3 Reasons Insurance Is Biblical

Show Notes

From time to time we’re asked, “Is insurance biblical?” Another way to phrase the question might be, “Should people of faith worry about insurance?” Maybe it would help to define “faith.” You won’t find the word “insurance” in the Bible, but “faith” appears hundreds of times, providing a clue as to what God may think about insurance. Rob looks into that first.

• The first reason insurance is biblical is that by faith we are promised eternal salvation, not safety from the troubles of this world.
• The word “faith” appears in the Bible anywhere from 300 to 500 times, depending on your translation. And in many of those verses, a promise is either stated or implied.
• For example, Ephesians 2:8 reads, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.”
• In John 16, Jesus says, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
• The second reason is that the Bible repeatedly tells us that it’s wise to take precautions.
• Proverbs 27:12 reads, “The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.”
• The third reason the Bible supports the idea of insurance is that we’re told to provide for our loved ones.
• 1 Timothy 5:8 reads, “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”
• The Bible also says we’re obligated to compensate others whom we’ve harmed. Exodus 21 and 22 are full of examples of this. While you probably don’t have oxen that will trample your neighbors vineyard the lesson is clear. If we love our neighbor as ourselves, we’ll make them whole if we caused their suffering.
• And, there’s the fact that insurance is often required by law and Christians are to obey civil authority as long as it doesn’t conflict with God’s law.

Next, Rob answers these questions at 800-525-7000 or via email at Questions@MoneyWiseLive.org:

• If you're trying to reduce your debt and have paid one credit card off using the "snowball" approach but have 2 more that total about $5,000 and Experian told you that you could get a loan with payments of $100 per month and have it paid off in the next 3 years, is that a wise thing to do? Christian Credit Counselors
• If you're 57 and in good health and consider this period of your life a good time to take out long-term care insurance but you can't bring yourself to pay $150,000 when you think you could invest that money instead and be better off, are you correct?
• If you're 3 years away from retirement and your current employer offers either continued annuity or a $200,000 cash-out and you owe $100,000 at 2.5% on your home, does it make sense to pull the retirement money and pay the house off?
• If you're 56, disabled and on a limited income making $1,150 per month with only about $280 extra each month and you have a 10 years old IRS debt of $24,000, $3,000 of medical debt and $2,000 of student debt, how can you manage paying this debt off with this limited amount of extra money?
• If you and your wife have $105,000 to split evenly between your 7 grandchildren to add funds to their 529 plans, does this amount exceed any contribution limits?
• If you owe $41,000 because of a problem with a HUD home which was a result of a technical problem that was no fault of your own but also have $70,000 of student loan debt for you and your wife's education, how can even begin to start paying all of this off?

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