I stumbled on a discussion about investment books on one of the Christian groups on Facebook and I would like to use this post to show what I think about whether Christians should read and learn from investment books or wealth- creation books especially the ones written by non Christians.
I believe you should be able to take a decision to support or argue against the need to read these types of books by Christians by the time you’re done with this short post.
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What are investment books?
With respect to this post, investment books are books written to teach principles, srategies and methods of financial investment of different kinds. Usually, authors of such investment ebooks put their thoughts, experiences and researches on paper for others to read and digest and also to act on them to achieve financial fulfilment.
Should Christians read investment books?
I have seen Christians who argued with the fact that it’s wrong for Christians to read investment ebooks. Their argument is based on the following reasons:
- Investment books are written by non Christian authors
- Investment books contain ungodly strategies and methods to achieve financial fulfilment
- Christians are not supposed to be motivated by money or wealth
- The bible contains all that we need to know so we don’t need any book to teach us financial success principles
But are these reasons genuine? Should Christians stop reading these types of books on investment and wealth creation?
Let us look further to what the bible says.
Related: Financial prosperity in the bible: What is Jesus’ recommendation
Go the ants and learn from them
The bible advised us to:
“Go to the ants o you sluggards, learn their ways and be wise.” (Proverbs 6:6)
This is a golden advice from the book of Proverbs. Now the bible did not specify who or what these ‘ants’ should be. But I believe the ‘ants’ can be anyone who has attained a position of authority and excellence with good results to show in a particular field.
If you want to have good results in this field, God is asking you to go to them and learn how they do it and become wise and more skillful in order to achieve your own success stories.
Now I believe Christians don’t have to start investigating the person behind the products they use on a daily basis. You buy and begin to use those products because they are useful to you. You don’t bother if they were invented or produced by non Christians.
God’s principles and investment books
I will however advise Christians to allow God’s Word to be their guide when they read and apply the principles they read in the investment books. For example, the book, Think and Grow Rich, is a very good book but there are some chapters in the book or some advice that are not biblical. So you should pick the advice that are biblical and discard the ones that are not biblical.
I have seen many renowned Christian leaders testify about the valuable information in the book, Think and Grow Rich written by Napoleon Hill, that can help anyone to achieve financial fulfilment. They have testified about how the book has helped them to achieve financial fulfilment and to create wealth.
Copy only the principles in wealth creation books
Another good advice I will give you in this post is that you can always copy the principles used by non Christians to achieve success in any field but you don’t have to copy their unrighteousness. You don’t have to live the way they live their lives. These are two different scenarios and experiences.
Paul, the Apostle, advised us to imitate him as he imitate Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). He also said the following to the Philipians:
“Philippians 3:17
[17]Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern.
Don’t throw away principles from financial books
Never throw away the practical experiences of those who wrote these types of books. The bible advises us severally to sharpen our skills and increase in knowledge. You can improve your investing skill reading those books.
Please I would like to read your comment on this post. It’s a very controversial topic. Let me read from you. I want you to share this post with your friends on social media.
