KEY TAKEAWAYS
In Galatians chapter 5, verse 22-23, St. Paul writes:
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
What if cultivating these same Christian virtues could produce fruit in a multitude of other areas of your life, like how you manage money and how to invest wisely.
Today, I’m sharing with you 3 Christian virtues that can make you great at managing your money and help make you a savvy investor:
- Patience
- Self-Control
- Faith
Click here to watch the full video or read the full video transcript below.
I sense there is a great need for clarity on this issue… Between the falsehoods of the health and wealth gospel that is so often preached in our world today, a misunderstanding of what the Bible really says about money, and a real lack of resources out there on the intersection of faith and money. Believe me, I’ve looked – it’s easy to become confused about God’s plan for money in your life.
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
I love this reminder of the fruit of the spirit and the qualities of character that I need to focus on and work on cultivating in my own life. But what if cultivating these Christian virtues could produce fruit in a multitude of other areas of your life, like how you manage money and how to invest wisely?
3 Christian Virtues That Will Make You A Savvy Investor
Patience
The first fruit of the spirit that will help you better manage your money and be a savvy investor is patience. Of all the fruits of the spirit, I struggle with this one and gentleness the most. I am always in a hurry, and I am very impatient by nature.
The dictionary defines patience as the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset. That sounds nice, doesn’t it. My life would be much more peaceful, and my relationships would improve if I could be more patient.
But patience is required for managing money well. It takes patience to stick to a plan of paying off debt that may take years to see through. It takes patience to save and invest wisely for decades without falling victim to get-rich-quick schemes. It takes patience to endure a recession and a stock market downturn that could take months or even years to turnaround, where progress financially is slow or moving backward.
So savvy investors must have patience to build wealth.
Self-Control
The second fruit of the spirit that is an essential ingredient for managing your money well is self-control. In a Christian sense, self-control involves saying no to the things of this world that are not of God. It’s delaying gratification or saying no to an impulse for a higher purpose. It’s why many Christians give up meat on Fridays during Lent, and fast. We are all tempted by different types of pleasures.
For me, it’s sweets. My addiction to sugar is a disgusting and shameful thing, but when it comes to your money, you may struggle with spending money on little indulgences or putting purchases on a credit card because you don’t have enough cash in your bank account. Or you may choose to eat out or go out every Saturday night rather than set aside any money for retirement or giving to your church and charities that you care most about.
But if you can cultivate the areas of self-control in your life where it’s preventing you from serving a higher purpose with your money, you can become much better at managing your money.
Money always involves a choice. Because money is a limited resource, using your money in one way prevents it from being used for something else. So if that something else is a higher and better purpose, we must cultivate the virtue of self-control, so we can make the right decision.
If you struggle in this area, like many Americans do, ask for God’s grace to help you cultivate this virtue of self-control.
Faith
At the heart of the 3rd virtue that will make you savvy with your money – faithfulness – is a trust in God’s promises. God gives us what we need, and it’s our job to trust in him. If you’re Catholic, than hopefully you are familiar with the message of divine mercy. This is the image of divine mercy, and at the bottom of the image it says – Jesus I trust in you.
As I mentioned earlier, we will all have setbacks in life and with our money when we feel like things are going in the wrong direction. It’s tempting to jump out of the slow-moving freeway lane and move to the next lane, only to find soon after that the lane we’re in is at a standstill.
But to be a savvy investor you need a plan to succeed – how you’ll invest, how much you’ll save, when you retire, selecting the right social security strategy, staying within your spending limits both while you’re working and when you retire. All of these disciplines require faithfulness in the plan and faithfulness to the capitalist economic system that rewards hard work and smart money decisions.
When you realize that investing and financial success is a marathon, not a sprint, you can better equip yourself to remain faithful to the process in the long-run.
Become A Wise Investor
Like St. Paul said: the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
And the top 3 that will help you become a wise investor and savvy with your money are; patience, self-control, and faithfulness.
Hopefully after watching this video you understand how these eternal virtues can help you thrive in all aspects of your life and produce fruits in more than your spiritual life!
