Money is a neutral energy that can help
good people do more good things
It is common to ask, “Does God want me to be
rich?” or “What does the Bible say about money?”
I have had to wrestle with that and work through it
for my own spiritual practice. Many remember the
verse, “The love of money is the root of all evil.”
There is a common misconception that money is
a bad thing and that the Bible is against wealth.
There is also a misconception that God promised
to bless us with money when we do or believe
certain things. Let’s break through this thinking so
you can learn about the true energy of money.
The Bible promises great riches of peace, joy, and
love —not wealth, to the followers of God.
“Rich and poor have this in common: The LORD is
the Maker of them all.” – Proverbs 22:2 (NIV)
The presence or absence of money is not an
indicator of God’s blessing. Your happiness or
value shouldn’t depend on money either. Wealth is
frowned upon for a Christian when Bible verses
are taken out of context. The Bible refers to
money as something owed to workers and a tool
that can be used for good deeds.
Money is neutral. Over and over, I have seen
money amplify the best or worst that is already in
a person.
What Did Jesus Christ Say About
Money and Wealth?
Jesus told parables of workers earning a wage in
the field all day and used money to illustrate
parables about treasure (often alluding to treasure
in heaven). When he sent out seventy-two
appointed ones into surrounding towns, he told
them, “Stay there, eating and drinking whatever
they give you, for the worker deserves his
wages.” (Luke 10:7) Did you catch that? The
worker deserves his wages!
Jesus also warned his followers (Luke 6:24-26)
and told them not to try to serve two masters
because no one could serve both God and money
faithfully (Matthew 6:24 and Luke 12:34).
The
focus has to be on the Heavenly Purpose and not
on money itself.
He is commonly quoted saying of the rich man:
“Again I tell you, it is easier for the camel to go
through the eye of a needle than for someone
who is rich to enter the kingdom of God,” but
continued on “with man this is impossible, but
with God all things are possible.” The idea that
rich people cannot be spiritual is not a Biblical
concept!
Our Lord Jesus used money to pay taxes and did
not ignore the systems of exchange that were part
of the current culture.
A Balanced View of Money Through
Bible Verses
Money is something we use to show value in our
present world. In older times, an exchange of
goods and services (barter) was done much more
frequently. But, people soon found out this could
create an unbalanced society. Money allows for
continual exchange .
Without money, people don’t know how to juggle
multiple needs from multiple sources that don’t
align evenly. It might seem like a world without
money would be simpler, but we would fall into
war and panic within a month.
