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Personal Finance | Financial planning suggests good stewardship, not mammon worship | David Bahnsen

Familiar teachings from chapter 16 of Luke's gospel: "No man can serve two masters" and "You cannot serve God and mammon." Hanging on these two phrases, and likely with the best of intentions, many believers have asked whether financial planning is mammon worship. My sense is that the opposite is true: When we faithfully and responsibly exercise good stewardship, we avoid the danger of our money controlling us.

Our financial resources, like everything else, are a gift from the Lord. We are to be grateful for His provision, continually recognizing that He is the source of our prosperity. We should not ignore the teaching that wealth and abundance are often rewards for hard work. (Proverbs 10:4-5: "A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich. He who gathers in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame.")