Can We Pursue Both Faith and Financial Independence

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Can We Pursue Both Faith and Financial Independence?

Can you be a Christian and pursue Financial Independence? This is a question that I ask myself all the time, and it is something I have been doing a lot of research on. Do faith and financial independence go together?

I’ve come to the conclusion that YES you can be a follower of Christ and pursue financial independence, and in fact, God gives us a blueprint when it comes to achieving financial freedom.

But we must be careful. Because with everything in life, Financial Independence can easily become an idol. 

Here are a few things we will explore in this article as we take a look at being a Christian and pursuing financial independence

1. God calls us to work.
2. There are various forms of work.
3. Faith and financial independence go together quite well.
4. Financial independence does not allow us to stop depending on God.
5. Check your motivations to reach financial independence.
6. Financial independence is not an excuse to “opt-out” of life.
7. Happiness does not come from more money and possessions.
8. Be careful to not let financial independence become an idol.

Related: The Key To Financial Freedom According to the Bible

God Calls Us to Work

Work is good. Work is not something that came up as a result of the fall. Though the pain and suffering we experience from work may be a result of the fall the actual act of working did not. 

During the creation, God called Adam to work. 

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
Genesis 2:15

And there are many times throughout the Bible where God calls work good and says that our work should glorify him. 

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.
Colossians 3:23

Related: Books About Faith and Work Every Christian Should Read

We Are All Called to Various Forms for Work

We all have a calling from God to do some kind of work. When God calls us to work, he is not strictly talking about getting a day job. Though many of us are called to the business world, a lot of us are called to other areas in life. 

According to the Oxford Dictionary, work is, ‘an activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result.’ It can also be defined as ‘a task or tasks to be undertaken.’

There are so many things that fall under that definition! Taking care of our families, chores, working a day job, and even sharing the Gospel.

I really liked how a guy named Paul put it. These quotes come from a comment he made on an article about financial independence being Biblical or not. Here is one of the two points he made about financial independence.

God does not think of our work as Christians primarily as a 9 to 5 endeavor. We are called to cultivate relationships within our families and churches, to care for the poor and needy, to invest our resources wisely, to give generously, and to cultivate our minds. All of these things constitute important Biblical work. Being able to exchange our 9 to 5 work for other kinds of work may or may not be a bad thing.
– Paul

Faith and Financial Independence Go Together 

There are a few reasons I believe that faith and financial independence go together well. 

Financial independence gives us the freedom to open up our schedules to others. 

This could mean spending more time with friends, family, and loved ones. Or it could mean saying yes to more service activities. Regardless, it is your choice to use the freedom granted you from financial independence for kingdom work. 

Financial independence takes the emphasis off of consumerism and consumption.

The concept of financial independence shines a light on all the areas of our lives that we spend money on that truly don’t matter in the scheme of things. The American culture emphasizes buying more, bigger, and better. Where financial independence flips that and says, you don’t need more, bigger, or better – what you have now is just fine! 

Financial independence allows us to choose what we do with our money. 

Because we are not looking to buy more stuff just to have more stuff, we have the option to give more away. It gives us more freedom to give more to our churches, charities, missions, and the opportunity to be more hospitable with our guests.

Building a value-aligned budget is important in this process of aligning our spending with the things that matter most to us.

Related: Hygge: How the Danish Art of Cozy and Financial Independence Are Similar

All together, financial independence helps us to create good habits that also coincide with how God wants us to be living our lives.

I really enjoy hearing from other Christians and how they are using financial independence to further their reach into God’s calling on their lives. 

Jillian from Montana Money Adventures shares how financial independence has given her and her husband the ability to adopt 4 kids, volunteer often, and give more than ever before. 

And I even love what Wendy from House of FI had to say about faith and financial independence in the comments,

“It gives us the freedom to DO more. To GIVE more. To be emotionally available to LOVE and SERVE more.
– Wendy, House of FI

Related: Over 100 Bible Verses About Money

We Still Need to Rely On God Through Financial Independence

As I mentioned earlier, financial independence can easily become an idol. Having money is not an evil thing. God calls us to be wise with our money and make sound judgments when investing. 

However, the issue comes from loving money and putting it above our relationship with God. 

For the love of money is the root of all evil
1 Timothy 6:10

The blog commenter I mentioned before, Paul, also had a point to make about our dependence on God: 

We always have to remember, whether we have a couple thousand dollars in the bank or a couple million, the Lord is our hope and our security. Money comes and money goes, it is a lousy savior. It cannot protect you from sin and futility. For the Christian, the mindset of humble reliance on God for our daily bread is far more important than whether we have a lot of money or not – and it shouldn’t change if we become wealthier.
– Paul

We need to honor God with our money. God can give and he can take away. So even through the journey towards financial independence, we need to trust him. He doesn’t promise stability in our lives, so even through financial independence, we should not put our full trust in our finances.

Happiness Does Not Come From Money

More money will not bring happiness. Financial independence will not directly bring you happiness either. 

The point of it is to open new doors. To allow us to choose a different path than what society says is the right way. 

Joy comes only from God and serving him. 

Money and material possessions will not bring you eternal happiness. Just read Luke 12, the parable of the rich fool. 

Money is a tool to be used to honor and glorify our creator.

Read these stories on how peoples’ faith has impacted their financial decisions.

Is Financial Independence Selfish? 

This is a question I have struggled with countless times. 

But I’ve come to the conclusion that it depends. HA! 

I know it’s not a hard and fast answer, but it really does depend. So what does it depend on? 

Our hearts. Our motivations. 

Personally, my husband and I are not pursuing financial independence because we’re trying to escape something. We are pursuing it in order to gain something. Our motivations come from a desire to spend more time serving. 

We want to have more time to be able to pursue the things we feel God has called us to. To serve our community, our church, and to be able to spend time with our family, friends, and future children. 

What are your motivations for achieving financial independence? Are they selfish reasons? Are you looking to escape the stresses of the working world? I know that it can be difficult to find fulfillment in our early careers. I hate to be the one to break it to you, but if you “escape” your job, you will only find different stresses elsewhere. 

Financial independence isn’t about money at all. It is about living your best life now. Living that life for God. Not having any restraints holding you back from doing life-giving and Kingdom building activities. 

Financial Independence is Not an Excuse to Stop Working

Once you reach financial independence you have the ability to do what you might be called to do! If God calls you to work at a nonprofit for little to no money, you would be able to say yes to that. Whereas if you didn’t have that freedom it might be more difficult to say yes to.

When trading time for money, it can be difficult to say yes to passion projects and mission work. Though we are called to be missionaries right where we are, financial independence gives us more freedom to go to other places too. 

The point is, that financial independence helps to free up our time. The time that we would instead be devoted to a 9-5 job can now be used in other ways – if that is what God is calling you to.

Financial Independence should not be used as an escape from the stresses of life. But rather as a door to open up new works. 

Be Cautious When Pursuing Financial Independence 

Our faith should be much more important than reaching financial independence. If you are doing something that goes against the Bible in the pursuit of financial independence, you should not do it! 

It is about priorities. God needs to be first and foremost. But that does not mean we should not care about our finances altogether. 

Like anything else in this world, if we place it above God it can become an idol. 

Related: How to Pray for Your Finances

Interested in having more conversations like this?? Join our FREE online community designed for young professionals who are pursuing financial freedom God’s way.

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