The love of money

“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” 1 Timothy 6:10
This is one of those verses that has often been misquoted (that ‘money is the root of all evil’). It is not a sin to have money. Abraham was rich, so too was Lot – and his possessions were multipled double to him after his time of suffering, as God’s way of blessing him. So too in the New Testament were Joseph of Arimathea, and Lydia (Acts 16:14).
But it is a sin to love money – and you don’t have to be rich to fall into this. Making the accumulation of money our primary driver in life, will bear fruit in all kinds of evil. We’ll be tempted to cheat on people, treat them unfairly, just so we can get ahead and make more money. Then when we have it, we spend it on luxuries for ourselves, being selfish and not thinking of other people. Solomon said, “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income” (Eccl. 5:10). Jesus said, “No-one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money” (Matt. 6:24).
The Bible teaches that God should be our primary driver in life. Everything we do should be to please Him. If we are blessed with money, we should use it to further His kingdom and be generous with it (1 Tim. 6:17-19).