- He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. -
Money gets a bad rep.
It’s easy to see why people get so confused! There’s a verse that calls the love of it the root of all evil, plus greed is one of the seven deadly sins.
What’s interesting about all those critiques, is they have nothing to do with money. They have everything to do with the humans surrounding it.
I have fifty cents in my wallet (it was $2.25 but the coke zero refused to just “fall” out of the vending machine.) If I leave it there for a century, will my wallet grow claws and teeth?
No. It will just hold the fifty cents, if entropy hasn’t gotten to it first.
If I covet my pocket change, I may not accomplish much evil, but I’ll certainly pollute my soul. And for what?
In many ways, our message typically stops at this point. We all know money isn’t that bad as long as we don’t pursue it above all other goals.
That’s all fair and good, but in what ways does the love of money show up in our lives? Is this an excuse to work less?
Here’s a good check to see if you’re living your life properly. Do you feel satisfied?
Hunter, do you mean everything in my life is operating perfectly? Don’t you know that Jesus said we would have trouble in this world?
Okay, okay slow down. I said satisfied. Not free from misery.
A man who loves money is never satisfied. There is always more to have. There are always new things to buy. The Joneses are dying to out buy each other.
The man who uses the love of money message to work less and rest beyond what is necessary will actively ignore the tension of not living out his purpose.
His dedication to less can only be worn comfortably by his constant robing of slothfulness, a mantle filled with stench and stains of neglect.
To the man who spends all his time buying toys and pursuing his self-gratifying hobbies, is he also not a lover of money?
He is at least a lover of what money has given to him, and the needs of his lifestyle always require further investment.
We have three persons that don’t hear the wisdom in this verse. The greedy, the lazy, and the gratifier. None know satisfaction.
What hope then is for us? In what manner can we live that respects this verse and be content?
Be satisfied with God’s purpose; not satisfied with life.
Do you work for gain or do you work for your family? Is all that you do with your money to fuel your own desires, or do you spend it rather on the desires of God?
You must work. That is the curse. In your excess, do not trick yourself. Do not become so comfortable that your actions love money while you tell your heart it loves God.
Depart from me for I never knew you.
Do you know someone by thinking about them, by feeling that you love them? Of course not. You know them by “Being” with them.
Don’t love money; better than this, love it not with your actions.
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