Sound Stewardship Principles™
The Sound Stewardship Principles™ are at the heart of how we serve you. When followed, these principles help you increase financial health, reduce anxiety, and make meaningful progress towards your goals. Because they are rooted in historical wisdom, they work regardless of current events and economic conditions.
The principles are so important to long-term financial success that we have made them central to our planning process.
Principle #1:
Live Within Your Means
Wealth can’t be created if it all goes out the door.
Every financial decision is a spiritual decision. When we enslave ourselves to money, debt, or financial stress, we limit our ability to thrive as humans.
Principle #2:
Avoid Using Debt
There’s no shame in having debt – only a call to action.
Debt makes it harder for you to do the things you want to do. And it makes it harder to be generous. We think it’s important to talk about debt so you can come up with a plan of action to tackle it – and free up your resources for better things.
Principle #3:
Build an Emergency Reserve
Expect the Unexpected
We can’t avoid it. Something is going to happen. We just don’t know when. We honor and steward what God has given us by being financially prepared so when unexpected circumstances come crashing in, our financial life doesn’t come crashing down.
Principle #4:
Have a Long-term Plan
What do you want to accomplish?
It’s easy to fall into the trap of having long-term goals but not make any significant movement toward them. But God shows us that being prepared for life is important in stewarding our resources. Hasty decisions may derail our futures, but a foundation of good planning and hard work leads to good things financially, and in life.
Principle #5:
Be Diversified
Build confidence in your plan.
Diversification means having your resources situated to withstand all types of market conditions. This should allow you to harvest gains during the good times and absorb the declines during the bad. No one knows what tomorrow is going to bring when it comes to the markets — not even financial experts. You can still respond in a prudent manner, regardless of what’s happening.
Principle #6:
Think Beyond Yourself
What do you think God wants you to do with the resources you’ve been given?
Thinking now about the legacy you want to leave prevents future heartache and unmet expectations. It also gives you an opportunity to prepare the next generation of stewards.
Principle #7:
Give Generously
Using your resources to bless others.
Generosity is one of the most important themes in the Bible. God owns it all, and He calls us to be generous with His resources. People who believe in this timeless wisdom know that giving has been practiced completely independent of federal tax returns for thousands of years. We give as an act of worship, regardless of the tax benefits. We also give because it’s a universal truth that giving is good for us.
Financial Confidence. Financial Contentment.
They’re both possible when you’re clear about what you really want from life, then put some habits in place that help you get there.
Seven Principles of Sound Stewardship is a free ebook that outlines foundational attitudes and habits that can help you achieve both financial confidence and contentment. It’s our gift to you so you can begin the journey toward pursuing what really matters and freeing yourself from financial worry.
