Paul felt confused. Over the last year he had been carefully managing his money and working hard. He had increased the number of pigs he owned from 1 to 10. He had planted a variety of fruit trees in his yard and had a large vegetable garden behind the house. He had been carefully working in his fields, and this year he was seeing much bigger yields than ever before. He had been keeping careful records of his money and trying to make wise decisions on how to spend and invest it.
Today his neighbor, John, had accused him of being a lover of money. It had all started when John had come around and found Paul carefully recording all his expenses in a notebook. John had asked what Paul was doing, and Paul shared that he was recording all his expenses so he could see which of his activities were making a good return. That way he could make better investments and more money in the future.
John had been horrified. He opened the Bible to Hebrews 5:13. “I just read this today,” he said, “I think you should study it.” Then John read the verse out, “Keep your lives free of the love of money and be content with what you have because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; Never will I forsake you.’” Then John read from 1 Timothy 6:10, “For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
John had told him that he should trust in God, like he, John, did. He didn’t need to spend all his time working out facts and figures. Instead, he should be content with what he has and look to God to provide for all his needs.
Paul felt confused. He loved God and wanted to be obedient to Him. He certainly didn’t want to be someone that was a lover of money. And he definitely didn’t want to wander from the faith and face many griefs. But he had also learnt that he should manage his money well. What was the truth?
Many people can feel confused about this. Some, like John, feel that the Bible’s commands not to be a lover of money mean that we shouldn’t think about money at all. Is that what God desires of us? Actually the Bible has a LOT to say about money. There are twice as many verses about money than there are about faith and prayer combined. God obviously thought this was an important topic and one that could cause us to easily fail.
The Bible certainly teaches us we should not be lovers of money. However it also teaches us that we should work and be good stewards. Paul speaks very strongly against those who don’t work. In 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15, he shares how he worked hard as a tentmaker to be a model to them so they would understand that we must work hard. He tells the Thessalonians “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.” In Colossians 3:23, Paul tells us we should work as if we were working for God and not for man. The Bible is clear – laziness is not honouring to God.
Proverbs also teaches us that we should use money wisely. In Proverbs 21:5, it tells us that the plans of the diligent lead to profit, as surely as haste leads to poverty. Proverbs 21:20 says that in the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil but the foolish man devours all he has. In Proverbs 12:11, we see that “he who works his land will have abundant food, but he who chases fantasies lacks judgement.” If you continue reading Proverbs you find many such verses giving instruction on how to use money or how to become rich. God intends for us to know how to use our money wisely. It doesn’t honor him when we are careless with the resources he has given us, such as land and energy.
So how do we balance working hard and making money but not being lovers of money? Here are three tests to make sure that we have not become a lover of money.
Is God first?
God must be first in your life. In Matthew 6:31-33, God tells us not to worry about what to eat and drink but instead to “seek first the Kingdom of God.” How do we know if God is first? Are we happy to attend church and rest on a Sunday or do we want to go and make more money? Are we able to find time to serve and read our Bibles or do we spend every moment trying to make money? If our desire to make money causes us to not be obedient to God, then we have become a lover of money.
Are you a giver?
God has given us two purposes for making money. The first is to care for our families. In 1 Timothy 5:8, Paul says that if we fail to care for our family then we are worse than an unbeliever. The second purpose for making money is found in Ephesians 4:28, “He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.” We need to be givers. God has told us that we need to give both to the church in the form of tithing and to those in need.
Look at the way that you use your money. Do you give generously or are you always trying to get more for yourself? How do you use your money? Do you provide for your family and give or are you always buying new things like TVs or Karaoke machines? Someone who is not a lover of money is willing to give generously. If God calls you to give, how do you feel? Are you happy to give or are you reluctant?
Are you content?
Are you constantly worried about how to have more money and making plans to get more money? Is getting more money something that you think about often? Are you neglecting other responsibilities to spend time making more money? We do need to work hard and manage our money wisely, but when we start to spend all of our time thinking about getting more money so that we can have more things, we have become a lover of money.
The Bible is clear, we need to work hard and steward money wisely so we can care for our families and give generously. However, we need to make sure that we don’t let money control us. Through giving and putting God first we can make sure we don’t become a lover of money.
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