Most of us have a verse we are very comfortable with when it comes to money. “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” “My God shall supply all your need.” We put them on fridge magnets and in birthday cards. And then there are the verses we quietly step around, usually at about eleven o’clock at night, sitting at the kitchen table with a calculator, the light bill, the water bill and a mortgage statement we have not quite had the courage to open.
Saint Augustine is often quoted as warning that if we believe only the parts of the Gospel we like, it is not the Gospel we believe, but ourselves. It is an uncomfortable thought for anyone who has ever recited Matthew 6 on Sunday and lain awake on Monday.
The passage we know by heart
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?” (Matthew 6:25, NIV)
Jesus goes on to talk about birds that do not store food in barns and lilies that do not spin. Then He asks a question that every household budget ought to hear: “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (Matthew 6:27, NIV).
We know the answer. Worry has never paid a bill. It has, however, cost many of us a great deal of sleep, several arguments with our spouses and more than a few headaches.
Is budgeting a lack of faith?
Some Christians hear this passage and conclude that any planning is unspiritual. That is not what Jesus meant. Elsewhere He praises the builder who counts the cost before starting a tower (Luke 14:28). Proverbs commends the ant that gathers in summer. Joseph stored grain in the good years so that Egypt could eat in the bad ones. Scripture is full of careful, practical people.
The difference is not between planning and trusting. It is between planning with an open hand and planning with a clenched fist. A budget can be an act of faith: here is what we have been given, here is how we will steward it. Worry is something else. It is the replaying of numbers that will not change, the imagined disasters, the sense that everything depends on us and we are failing.
What worry does in a house
Money worry rarely stays in one person’s head. It leaks into the whole home. Children notice when parents go quiet at the sound of a bill notification. Couples snap at each other over a grocery receipt. Hospitality shrinks; we stop inviting people round because we feel we cannot afford to feed them. We become more guarded with neighbours and less generous at church.
And ironically, worry often makes our finances worse. We avoid opening letters. We miss the chance to call a lender early and ask about options. We make hurried decisions, a quick loan here, a sale of something valuable there, because anxiety has pushed us past careful thought.
Seeking first, in practice
The passage ends with a call and a promise: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33, NIV). What might that look like around the kitchen table? A few families have found these habits helpful:
- Open the envelopes together, in daylight. Set a regular time each week or month to go through bills as a household, with a cup of tea, rather than one person alone at midnight.
- Pray before you calculate. Not a magic formula, just a moment to remember whose provision you are managing.
- Write it all down. A plain list of income and every regular bill often feels less frightening than the vague cloud of dread.
- Make the call early. If a payment is going to be difficult, contacting the utility company or lender before it is missed usually opens more options than waiting.
- Keep giving something. Even a small, regular gift to church or a neighbour in need keeps our hearts from closing around our money.
- Talk to someone. A trusted friend, a church elder with sense about money, or a qualified financial adviser can see what you cannot when you are too close to it.
The other verses we skip
Worry is not the only thing we pick around. The same chapter tells us not to store up treasures on earth “where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19, NIV). It is hard to read that as a homeowner without thinking of termites in the roof timbers and the burglar bars on every window. Jesus is not telling us to neglect our houses. He is asking where our hearts live. A house can be a place to serve from, or a treasure we anxiously guard.
Taken whole, the Sermon on the Mount asks us to plan wisely, hold loosely, give freely and trust deeply, all at once. None of us manages that perfectly. But it is a better way to sit at the kitchen table than alone, at midnight, with a calculator and a knot in the stomach.
This article is general information only and is not financial, legal, tax or other professional advice. Please speak to a qualified professional about your own circumstances.
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