give to others. Generosity is seen as the ultimate purpose of wealth. It's not to store it for ourselves but to share it with others. The first goal is to have enough wealth so we can take care of ourselves and family in order that we can help and be generous to others. It's difficult to be generous when we don't have enough in the first place to share. When we use our gifts of skills and develop them in work and receive and build wealth, we can use this bounty for the betterment of ourselves and others.
Build your wealth in ounces.
To your financial health 🥂
David
Precious Metals Coach & Money Mindset Mentor "Real Money for WE The People"
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