What does the Bible teach about money?
Money runs through the whole Bible, and the warnings about it are as frequent as the promises. Scripture never calls a coin evil, but it does ask a searching question: who owns your heart, and whose money are you actually holding?
The Root Is Love, Not Money
Paul's famous line is often misquoted. Writers are careful to note both what it says and what it does not say — the danger sits in the desire, and it strikes people whether or not they succeed in getting rich:
F. B. HoleVerse 9 does not speak of those that are rich, as verse 17 does, but of those who "desire to be rich" — that is, they set it before them as the object to pursue. Such people become trapped by many desires... This is true whether they succeed in their aim and pile up wealth or whether they do not, because it is the coveting of money that turns people aside from the faith and pierces them through with sorrows, not only the getting and misusing of it. The love of money is declared to be the root of every kind of evil. It is not that every bit of evil in the world can be traced to the love of money, but that the love of money is a root from which, on various occasions, every description of evil springs.
Two Masters, No Middle Road
Jesus set money beside God as a rival claimant, and the choice is not between good and bad feelings but between two services:
Leslie M. GrantIt is impossible to serve God and mammon at the same time. Mammon is simply material possessions: these are given to be of service to us, not that we should serve them. If we claim to serve God while really serving mammon, we will actually despise God and His claims, whether or not we would think of this as hatred.
The word "mammon" here means wealth treated as a master. One writer adds that the heart keeps hunting for a compromise that does not exist:
Arend RemmersAs disciples of the Lord Jesus we are called to follow Him and to serve God. Alongside this high calling, serving another master, "mammon", cannot be allowed. It is simply impossible. So there is no middle road here! And yet the human heart keeps looking for such a way.
Your Money Is Someone Else's
The parable of the dishonest manager teaches that what passes through our hands is a trust, not a possession — and that changes how freely we can part with it:
J. A. TrenchThey are not our own. They are "that which is another man's" — the master's goods, according to the parable, which happen to be left in our hands before our stewardship is finally taken away. If we looked on them as our own we might be tempted to spend them on ourselves, or hoard them up... But once we see they are wholly "another man's", we can afford to be generous with them, and to pour them out on every interest of His.
Wealth Cannot Be Made Safe
Part of the Bible's realism about money is how quickly it can vanish. Insurance covers some risks; it does not cover the fundamental one:
Manuel SeibelThey warn us over and over again not to put our trust in material or financial assets, because we can lose these overnight. So many things can go wrong... God has many ways to bring home to us how quickly riches pass away. It does not have to be an investment portfolio that suddenly collapses in value. Those who think they are secure because of their material wealth are greatly mistaken.
What the Rich Are Told to Do
Paul does not tell wealthy believers to feel guilty. He tells them where to place their confidence and how to turn money into something that lasts:
Leslie M. GrantConstant exercise must be kept up to trust in the Living God, He who richly gives all things to enjoy. If this trust is real, it will reflect His own character of unselfish giving. Positive good was to be done with what they had: let them be rich in good works, not merely in possessions; ready on any occasion of need to distribute, gladly willing to share what God has entrusted to them. This is true investment.
Owning money is not itself the sin — the word "enjoy" is deliberate:
W. W. FeredayThere is nothing wrong in possessing wealth (note the word "enjoy") if the wealth comes to us honourably.
God Weighs the Giver
When Jesus watched a poor widow drop in two tiny coins, He measured the gift by something other than its size:
C. H. MackintoshIt is worth thinking about this every time we are asked to contribute to the Lord's cause. Worth remembering, as the box or the basket is put into my hand, that "Jesus is sitting over against the treasury." His holy eye rests, not on the purse, but on the heart. He weighs not the amount, but the motive. If the heart is right, the amount will be right, in His judgment.
Contentment Rests on a Promise
The cure for grasping is not a smaller income but a bigger assurance:
Hamilton SmithWe are to be content with the present circumstances in which God has placed us. The reason given is very blessed: whatever our circumstances, the Lord is with us. He has said, "I will not leave you, neither will I forsake you." If the Lord speaks like this, we may boldly say, "The Lord is my helper, and I will not be afraid: what will man do to me?"
Summary
- Root — Money is not evil; loving it is. It is one root out of which every kind of evil can grow, and it wounds those who chase wealth whether or not they catch it.
- Rival — Wealth is not a neutral tool once it becomes a master. Serving God and serving money at once is impossible, and no middle road exists.
- Received — What you hold is another's, entrusted to you for a time. Seeing it that way frees the hand instead of tightening it.
- Released — The rich are charged to trust the Living God and be rich in good works, ready to share. God weighs the motive, not the amount.
- Rest — Contentment stands on His promise never to leave you. That, with godliness, is the great gain money cannot buy.