Key Points
- Financial literacy teaches practical skills such as budgeting, saving, credit management, and preparing for future expenses.
- Scripture takes financial wisdom deeper by asking what our money reveals about our priorities, trust, and hearts.
- Biblical stewardship means faithfully managing what God has already placed in our hands.
- Financial stability can be a wise goal, but money should never become the source of a Christian's security or identity.
- Parents can teach children both practical financial skills and a biblical understanding of generosity, contentment, and stewardship.
California has decided that teenagers should probably learn something about money before they are expected to manage it on their own.
Starting in the 2027–28 school year, California public high schools will have to offer a stand-alone personal finance course. Beginning with students graduating in 2030–31, the course will be part of the state’s graduation requirements.
The new curriculum covers the stuff young adults will run into sooner or later. Budgeting. Saving. Investing. Credit. Taxes. Insurance. Paying for college.
In other words, real life.
Most of us didn’t learn those things in a classroom. We didn’t even get tips from home. It was baptism by financial fire. Sometimes that worked out fine; sometimes it got expensive. Money has a way of teaching lessons when we aren’t prepared for them.
California reviewed that and decided that students needed more preparation. Given the state's cost of living amid financial turmoil, can you blame them?
The decision raises a worthwhile question for Christians: What if we took financial preparation just as seriously?
What if God’s people took a public look at an area most people don’t enjoy discussing in private?
What if believers asked themselves if they have learned what God has been trying to teach us about this sensitive subject?
Because the Bible has quite a bit to say about money. Maybe more than some of us would like.
What Can Financial Literacy Teach Us About Money?
The FINRA Foundation’s 2024 National Financial Capability Study found that 46 percent of American adults had enough savings to cover three months of expenses if an emergency came up. In 2021, that number was 53 percent.
The study also found that more adults reported spending more than they earned, and two-thirds said higher grocery prices had forced them to cut back in other areas.
Statistics and the news can tell us what is happening, but not every household’s story. Rising rent, medical bills, aging parents, a job change or car repair can quickly change a financial picture.
Proverbs 21:5 says, “The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to want.”
Sounds easy enough.
Make a plan. Don’t be careless. Don’t let today’s pressure make every decision for you. It’s not a Wall Street strategy, just…what’s that term our parents used that we detested so much? Oh yes, “common sense.”
Yet how often do God’s children separate things in our lives that God never separated in the first place?
We pray about our finances but don’t always look at the numbers. We ask God to provide while spending everything we make. We want to be generous but haven’t made room for it.
That doesn’t mean someone struggling financially has failed God. Life is more complicated than that. It does mean our finances are worth looking at honestly, much as God wanted us to.
Too bad that’s not as common either.
Why Did Jesus Talk So Much About Money?
Jesus often talked about money, which can surprise people who think of finances as practical and faith as spiritual. Jesus never made that distinction.
In Matthew 6, Jesus tells His followers not to store up treasures on earth as though they will last forever. Then He says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
That moves the conversation beyond dollars and cents.
Jesus was not teaching accounting. He was teaching His followers to pay attention to what shapes their desires, worries, and trust.
Money itself is not the problem.
Earning an income, saving for the future, and preparing for unexpected expenses can all be wise decisions. Scripture never presents responsibility as the opposite of faith.
We can use money wisely while remembering that our security rests in God. We can also place so much confidence in financial stability that trust slowly shifts away from Him.
That’s why Jesus warned that we can’t serve both God and money. He was not condemning wealth; He was describing a choice about loyalty.
Again, common sense, but not too common.
What Does Biblical Stewardship Look Like?
Christians have a word for the way we handle what God gives us: stewardship. It is a simple idea, even if we sometimes make it sound complicated. God gives. We manage.
That changes the way we look at a bank account. The money isn’t with us in the first place because we have been entrusted with it.
There should be some evidence that our faith influenced those decisions.
Maybe that means finally making a budget, admitting spending has gotten out of control, paying off debt, or learning what the retirement plan is doing. Or maybe you have been so afraid of spending money that you have forgotten how to be generous.
It’s nothing to cause shame, but if you can’t tell God how you feel or ask Him for help, there’s more to this than money management.
These aren’t just financial questions. They can become spiritual ones quickly.
Luke 16:10 says, “Whoever is faithful with very little will also be faithful with much.”
That verse has challenged me because it doesn’t let us wait for an imaginary future when we will finally have enough money to use it responsibly.
Stewardship starts with what is already in our hands.
Does Having More Money Mean We Are More Blessed?
We should be able to talk about God’s blessing, celebrate provision, and discuss financial growth or fruitful work. Scripture does. Why can’t the people who read it?
Having more money isn’t the same thing as having more of God.
A person with a large bank account is not automatically more blessed than someone with very little. And someone going through a hard financial season hasn’t necessarily done something to deserve it.
Paul wrote in Philippians 4 that he had learned to live with plenty and with very little.
Contentment doesn’t mean we stop working, saving, or improving our financial situation. It means our peace can’t depend on how much we have.
There is nothing wrong with wanting financial stability. There is something wrong when financial stability becomes our god.
This is where California’s decision starts to hit a little closer to home.
What Should Christian Parents Teach Their Children About Money?
A teenager will eventually have a paycheck, a bank account, and maybe a credit card. They will sign a lease, buy a car, and decide whether to save or spend.
Someone is going to teach them about money. The question is who.
A school can explain interest, taxes, and credit scores. That’s useful. People need to know those things, but a classroom can’t teach everything a child needs to understand about money.
They notice when Mom and Dad are stressed about bills, when giving disappears, and when every conversation about success ends with a bigger house, a newer car, or a nicer vacation.
They also notice generosity.
They notice when someone says, “We don’t need that.” They notice when adults talk about money without acting as though it is the most important thing in the world.
Eventually, they learn the importance we place on money and whether it rules us.
We may never sit them down and explain Matthew 6:24, but they will learn something from watching us live it.
Why Isn’t Financial Knowledge Enough?
This is probably where California’s story stops being about California. A financial education class can give someone information. It can’t make them wise.
Someone can understand compound interest and still be greedy. Someone can have a budget and still be consumed by money. Someone with very little can be remarkably generous.
Information matters. It just isn’t enough. The same is true for any child of God reading the Bible.
The Christian life has never been about collecting the right information. We are supposed to be changed by what we know and captivated by what we learn.
It is one thing to know God calls us to generosity. It is another way to build generosity into how we spend. Likewise, we say God is our provider, but trusting Him while responsibly using what He has provided is something else entirely.
That’s where discipleship gets real.
Maybe California’s story holds a mirror for us. California looked at young people heading into adulthood, saw something missing, and decided they needed more preparation.
Maybe Christians should be willing to look at ourselves with that same honesty.
Does my financial life look like what I say I believe?
Am I generous?
Am I responsible?
Am I chasing more because God has given me a vision for what I can build and give, or because I believe more money will finally make me feel safe?
Open the Bible. Look at the numbers. Talk with someone you trust. Learn the things you don’t know. Make the change you’ve been putting off.
There is no prize for staying financially confused, and there is no shame in realizing you have more to learn.
The goal isn’t to become rich enough that we never need God. That would miss the whole point. The goal is to be faithful with whatever He has put in our hands.
California is preparing students for the financial decisions waiting for them in adulthood. The church has an opportunity to prepare people for something even deeper: learning to see money the way God does.
Financial literacy can teach us how money works. Scripture teaches us that money is never just about money. Eventually, it becomes a question of the heart. And that is a question worth answering honestly.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Bible say about financial literacy?
The Bible does not use the modern term financial literacy, but Scripture repeatedly teaches diligence, planning, generosity, contentment, wise stewardship, and caution about allowing money to control the heart.
What is biblical stewardship?
Biblical stewardship recognizes that everything ultimately belongs to God and that Christians are responsible for faithfully managing the resources He has entrusted to them.
Is it wrong for Christians to save money?
No. Saving, planning, and preparing for future needs can reflect wisdom and responsibility. The danger comes when financial security replaces trust in God.
Does having more money mean God has blessed someone more?
No. Scripture does not measure God's favor by the size of someone's bank account. Christians can experience God's faithfulness during both abundance and financial hardship.
How can Christian parents teach children about money?
Parents can teach practical skills such as budgeting and saving while also modeling generosity, contentment, responsible spending, and trust in God's provision.
For Further Reading
- What Does the Bible Say about Finances?
- What Should Christians Know about True Stewardship?
- Why 'Give Us Today Our Daily Bread' Matters in an Anxious Economy
- What America’s Retirement Anxiety Reveals about Trusting God with Tomorrow
- What Is the Biblical View of Christian Wealth?
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