The Love of Money

 

But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

 

1 Timothy 6:9-10

This is probably one of the most misquoted Scripture verses around. It is often quoted “Money is the root to all evil.” This change, albeit very small, has an enormous impact on the meaning of these verses.

 

According to the misquoted version, money and wealth are the source (root) of all the evil in the world. This clearly is not the case, as the Bible is adamant that sin is the root to evil (Matthew 15:19, Romans 5:12, James 1:15).  But when this verse is viewed from the correct perspective, we can easily see then that the love of money, and not money itself, is the cause of trouble and chaos.

 

There is nothing wrong with money and wealth in and of itself. Many Biblical figures were wealthy at one point or another. When money begins to control, that’s when trouble begins.

 

Greed causes people to do all kinds of things that they naturally would not do. This can easily be verified by watching many of the TV court dramas. The love of money is what motivates people to lie, steal, cheat, embezzle and murder. People who have a love of money lack the godliness and contentment, which is the true gain.

 

The love of money is a sin, and all sin is ultimately a sin against God. Jesus made it very clear that “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24).

 

Here Jesus equates the love of money to idolatry, where the love of money is the “master” over us. Anything that is more important to us than God is an idol. God has commanded us saying, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3).

 

In Matthew 19, Jesus encounters a rich man who asks what he must do in order to obtain eternal life (v. 16). Jesus tells him to keep the commandments. When told that this man does keep the commandments, Jesus then tests this man’s ability to obey the first commandment by telling him to sell all his possessions and give it to the poor (v. 21). This man failed this test. He couldn’t give his possessions away for they had become an idol to him. They had become his master, and he their slave.

 

Jesus tells us in Matthew 19:24 that “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” In other words, wealth is one of the biggest obstacles in coming to faith in Christ. Wealth becomes a master over our lives. Because of greed, we begin to do more and more things that drive us further and further away from God.

 

But there is good news.

 

“When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them,

 

“With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible”

(Matthew 19:25-26).