Dave Ramsey’s Financial Wisdom From Proverbsדוגמה

Day 3: Plan and Save

Consider This: Creating a spending plan for your money is an act of biblical stewardship.

The late Zig Ziglar used to say, “If you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time.” I’ve always liked that quote because it’s a great reminder of the importance of planning. You can settle for breezing through life with no plan, but you’ll end up going nowhere. Anything of substance in life requires some careful thought ahead of time.

Jesus taught a similar lesson when He talked about discipleship in Luke 14:28–30. He said no one building a tower would start construction without first sitting down to “count the cost.” The builder would be a laughingstock if he was forced to quit halfway through because the resources dried up. The unfinished foundation for his tower would become a monument to his incompetence.

What Jesus emphasized about discipleship—evaluating your situation and planning for the costs—works for your money too. Planning ahead is at the heart of success for any endeavor. When it comes to your personal finances, that means telling your money what to do each month by creating a zero-based budget. And that’s an application of Proverbs 21:5.

You need to be diligent about planning how you’ll spend your money each month. Putting in the time and effort to give every dollar you bring home a job before the month begins is a must if you want to manage money well and do it according to God’s ways.

Getting to the end of the month without enough money to cover basic expenses is just like the person who went out to build a tower, laid a foundation, and couldn’t finish because he was out of money. But when you sit down first and count the cost by making a budget before every month begins, that won’t happen anymore.

There’s another part of budgeting that you can’t ignore. As we’ve covered, the money you manage really isn’t your money—it’s God’s money. So God needs to have the final say on where it goes. Ask Him to guide your spending decisions.

Solomon said “a man’s heart plans his way” (Prov. 16:9). We get that. We all have hopes and dreams, values and passions. But he also said that God should be the One directing our steps. That means every plan—including every line in your monthly budget—should be filtered through Him.

Reflection Questions: How does Proverbs 21:5 challenge you to think differently about creating a budget for your money? How might this verse impact your spending decisions?