The 9 Simple Steps Of Christian Financial Stewardship (Which Step Are You On?)
Last Updated on 08/20/2022 by Nicky
Christian Financial Stewardships
I’ve been studying the Proverbs 31 woman a lot lately and based on what I’ve read, becoming financially free would be one of her life goals. (you know because I’m sure she thought about life goals in those exact terms ).
As I mentioned in this post, P31 had an entrepreneurial spirit and engaged in godly financial stewardship.
She was buying property, making money from the property and then reinvesting that money by planting a vineyard.
Then she sewed sashes and sold them to the merchants.
She also gave money to the needy which is a huge but sometimes overlooked component of financial stewardship.
She definitely doesn’t seem like she lacked what she needed for her family, servants, and herself.
Being able to provide for yourself, your family and to help others is a goal that I and many other women have so as we work towards that, I wanted to do a quick review of what financial freedom is and the steps it takes to get there.
What Is Financial Stewardship?
Financial stewardship or freedom means different things to different people.
For me, it means several things.
When you’re financially free and a good steward of your money, you can give to the Lord freely.
You can give more than the tenth.
My theory is that part of the reason a Christian becomes financially free is because they gave to the Lord even when they didn’t have much money and it was a struggle to give.
You give to the Lord because you know that all of the money is his anyway and that he will provide all of your needs.
Financial freedom also means that you don’t depend on one income.
Financial freedom means if an emergency or two comes up you won’t be going to check into cash or visa to pay for it.
Financial stewardship means you don’t have the dark cloud of debt hanging over your head because you live within your means.
Financial stewardship means you are more than on track to retire with enough to not have to work again because you’ve planned for the future.
Financial freedom means you don’t have dread looking at all of your bills because there’s more than enough to cover them (living within your means again)
Financial freedom means being able to help those in need and not worry about getting anything in return.
What are the steps to Christian financial stewardship & freedom?
These steps of Christian financial stewardship are heavily influenced by Dave Ramsey’s baby steps but there are a few differences as you’ll see.
*I have since updated my thoughts on the steps to financial freedom and they are different from this. I will write about it in a future post. *
1. Save $1,000 for an emergency fund (& give)
You want to do this as fast as possible so you can move on to the next step. A tip would be to get a side hustle like driving for Uber or delivering groceries with Instacart.
And while you’re saving up for the first part of your emergency fund, you should still be giving to the Lord.
2. Pay off debt (& give).
You can use the debt snowball to pay off debt quickly or you can use my own personal method for getting out of debt called the hoarding method.
And while you pay off your debt, continue to give to the Lord and those less fortunate.
3. Save 3-6 months of living expenses (& give).
Calculate your living expenses per month. Then multiply that by 3 or more depending on how many months you want to save.
You could try and save that as quickly as you did your $1,000 emergency fund.
Or you could say you want to have that amount saved in 6 months and divide that number and save that amount for 6 months.
For instance, if 3 months of living expenses is $7,500 then divide that by 6 which is $1,250 and then save that amount for 6 months.
Be sure to keep it in a fund that is not associated with your debit card or you’ll keep spending it before you can reach the magic number.
And you should still be giving.
4. Invest 15% of your income for retirement (& give).
Check with your employer to see what retirement plans they offer. Then you can work with the financial planner associated with those retirement plans.
I have a 403 b and the financial advisor helps me make wise decisions with my money.
Maybe you can’t start at 15% but you can start at 5% and work your way up. Oh yeah, and still give.
5. Start a college fund for your kids or save for a house if you don’t have kids (& give).
If you have young kids you can be saving for their college fund (or even if they are teenagers you can still save up a little).
But if you don’t have kids my suggestion would be to start saving for a house or for some sort of asset that appreciates in value (or grows in value monetarily unlike a car which depreciates in value the moment you buy it).
And also we should be, well, you know…giving.
6. Pay off your mortgage (& give).
Then start paying off your mortgage as fast as possible. One amazing way to pay off a mortgage quickly is to pay on your mortgage twice a month.
And you already know what else I’m going to say (hint: starts with a g and rhymes with live lol)
7. Build wealth.
Once you pay off your mortgage, your just building wealth and growing your retirement fund. Sweet!
And cough:give:cough
8. Give.
I believe that you should be giving to others even before this stage (if you hadn’t already noticed). You can back to others even when you don’t have much.
But now when you’re on this step you can give even more and really start changing lives and giving the glory to God!
9. Retire (and keep giving).
Now that you’ve saved enough for retirement you can continue to give and you should also set up provisions (wills and trusts) for your family if you haven’t already. And continue to invest.
Investing doesn’t stop at retirement.
I know this seems like a lot and that you may never get there but you can.
Right now I’m somewhere in between steps 3 and 4 (I’m close having enough saved for my 3-month emergency savings and I also have 2 retirement plans).
What Step Of Financial Stewardship Are You On Right Now?
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by all of these steps, just focus on one step and keep moving forward and eventually you will get there.
I’ll be talking about financial freedom all year long so be on the lookout for that.
Step one to financial freedom is creating and building an emergency fund so that when that emergency comes (and it will), you will have the money set aside to pay for it.
You can download my emergency savings fund tracker and action plan so you can get started TODAY.
Not tomorrow but today.
You don’t even have to leave your home set up one.
More HAYC Posts About Financial Stewardship
2 Money-Saving Tips To Motivate You Towards Financial Freedom
9 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom ( Which Step Are You On?)
5 Genius Ways Proverbs 31 Teaches Christian Women To Be Healthy
2 Guaranteed Ways To Turn Your Poor Mindset Into A Rich One
How To Stay Out Of Debt By Following These 3 Simple Tips
5 Secrets To Improving Your Credit Score So You Can Always Get Approved
7 Cringe-Worthy Habits That Keep Christians From Being Debt Free
3 Credit Card Debt Tips That Put You On The Road To Financial Freedom!
