Money: What Is It? Good Or Bad?

Submitted by: David Andrew Moore

"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 6:10 (KJV)

Is money evil? This scripture says that the love of money is the root of all evil, not money itself, but the love of money. Some have mistaken the love of money for money, I did. Why is the love of money evil? We all need money to buy food and etc with, right? It is true that we need it to buy, but there is a balance as there is in all things. If you love money then you will do anything to gain it. Just like if you have a child and you lose that child, you will do anything to get that kid back with you. If you love money then you'll find yourself doing the most sinful things to get more money. What is the root of prostitution? Why do we have these people who sell their own body? Because they want money, because they love this money more than anything else. If you love money, you can't love God and you can't love others as you are commanded to do! How can I say that? Well if you love money then you will do some of these things: Kill (Not very loving.), you will prostitute your body, you will steal and etc. Let's talk about why each of these things are not loving things to do. First off, all sin just makes God, sad. If you love someone then you do not want to hurt that person in anyway. Murdering someone is obviously not loving at all. Taking someone else's life is a very cruel thing to do, both to the person you murder and all those who loved that person. Prostitution, how is that hateful you ask? First off you're endangering yourself. You could get a number of sexually transmitted diseases. Now if you go and have sex with someone else after getting a disease then you're endangering that person's life, you might as well be a murderer. Not to mention the fact that you will hurt the people who love you when they lose you because you caught some disease. The third thing I mentioned was stealing. Stealing from someone is taking something that they may need for their own survival. If you steal someone's car how do you expect them to get to work to support their family? All of these evil sins and more root from the love of money. Why do we do it? Why do we love money? The next scriptures are a prime example of the evil that comes from loving money.

"And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise." John 2:13-16 (KJV)

These people mentioned in these scriptures are inside a temple of God. In today's society, a temple would be a Church. Anyway, they were inside a temple, a place of worship trying to make money and to top it off a very holy day was at hand (The Jewish Passover.) Instead of coming to worship, they came to make a profit. That kind of thing is very disrespectful to God and I'm sure you can tell by the reaction of Jesus, that He wasn't too pleased with this. They were using God's house like it was a department store. How disrespectful is that? There are forms of this very same kind of disrespect towards God, in today's society. You have all kinds of people trying to profit off of Christianity and this is nothing, but your typical scam. You'll hear things like, "Buy this Jesus, refrigerator magnet and promote Jesus, to all of your visitors!" I can tell you one thing, if you need a refrigerator magnet, so you can, "promote Jesus" in your own house, then you need someone to promote Jesus, to you! That is how ridiculous these products are and the people who scam and use the name of Jesus, in their scams are going to have a much bigger price to pay then they can afford with the money they got from their scam. Jesus, don't accept cash, credit or check. Jesus, only accepts repentance! When you scam in the name of Jesus, you don't even know what you're asking for. Beware of Judgement day, is all I can say to those who do this. I have gotten e-mails with different subjects that mention Jesus and when I open the e-mail they'll be something totally different, trying to sell something. People who do this should be ashamed and if they don't repent of their sin in this life time, then I'm pretty sure they will be ashamed, but it'll be a bit too late.

Now let's switch over and talk about some good things we can do with our money. Yeah, you heard right. The following is what you do with money if you love others and God:

"And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called [unto him] his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all [they] did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, [even] all her living." Mark 12:41-44 (KJV)

The woman in these scriptures gave all that she had. She gave it all, so even though her amount of money was smaller than what the rich men threw in, her contribution was greater than their contribution. Why? Simply, because she loved enough to give all that she had and had enough faith to give it. If you love people, if you love God, then you can show that with money as well. So is money a good or evil thing? That depends on you. What do you use it for and do you live for it or do you just simply use it to get the things you need? Money can be thought of like a gun. Is a gun evil? It depends on whether or not you make it evil. Do you kill people with that gun or do you hunt with it to provide for you and your family? So the answer to the question about whether or not money is a good or evil thing, lies within your own heart. If you love it, then it is something evil that is there to destroy your relationship with the Lord and those who love you and if you see money for what it is and that is just something to trade for food, clothing and etc and to help others out with then it is something good that can make a difference in someone's life.

I hope you enjoyed this study. I also hope that this study helps people to know that they need a balance when it comes to money. Money can be a very big stumbling block in our walks with the Lord, but it doesn't have to be. Let's say a prayer.

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this message, for sending your Son and for all things. Lord, you are awesome! Please forgive us of all our sins and we also forgive those who've sinned against us. Help us to have a balance when it comes to money. Don't let us have a love for money, because we know that love for money is nothing, but greed and you command us to love and to love means to share. May we never lose sight of what is really important, you and those around us. In Jesus, name. A-men!