What is Insurance?
In simple terms, insurance lets you pay a little now to cover future major expenses due
to illness, death, accident, or theft.
Buying insurance is like storing grain for the winter months (Proverbs 6:6-8). When it’s
used properly, insurance is a wise investment, especially if you’re protecting yourself against
the cost of a catastrophic illness, which can devastate a family’s finances.
Unfortunately, insurance has become a means to “protect” against every possible contingency and a few that aren’t even possible. This misuse of insurance can lead to greed, slothfulness, waste, and fear. But, worse than that, it can lead to dependence on insurance instead
of on God.
Insurance is neither good nor bad, moral nor immoral. However, when we become so
fearful of the future that we overspend on insurance, it consumes money that should be going to other needs. This robs God, who owns everything we have, and it represents a lack of
trust in Him.
Overspending on insurance also represents an extreme view that is all too common
among Christians. Some say you need enough insurance so your family will never have a
financial need.
Others go to the opposite extreme: They believe you should depend totally on God
and have no insurance at all. However, with few exceptions, a lack of insurance does not
reflect greater faith; rather, it is slothfulness and a lack of planning. It is the same attitude that
causes families to live “by faith,” have no savings, and continue to accumulate debt.
Obviously, God may convict an individual to have no insurance with the assurance that
He will provide. However, the truth of this must be evidenced by the individual’s total trust.
Contrary to what some might believe, insurance is never mentioned in the Bible, but the
principle of future provision is. As already noted, insurance is like storing grain for the winter. No one knows for sure how severe a particular winter will be. That’s why it’s best to be
prepared. In the same way, owning insurance doesn’t necessarily reflect a lack of dependence
on God.
In simple terms, insurance lets you pay a little now to cover future major expenses due
to illness, death, accident, or theft.
Buying insurance is like storing grain for the winter months (Proverbs 6:6-8). When it’s
used properly, insurance is a wise investment, especially if you’re protecting yourself against
the cost of a catastrophic illness, which can devastate a family’s finances.
Unfortunately, insurance has become a means to “protect” against every possible contingency and a few that aren’t even possible. This misuse of insurance can lead to greed, slothfulness, waste, and fear. But, worse than that, it can lead to dependence on insurance instead
of on God.
Insurance is neither good nor bad, moral nor immoral. However, when we become so
fearful of the future that we overspend on insurance, it consumes money that should be going to other needs. This robs God, who owns everything we have, and it represents a lack of
trust in Him.
Overspending on insurance also represents an extreme view that is all too common
among Christians. Some say you need enough insurance so your family will never have a
financial need.
Others go to the opposite extreme: They believe you should depend totally on God
and have no insurance at all. However, with few exceptions, a lack of insurance does not
reflect greater faith; rather, it is slothfulness and a lack of planning. It is the same attitude that
causes families to live “by faith,” have no savings, and continue to accumulate debt.
Obviously, God may convict an individual to have no insurance with the assurance that
He will provide. However, the truth of this must be evidenced by the individual’s total trust.
Contrary to what some might believe, insurance is never mentioned in the Bible, but the
principle of future provision is. As already noted, insurance is like storing grain for the winter. No one knows for sure how severe a particular winter will be. That’s why it’s best to be
prepared. In the same way, owning insurance doesn’t necessarily reflect a lack of dependence
on God.
