Building Self-Reliance: Lesson 179

Managing Financial Resources Wisely

Using the Lord’s Principles to Make Financial Decisions

Visit “Studying the Scriptures” to help prepare yourself spiritually to learn.

Read the following from Elder Mark E. Peterson (1900–1984), then of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles:

On the street in front of my house is a row of chestnut trees. …

In the autumn the nuts drop to the ground. As they do, squirrels seem to appear from nowhere. They sit on the sidewalk, bite off the pods, and then run quickly away with each nut to store it for their winter’s supply.

They are wise little animals, and they are industrious. … It is intensely interesting just to watch them work for their living the way they do.

They do not allow the chestnuts to go to waste, not one of them. They know their lives must depend on them during the cold and unproductive winter months when nuts do not grow on trees.

They don’t depend on anyone else to gather those nuts for them, either. They rely entirely upon themselves. The Lord gives them the harvest, but they must gather it in.” (“Blessings in Self-Reliance,” Ensign, May 1981, 61)

money, work

Like the squirrels who collect and save chestnuts for the winter, you can feel prepared in times of uncertainty as you wisely manage your financial resources.

Lesson Purpose: To help you use inspired principles to manage financial decisions the Lord’s way.

Learn How

Making financial decisions the Lord’s way

Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ want to guide us in all aspects of our lives. This includes our financial decisions. They have given us direction in the scriptures that can help us make wise financial decisions.

Read each of the following scripture references. Tag each passage as “money,” and add a second tag that describes what the passage is addressing. For example, you could tag Doctrine and Covenants 104:78 as “money” and “debt.”

• Genesis 41:46–49, 53–57 (Pharaoh appointed Joseph to oversee the production of grain in Egypt during plentiful years of harvest to prepare for the prophesied years of famine.)

• Deuteronomy 15:7–8 (Moses instructed the Israelites on caring for the poor.)

• Psalm 24:1 (David testified of God’s power.)

• Malachi 3:8–11 (Malachi taught the importance of tithing.)

• Jacob 2:18–19 (Jacob taught how to obtain and use riches.)

• Doctrine and Covenants 104:78 (The Lord gave counsel on debt.)

How can what you learn from the scriptures help you make financial decisions the Lord’s way?

Prioritize our expenses

One key to managing your finances the Lord’s way is learning to prioritize expenses.

The Church’s Personal Finances for Self-Reliance course teaches to prioritize expenses in the following order:

1. Pay tithes and offerings.

2. Protect your family from hardship.

3. Eliminate debt.

4. Save and invest for the future.

5. Continue to give and bless others.

Tag the list above as “money” and “priorities,” or write the list down so that you can easily find it when you make decisions in the future.

Practice prioritizing expenses using the following example:

Nari lives with her daughter Minji in Seoul, South Korea. She has worked hard since she was a teenager but only recently began considering how she manages her money. After listing her main expenses, Nari prioritized them as follows:

1. Groceries

2. Rent/mortgage

3. Tithing/fast offerings

4. Transportation

5. Cell phone

6. Entertainment

7. Gifts for Minji

8. Savings

Based on what you’ve learned, what changes would you recommend Nari make to her priorities? Which verses would you show her to support the changes you made?

Dig Deeper: Estimate how much each of these things costs in your area. Then ask a parent or adult to critique your estimates. You could also ask the internet to show you a typical budget of someone your age in your area. (See Mikenna Warnes, “Tithing First,” New Era, Jan. 2011, 35.)

Involving the Lord in my financial decisions

Bishop L. Todd Budge, Second Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, shared:

What I’ve found in my own life is that I can pray over my temporal affairs as well. I can pray over my finances. … We should involve the Lord in not only the spiritual part of our life but in the temporal things in our life as well. (“4 Principles We Can Learn from the Way the Presiding Bishopric Works,” Liahona, Feb. 2024, 14)

money, prayer

Think of the financial decisions you need to make now or in the near future. Invite the Holy Ghost to help you answer the following questions in your notebook:

• What principles can help you make these financial decisions the Lord’s way?

• How can applying these financial principles prepare you to serve God and others?

Dig Deeper: Read President Russell M. Nelson’s story on faithfully paying tithing (“Think Celestial!,” Liahona, Nov. 2023). Study the talk “The Lord’s Richest Blessings” by Elder Carl B. Pratt of the Seventy (Ensign or Liahona, May 2011, 101).

Share Your Thoughts

Lesson Purpose: To help you use inspired principles to manage financial decisions the Lord’s way.

Share the following with your teacher or class:

• The changes you recommended for Nari’s priorities and at least one scripture to support the change.