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What Does A Christian Money Coach Do?
(Top 3 Priorities of a Christian Money Coach)

You are a follower of Christ who would love to help other believers apply their faith to their financial decisions – what an extraordinary calling! But what exactly does a Christian money coach do? 

I’ve officially been a faith-based money coach for almost 3 full years now. It has been a difficult yet wildly rewarding journey to have the privilege of helping individuals learn how to manage their money with excellence for the glory of God. In this article, I’ll share what I believe to be the top 3 priorities of a Christian money coach. 

What is a Money Coach? 

Being a money or financial coach is different from being an advisor or planner. According to BetterUp.com, a financial coach is a person who is trained (and trusted) to look at your finances and identify opportunities to better manage your money. Instead of making decisions for you, they’ll focus more on teaching you money management skills to help you become more confident in reaching your financial goals

What Does a Christian Money Coach Do?

At the core of things, a Christian money coach helps others discover and pursue God’s design for their money. As a Christian money coach, you will help your clients with everything that a traditional money coach does, but from the perspective that this money we have is not our own. We are called to be stewards of the money we have been entrusted with. 

This can be fulfilled in a variety of different ways including simply working with friends and family members to help them in their financial journeys or building out a full-fledged coaching program to help many clients. 

A Christian money coach first and foremost educates others on how the Gospel should transform and impact the way that we all manage our finances. This is what being a good financial steward is all about. Let’s examine the top 3 priorities you would have as a Christian money coach. 

Top 3 Priorities of a Christian Money Coach

Stay Well Educated

In order to coach and mentor other individuals with their finances, it is important to become well-versed in a variety of coaching techniques as well as general money management. You may already be someone who knows a good deal more than your peers and family members when it comes to personal finances, but it is vital to continue to educate yourself because there is always something new to be learned. 

Be sure to understand what the Bible says about money and how to apply this practice with your clients. You definitely do not need to be a leading expert in theology or finances to be a good money coach, but you do need to at least go into your practice with more than just a general understanding.

Once you begin coaching clients, do not stop educating yourself! I recommend keeping a running list of resources that you can tap into as you begin to meet with clients. 

Education Resources

I highly recommend beginning your education with some faith and money books. Here are 3 to get started with: 

• Redeeming Money by Paul D. Tripp
• The Money Challenge by Art Rainer
• Your Finances God’s Way by Scott LaPierre

After you have gone through a number of different books, it may be a great idea to solidify your knowledge by getting a certification. I highly recommend checking out the Christian Financial Counselor Certification offered by the Institute for Christian Financial Health. 

Guide Clients Spiritually

The Bible has many lessons about finances, and one of the primary responsibilities you will have as a Christian money coach is to help guide your clients spiritually. To be a good spiritual mentor you do not need a seminary degree. 

I recommend beginning your sessions in prayer to help set the tone and focus for your time together. As you get to know your client, listen for what message they are sharing with you beyond the words they are saying. When it comes to financial struggles, it very rarely happens to be a money problem. 

Help your client to understand the person behind the money. Paul D. Tripp explains in his book Redeeming Money that we have 4 money identities: 

1: Creature – we are created by God for God and therefore our purpose and the purpose behind our finances is to glorify the one who created us. 

2: Sinner – we are broken and as a default, we often do not do what we are created for. Our problem with money is first and foremost a moral problem rooted in and driven by sin. 

3: Sufferer – we have all suffered from something whether from poverty, poor financial education, or physical sickness, your suffering causes you to doubt God’s goodness and promises to provide. We can be tempted to try to take matters into our own hands rather than trust God. 

4: Saint – a saint is someone who has been rescued, redeemed, and forgiven. We are being restored by the grace of God. Saints aren’t perfect, but those who are being redeemed. 

You as a Christian money coach need to give financial guidance that aligns with scripture and help your client understand that their financial health journey needs to start with God because He is the only one to offer the kind of rescuing and redeeming transformation that is necessary to change their situation. 

Money problems begin in the heart so transformation needs to begin within the heart. Guiding your clients spiritually will help them do just that. 

Teach Clients Practically

After your clients have a strong understanding of how the Gospel transforms the way they view and use their money, you need to teach them how to practically apply this to their personal finances. 

There is absolutely no one-size-fits-all when it comes to money management. In fact, it is extremely crucial that in your education process you become well knowledged about the different ways to manage money. 

For example, many of my clients enjoy using budget spreadsheets in Google sheets, however, I still have a handful of clients that really don’t enjoy using spreadsheets. It is my job to help them find a solution that works best for their preferences. If I were to force them to use spreadsheets to budget, they may never get past the mental disdain they have towards spreadsheets and will struggle to continue their budget further than a couple of months. 

Your job is to not fit them into the money management process that worked for you because their situation will be different. Their relationship to money, their family history, their current financial state, and their unique calling from God will vary from client to client. Therefore, what worked for you, what is working for others, and what will work for them will most likely be different. 

Some practical lessons to teach your client: 

• Setting good financial goals
• How to create a budget to reach those goals & aligns with their values
• Debt payoff strategies 
• Importance of saving and planning for the future
• How to eliminate spending that doesn’t align with values & goals

There are many more things you will want to teach your client and it will also depend on their personal financial situation. 

Conclusion

Becoming a Christian money coach can be a tough process, but it is well worth it. It has been such a pleasure to help so many young professionals learn how to align their finances with their calling and to truly get on a path of glorifying God and doing good for the world around them. If this is a journey you have been called to take as well, I would be honored and delighted to hear from you! Please feel free to email me and I would love to jump on a phone call with you. 

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