Let’s start with what God says about money in the Bible.

God actually talks a lot about money, especially in Jesus’ parables. God makes His position very clear on how money can be used positively as a tool, and used to achieve the purposes of the Kingdom. 

For instance, in the parable of the shrewd manager (Luke 16), Jesus talks about the need to be trustworthy in handling worldly wealth. But He warns against worshipping both money and God, as you can only have one master (Matthew 6:24-26).

How can we be good stewards of our money?

There are a few parts to stewardship. One aspect is in how we spend our money.

It’s important to be conscious about how we’re using the money we earn or receive. Are we using it mainly for ourselves? Are we using it for our needs and wants?

And more importantly, as a Christian, if God has blessed us with money from income, investments or even inheritance – are we called to be using this money for His Kingdom beyond just tithing? 

The other part is in the way we save and invest our money. Referring to the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30), each of the servants had a different skillset, ability and personality, so they handled the money they were given differently.

But at the end of the day, when the master returned, he held them accountable for what they did with the money that was under their care. He admonished the last servant who simply hid the money in a hole and didn’t do anything with it. 

Each of us may have different abilities and personalities that can affect what we do with the money. But when we think about holistic stewarding, it’s not just about how much we spend. What’s more important is how we manage money for godly living and for the Kingdom. 

Do you think students have to tithe? Are there any guidelines?

I don’t think there is a hard rule to tithe, but I would encourage youths to embrace the practice of tithing as much as possible, subject to constraints.

God teaches us that tithing is an important value. I would encourage a spirit of wanting to embrace the value of giving to the Kingdom of God, as we are simply returning a portion of what the Lord has blessed us with.

It is also important to recognise that there are also different kinds of students. Some may face more constraints with their pocket money, while others may come from low-income families that barely have enough.

But for those who come from backgrounds where they do have enough, I would encourage them to tithe. 

Tithing and giving are a part of Christian living and discipline.

The Bible tells us that whoever can be faithful with little can also be faithful with much (Luke 16:10). I don’t see it as a promise that if you have been faithfully giving a little, you will be given much.

Instead, it’s about this: when we are finding it difficult to let go of even a little, like pocket money, what makes us so sure that we will be willing to let go when of a larger sum?

My mum used to give me three dollars a week in primary school. Back then, 50 cents went a lot further, so she encouraged us to use 50 cents a day for recess, which meant I’d spend around $2.50 a week. From the remaining 50 cents — take 30 cents, or one-tenth, to tithe.

My mum encouraged me to take that step every week to set aside those 30 cents before I even started spending the money, so that I would be the one giving when I went to Sunday School. There are two great things I took away from this:

1. Set our tithes aside for God before spending
2. Mum didn’t just give me the money to give tithes and offerings. The tithe didn’t come from my parents, it came from me.

This helped me to be disciplined about tithing and giving throughout my life. Practising the discipline of giving to the Lord and to His Kingdom is very important. 

What do you think it means to be financially literate?

In this day and age, there are many resources online on TikTok and Instagram.

These resources may teach you the knowledge and the skills, but it is the values behind what they teach that we must discern. What are they trying to achieve in the different ways they manage their money, investments and spending?

These resources may have a very different value base than yourself, and that’s when you need to make a judgement. You may know what it’s all about, but do you want to invest or participate in a certain company or crypto, for example? 

So, we need to have Bible-based convictions when it comes to managing money. Jesus talks a lot about money in His parables, money is mentioned in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes too — these are some places I would encourage us to go to for biblical values on money. 

When it comes to financial literacy, the world focuses on the tools. We need biblical values to determine how we use these tools, or what tools we want to use.

Is investing gambling?

A lot of financial activities now come under the word “investing”, but should actually be termed as “speculating” which I consider gambling. I think it’s important to differentiate between investing and gambling.

From a rational point of view, investing is an activity from which you can reasonably expect a positive return if you do it time and time again.

In financial investing, typically, if you buy a wide diversified basket of stocks, and you hold it for a 10-year period, you would probably have about an 80% chance of having a positive return. You hold it for a 15 to 20-year period, and that percentage goes up to about 90-100%. 

For someone who’s investing, they’re looking at minimally five, 10, 20 years of financial activity through which even if a war breaks out or a pandemic like COVID happens — they know for certain their investment will be okay.

Gambling is different.

For instance, the casino holds slightly better odds than you — maybe it’s a 52% win rate. If you do it a hundred times, you will probably win 48, while they will win 52 times. Do it a thousand times, and it becomes even more magnified. When it comes to gambling, you know the odds are not in your favour. 

Additionally, when you are really betting on the outcome on a singular stock, and a large portion of your money or wealth is inside it, then that is more “speculating” and closer to gambling.

From a biblical perspective, the Parable of the Rich Fool in Luke 12:13-21 reminds us that life is very uncertain.

We never know what’s going to happen. We shouldn’t be placing so much of the money we are stewarding on a single investment and being so confident in our own ability to predict the future. 

As Christians, we need to recognise that the values involved in gambling often stem from greed and wanting more, which runs counter to biblical principles.

We should always be humble as humans, and we should express that humility even in our stewardship and investing. 

Interestingly enough, though it’s clearer in some translations of the Bible than others, the first four verses in Ecclesiastes 11 gives some perspective on things like diversification – it helps you to spread your money in seven to eight buckets! 

And the rest of that chapter reminds us that we don’t know what the future will bring. We should always be humble as humans, and we should express that humility even in our stewardship and investing. 

Should youths and young adults be investing their money?

I would encourage them to because investing is part of our stewardship. 

When you start early, you can discover whether you have the ability or skillsets to increasingly be more comfortable investing. You will also go through more market cycle changes. 

Starting early also helps you discover your personality. Some people can’t sleep if their stock fluctuates, others can. You can practise and get used to it when you start early, but some people never get used to it.

If you have the sort of temperament that results in worry and anxiety as you invest, maybe God is just telling you to put the money in your savings account and be done with it – and this might also be good stewardship for you!

Starting young also allows you to do this with smaller amounts of money, which would have a smaller impact on you. It’s also good to build discipline, and allows your investment to compound over time.

What’s a good way to save money?

Budgets are a good idea, but some people might find it a hassle to record everything. You should still have a rough sense though, of what you are spending on and how much you can save. 

Having a separate bank account that is solely for savings helps a lot – you can automatically transfer some of your savings out every month, and you can budget what to spend and what to save on.

Even if I don’t take a very accurate record of where the money is going, I know that if the account dips below the starting amount, I am spending more than I am actually supposed to.

You can also save through investing – there are many robo-advisors available and many ways to buy fractional shares and investments that can hold your money. But make sure you can afford to keep your money locked up for a long time, because if you’re forced to sell your investments, it may come at a huge loss.

Financial independence, retire early (FIRE). As young people, is this something worth pursuing?

There are some good values involved, like being deliberate about your consumption patterns and actively trying to decrease your expenses. Another good value about FIRE is that you don’t end up spending or having a certain lifestyle that would tie you down to a job, because you have retiring in mind.

And as Christians, if we’re in a place where we’re financially comfortable, if God calls us to move to a new job or industry that may not be as well-paying, this would allow us to respond obediently to God without being handcuffed to a job. That can be a good thing.

But while financial independence sounds wonderful, we need to ask ourselves what we are seeking independence from. For me, I know part of this “independence” would be about having to trust in God to provide for me. This is an attitude I need to change. 

If we fully immerse ourselves in FIRE, instead of practising godly financial stewardship, this chase would become our whole life’s purpose and God would be taken out of the equation. Financial independence shouldn’t lead to us cutting off God.

As Christians, we are called to be counter-culturally dependent on God, looking to Him to provide for our needs. We know God has called us to serve Him in different areas, but we need to be deliberate when it comes to thinking about “retiring early.” 

God’s call for our lives may not involve us retiring early. He may well tell us to continue working even after our financial success, or direct us to switch to a lower-paying job to serve His purposes. 

The FIRE movement also focuses on one’s own self and financial situation, and it may make us hesitate when God gives us an opportunity to give to someone in need, because it would delay our retirement and independence.

So we must be careful, because some of FIRE’s values conflict with our higher callings as Christians.

How can we live intentionally to serve God and not money?

It takes a lot of deliberate reflection, allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to you through the Word. We have to allow ourselves time to reflect and be convicted by the Spirit of how we are saving and spending our money. 

For instance, we should think about why we’re saving. Is it because we fear not having enough? How about if we are being too aggressive in investing…?

We need to have a regular self-reflection process and keep His values in mind.

There was a time in my life when God reminded me to place His values before my immediate needs.

This was when I was applying for a Masters programme at SMU, which cost $49,000 SGD total. I had only worked for a year at the time, so I really didn’t have a lot of money and was hoping for a scholarship. 

At first, I received very good news. A representative from the school called me and told me I was awarded $10,000 USD in scholarship money, which was around $16,000 SGD. It was a huge blessing, because it meant I’d just need to figure out how to fund the remaining two-thirds of it. 

But later, I received a second phone call from the school representative telling me she made a mistake – I was only supposed to get $10,000 SGD.

To be frank, I was really upset with the person, and I wanted to scold them for making such a huge error. But I felt the Lord prompting me to be kind to her rather than scold her, even though I had every right to.

So, I replied saying that though I understood it was an honest mistake, I was sad and frustrated because I needed the money. I also asked her to remember me if there were any more scholarship funds available.

A few months later, my scholarship was increased to $20,000 SGD! And during the course itself, I became the joint winner of two prizes which had prize money that added up to $29,000 SGD. Combining these prizes and the scholarship funds, my tuition fee was totally covered.

When it comes to money matters, sometimes we are within our rights to get upset with people. But God really reminded me that when we’re dealing with money, we are also dealing with people, which means we need to show the fruit of the Spirit!

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