Click below to listen to Episode 193 – 14 Characteristics of Financially Successful Christians






14 Characteristics of Financially Successful Christians

Live financially successful by incorporating these Biblical principles into your daily life.

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Are you wanting to pursue financial success without compromising your faith? Are you eager to cultivate Biblical values that enrich your life? In this episode, we’ll explore 14 traits of prosperous Christ followers. It is important to not associate your net worth with your self-worth, because we are so much more than that!

Just a few of the characteristics of financially successful Christians include loving God, being generous, a humble spirit, and seeking wise counsel. These traits are not about chasing wealth, but rather living a life that is focused on loving God and others. God often blesses those who bless others.

HOSTED BY: Bob Barber, CWS^®, CKA^®
CO-HOST: Shawn Peters

Mentioned In This Episode













Christian Financial Advisors



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Bob Barber, CWS^®, CKA^®



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Shawn Peters



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Bible Verses In This Episode






1 TIMOTHY 6:10

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

PROVERBS 21:20

The wise store up choice food and olive oil, but fools gulp theirs down.

PROVERBS 13:11

Dishonest money dwindles away, but whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow.

LUKE 12:16-21

[Parable of the rich man who built bigger barns]

ACTS 20:25

Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again.

PROVERBS 15:22

Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.

MATTHEW 23:12

For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

ACTS 2:42-44

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common.

JOHN 3:21

But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

PROVERBS 10:9

Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.

ECCLESIASTES 4:9-10

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.

PROVERBS 17:17

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.

PROVERBS 22:7

The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.

PROVERBS 23:4

Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness.

COLOSSIANS 3:23

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Shawn:

Pursuing financial success without compromising your faith? Eager to cultivate Biblical values that enrich your life? Well, today we’ll explore 14 traits of prosperous Christ followers. Let’s get some perspective.

Welcome to another episode of Christian Financial Perspectives. My name’s Shawn Peters. I’m joined as always by my co-host and father-in-Law, Bob Barber. And today we’re going to be talking about 14 characteristics of financially successful Christians. So this is going to go a little bit in the face of the fear of missing out on whatever new cryptocurrency just dropped, or “Follow this course and sign up and you’ll be successful.” But since this is a Christian financial show, we are going to be talking about those financial areas as well as supporting these characteristics with scripture. I feel like that’s applicable, right Bob?

Bob:

I think so. We’ve got a scripture for nearly every one of these.

Shawn:

That’s right. We do.

Bob:

14 of them.

Shawn:

That’s right. So our first scripture for you today, 1 Timothy 6:10, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people eager for money have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” Now, Bob, I feel like this is one of the more often misquoted scriptures out of the Bible because you hear so many times, money’s the root of all evil. No, no, no, no. Money is a tool.

Bob:

That’s right.

Shawn:

The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. And really you could insert love of anything other than God if it’s just an object can cause a lot of problems.

Bob:

Well, that’s why in the 10 Commandments it says, be careful of idol worship.

Shawn:

That’s right.

Bob:

Have no other gods before me because people can make money their God. I’ve seen that happen before, Shawn. That’s what it’s really warning us about. Yeah, money’s just a tool like you say.

Shawn:

Alright, we’ll just cut right there and we’re good. It’s a good scripture. Thanks for joining us. So first, love God, seek him, and realize he is the owner, not you. And that’ll definitely make it a little harder to have a love of money if you’re loving God first and know that everything belongs to him in the first place. So Bob, why don’t you get us started out on our first characteristic of financially successful Christians?

Bob:

Well, this is a really novel idea, this first one. By the way, when I developed these, I had no idea it was going to end up being 14 characteristics.

Shawn:

You just started writing.

Bob:

Yeah, that’s what I always do. The Lord lays it on me. Many times, it’s like two o’clock in the morning, so it’s kind of crazy. But this is such a novel idea. Spend less than you earn.

Shawn:

To say this, that our politicians…

Bob:

It’s nearly obnoxious, isn’t it?

Shawn:

Our politicians have never heard of this concept.

Bob:

Yeah.

Shawn:

Because at the end of the year, whatever the budget was for their area, if they didn’t spend it, well they got to quickly spend it because otherwise they won’t get it for next year.

Bob:

Well, you think about this first one, Shawn. It is a characteristic of a financially successful Christian. It’s also a characteristic of pretty much anybody that’s financially successful as they spend less than they earn.

Shawn:

Yep, yep. And what scripture do we have for that one?

Bob:

Proverbs 21:20, “The wise store up choice food and olive oil, but fools gulp theirs down.” They eat it all up, right?

Shawn:

Yep. Yeah. And then some…like our politicians.

Bob:

Hey, we’re picking on our politicians.

Shawn:

I know, but they deserve it.

Bob:

They can’t help it. I was looking on the debt clock. You bring in 5 trillion in a year and they spend like 13 trillion or something. I mean, it’s crazy.

Shawn:

Yeah. Seems like those numbers should be flip flopped.

Bob:

It’s like the government doesn’t have an income problem. They got a spending problem.

Shawn:

That’s right. Exactly. So number two, save and invest wisely. Proverbs 13:11, “Dishonest money dwindles away, but whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow.” If ever there was a scripture to go against the idea of get rich quick schemes, there you go.

Bob:

This does it. Right on it. The third one is I just noticed that financially successful Christians are not caught up in materialism. It’s not about the latest car you’re driving or the biggest house, the bigger house. They don’t get caught up in that. Again, that kind of goes into this first one or two of them. By the way, I was looking at a video the other day about the top 10 most appreciating cars. About 5 of those top 10 were the luxury cars that depreciate 40% and 50% in the first two or three years. It’s just crazy. And that’s an example of getting caught up in materialism thinking I got to have the latest new car that costs $80,000.

Shawn:

I remember a friend of mine a few years back, he was the third owner of this Mercedes car, and I’m not going to name the specific one, but the original owner, the first owner who bought it, it was like 120 something thousand dollars car.

Bob:

Wow.

Shawn:

He was the third owner. This car is only, I think at this point, it was maybe five years old, third owner, five years later, he bought it for like 50k.

Bob:

Yeah, you can save a lot. And I think what goes really good with this scripture of not getting caught up in materialism is the example given to us in the 12th chapter of Luke about the barns. Building. I’m going to go build bigger barns and then I’m going to build bigger barns and bigger barns. I love Ron Blue. I’ve quoted him many times and there’s the old question. He says, “We’ve got to ask and answer in our own mind, ‘How much is enough.'” And I think that really deals with materialism.

Shawn:

It’s kind of a long passage. But Luke 12:16-21 if you want to read that about the parable of the rich man who built bigger barns. Number four, givers both monetarily and physically. Acts 20:25, “Now I know that none of you, among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again.” Now this one, it’s a little confusing. Maybe we should include the couple other verses around it. But this really just comes down to not just giving money, but giving your time, donating your talents. At your church, you can be a very generous giver, but it doesn’t have to necessarily be money.

Bob:

It could be both. I hope it’s both.

Shawn:

Yeah. It should be both. But the point is you also shouldn’t just, oh, you just throw some money at it. But hey, show up and help volunteer for the kids. Volunteer for Sunday school. Lead a group.

Bob:

I know two of our clients, they go to smaller churches, they mow the yard for the church. So you think about that, that’s physically helping out. They get on a riding lawnmower and go for it.

Shawn:

Number five, seeks and takes wise counsel.

Bob:

The part is takes. They seek it out, but they also believe in accepting wise counsel when it’s given to them. They’re humble. They’re not like, “I know it all.”

Shawn:

Yeah. It’s kind of the opposite of, most people have a tendency of giving unsolicited advice.

Bob:

Yeah, that’s true.

Shawn:

But it’s a very different skill to actually take advice and not be prideful or boastful and think, oh, I already know everything. And Bob, from working with people over the years, it’s really common that the more money people have, there is a tendency to get kind of a big head on your shoulders and think, oh, I have all this money and all of a sudden I’m knowledgeable in all areas of life somehow.

Bob:

Well, especially with sudden wealth.

Shawn:

Sudden wealth especially. So just be careful of that. Seek and take wise counsel. None of us know everything.

Bob:

It’s my favorite scripture, you hear me quote it a lot. Proverbs 15:22, “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisors, they succeed.”

Shawn:

That’s right. Amen. Yeah, I love that one. We quote that one very often.

Bob:

Here. We do, we do.

Shawn:

Number six, humble and love the Lord.

Bob:

Yeah, they do.

Shawn:

Matthew 23:12, “For those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Bob:

I don’t think we can add much more to that. Being humble is a great characteristic.

Shawn:

Can’t go wrong.

Bob:

Nope.

Shawn:

Number seven, you want to do number seven?

Bob:

Boy do I see this one. Successfully financial Christians are so loyal to their churches, they’re weekly church goers, and they just, like you say, like we were talking about earlier, they support their church by giving of their time and their talents. And the scripture that goes with this I think is fantastic. You’ve heard this one before, but it’s from Acts 2:42-44, “They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship to the breaking of bread and prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common.” I love my church and I know you love your church too, and it is just so part of that extended family that I think we all need.

Shawn:

That’s right. Number eight, live by a Biblical worldview. Very much believers here of that, so John 3:21, “But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light so that it be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

Bob:

Their truth is in solid ground. It’s in God’s word. It’s the same as a thousand years ago. It’s going to be the same in a thousand years. Truth is not relative, contrary to popular opinion today.

Shawn:

Yeah. The culture and overall technology and things like that might change over time and what happens to be trending right now, obviously changes from day to day and week to week, but people are still people. We’re still created in God’s image and we aren’t going to really see that change anytime soon.

Bob:

Now, this next one, another very, very strong one for successfully financial Christians, they have a very strong moral compass. They’re extremely honest. They’re truthful, they’re loyal. And Proverbs speaks of this in Proverbs in the 10th chapter, in the ninth verse (Proverbs 10:9), it says, “Whoever walks in integrity walks securely.” You never have to be thinking about what you’re saying behind you. If I lied, you always have to be thinking about what you said, right. But if you’re walking security in the Lord and you’re truthful, you never have to worry about covering up your tracks. “But whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.”

Shawn:

Yeah. That’s such a good scripture for the danger of lying.

Bob:

Lies always come out.

Shawn:

Yeah. Remember, let all your words be true, but not all true things should be said, because sometimes you could technically share something that’s true, but it’s not going to build the other person up, and it’s definitely not going to put you in a good light sometimes, but if you do speak, make sure your words are true. What is that? If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.

Bob:

Yeah. Well, it talks about in scripture the tongue being the rudder. You got to be careful about that little tongue getting out.

Shawn:

Number 10, low divorce rate, long-term married or long-term marriage, Ecclesiastes4:9-10, “Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. If either of them falls down, one can help the other up, but pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.”

Bob:

Shawn, Rachel and I are coming on our 40th year of marriage now.

Shawn:

Wow. She’s put up with you for that long? I mean, you guys have been married. That’s such a blessing.

Bob:

Hey, I put up with her ,too. Okay.

Shawn:

That’s true. It goes both ways, but

Bob:

I’ll tell you what, Jesus Christ is the glue that holds us together. You’ve never seen two opposites, so opposite, attract, but her strengths are my weaknesses and vice versa. But you know what happens when there’s a divorce? And I’m not saying we know there are circumstances.

Shawn:

Sure.

Bob:

We are not out here to judge anyone, but divorce just, it breaks all of the assets right in half.

Shawn:

Yeah. This is not a condemnation of course. This is just more of an observation that statistically those that are more successful, especially believers – Christians, that is low divorce rate, long-term marriage – because if you’ve been building assets your entire marriage for 50 years, 40, 50 years, versus maybe it was close to that time, you cut everything in half. It’s a little harder to get successful again because you just lost half of it. So practically speaking. Alright. Number 11, deep roots in their community with long-term friends and family. Proverbs 17:7, “A friend loves at all times and a brother is born for a time of adversity.”

Bob:

I like this. I know you picked that scripture, Shawn. That’s a really good scripture that goes with that. And those roots are so important to set. I can say y’all, my family has been in Texas since 1830. I mean, we got some roots that go way, way back, and those roots really, it’s just something that I know that foundation is there, Shawn, and it means so much to know that.

Shawn:

That’s right. Number 12, debt-free except for possibly a mortgage. Proverbs 22:7. I know we’ve shared this one before on the show, but Proverbs 22:7 says, “The rich rule over the poor and the borrower is slave to the lender.” I think Dave Ramsey would probably agree with that scripture.

Bob:

Absolutely. You got it. Number 13, financially successful Christians, you wouldn’t think this, but they don’t wear themselves out to get rich. That’s number 13. Proverbs 23:4, “Do not wear yourself out to get rich. Do not trust your own cleverness.”

Shawn:

That’s a good one. And our last one, number 14, loyal to their employer’s job and hard workers if they’re not already retired. Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” I mean, that scripture’s pretty plain, right? You’re not working hard because you have to or because your boss is making you, you’re working hard and doing a good job because you’re doing it for the Lord. Whatever you do in this life, you’re doing it for the Lord and you’re representing him on this earth.

Bob:

So there’s 14 of them. And we’re not preaching prosperity theology.

Shawn:

No.

Bob:

No. We’re just saying that these are characteristics that I’ve noticed, and sometimes people go, why can’t I get ahead? Look at these characteristics and set those roots down and live that honest life and get involved in a church in a small group and form those long-term friendships.

Shawn:

Bob, we didn’t have this written in the script, but just going through all 14 of these with you today, it came to my mind that there’s some common themes with this. And like you said, we’re not talking prosperity gospel here or something like that, but notice that all 14 of these traits, they all really point back to loving God, loving other people.

Bob:

They do.

Shawn:

And having a servant mentality. None of this is actually chasing money, chasing wealth, chasing prosperity. It’s taking care of what’s been given to you, putting God first, putting other people first, and so if wealth comes, it wasn’t because you were chasing it. It’s just a byproduct of living in that way, typically.

Bob:

And you don’t live this way to be wealthy.

Shawn:

Yeah. You just live this way. It’s good living as a believer.

Bob:

You do these things and you have these characteristics and follow them. It just kind of happens. Yeah.

Shawn:

That’s more or less all we got for you today. The whole point though of today’s program is Christians that are millionaires, they don’t associate their net worth with their self-worth. I think that’s, if you take away anything from that is whatever your net worth happens to be, that is not what it’s determining your self worth.

Bob:

And that’s why I didn’t call this from millionaires. I said, financially successful Christians, I mean, what is financially successful doesn’t necessarily mean that you have a million dollars or even that you have $500,000 or $300,000 success comes differently to all of us. It doesn’t matter what house you live in, it doesn’t matter what car you drive, but do you love the Lord? Do you love others? And like you say, have that servant and humble mentality.

Shawn:

It’s just a different mindset than the way of the world. Well, that’s all we have for you today. Thank you for joining us. God bless, and hope to see you next time.

[DISCLOSURES]

* Investment advisory services offered through Christian Investment Advisors Inc dba Christian Financial Advisors, a registered investment advisor registered with the SEC. Registration as an investment advisor does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Comments from today’s show are for informational purposes only and not to be considered investment advice or recommendations to buy or sell any company that may have been mentioned or discussed. The opinions expressed are solely those of the hosts, Bob Barber and Shawn Peters, and their guests. Bob and Shawn do not provide tax advice and encourage you to seek guidance from a tax professional. While Christian Financial Advisors believes the information to be accurate and reliable, we do not claim or have responsibility for its completeness, accuracy, or reliability.