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Should a Christian Buy Life Insurance or Live by Faith?

There is no Bible verse that specifically addresses insurance, but I believe after reading through Proverbs not getting insurance would not be described as virtuous. Insurance allows us to protect our family and the church.  If we have a financial need, surely that burden would be placed on the church (1 Timothy 5:8).  If I am financially able to prepare for an unplanned future I should save the burden from my family and church by purchasing insurance.  However, if a family depends on the wife's salary, she probably needs to be insured. The amount of insurance coverage she will need is much like that of the primary family wage earner: at least five times her annual salary or the financial amount that she contributes to the family.

Concerning the need to insure children, there are two logical reasons to have insurance on children: to cover burial expenses and to guarantee that they will be insurable in later years. Any amount over this minimum is unnecessary.The fact that we do not know exactly when we are going to die and that we may not have the economic resources to provide for our families after death is good reason for buying life insurance adequate to provide for the family in case of death.

Term Life Insurance is the other broad category of life insurance. Frequently referred to as “pure insurance protection,” term insurance doesn’t include the cash value feature that distinguishes whole life. Accordingly, term is usually significantly less expensive than the same amount of whole life coverage. This form of insurance covers you for a specified period of time (often 10, 20 or 30 years), and then it expires. If you are still alive, you get no money.  

In recent years there have been a number of changes (better term life products, a generally more astute public, and a greater assortment of investing options) that have diminished the appeal of traditional whole life insurance for many people. In my judgment, term insurance is the way to go for many people. To me, the purpose of life insurance to be just that—to insure a person’s life, nothing more and nothing less. I prefer to do my investing separately. I see life insurance as most appropriate until an individual either builds adequate assets to effectively self-insure, or until he has no more need for the coverage. The old adage, “buy term and invest the rest,” may prove good advice. Granted, it requires greater discipline to send a second check to a mutual fund or other investment. But, many people feel that the rewards outweigh the extra effort.

I wonder if what presents itself as a form of super-spirituality isn’t sometimes something else. At best, it may simply be a misunderstanding of faith. At worst, it is an irresponsible refusal to accept the appropriate (and, even God-ordained) responsibility that comes with the headship of a home.

 

 

Why should a Christian Buy Life Insurance?

 

 

 

Ten Commandments for Children

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
5. Honour thy father and thy mother.
6. Thou shalt not kill.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
10. Thou shalt not covet.

Found in Deuteronomy 5:6-21 and in Exodus 20:1-17

We are commanded to teach children the Ten Commandments. In Deuteronomy Chapter 5, The Ten Commandments are listed, and then in the following chapter 6, the importance of teaching them to your child is emphasized: "And thou shalt TEACH them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them . . ." Deuteronomy 6:7