Loving Money

Loving Money

We know it’s not a healthy sign when a Christian is money-hungry. We know dollar signs flashing in our eyes, probably means we have our eyes focused on things that are temporal – not eternal in nature. Although we don’t encourage believers to go whole-hog after the almighty dollar, yet we turn a blind eye to those who do.

 
When the Word of God says keep free from sin or stay away from drunkenness or don’t commit fornication or refrain from loving your neighbor’s wife – somehow we understand that such Scriptures mean just what they say. To violate such fundamentals is to sin. And we would call it serious sin.

 
But what about the frequent references to the evils of being attracted to money and the commands to NOT love money? Have we been so conditioned by a capitalistic and materialistic society that we fail to see the seriousness of our sin when we find money so appealing and attractive?

 
Let your conversation be without covetousness;
and be content with such things as ye have:
for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
(Hebrews 13:5)

 
That’s how it reads in the King James Version. And we could skim over the verse thinking it does not really apply to us. But now let’s look at it from the lens of another translation.
 

Keep your life free from love of money,
and be content with what you have,
for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."
(Hebrews 13:5 ESV)

It doesn’t say: “Keep your life mostly free from….”  Even in the KJV it doesn’t say: “Let your conversation by without very little covetousness.” No. The thought is to be absolutely free from that attraction and compulsion towards money.  It is not a matter of degree or the extent to which we love the $$’s. We are to have NO love for the almighty dollar even though it is such an attraction to others. On the heels of No love for filthy lust teaching (Hebrews 13:4) is the teaching of No love for filthy lucre.

 
Do we tend to view Christian men who sadly love and flirt with other women in a dimmer light than Christian men who sadly love and flirt with dollars? Are we quicker to condemn a Christian woman for her love of strong drink than we would a sister in Christ who loves money and all that it will buy?

 
Money and materialism impair our Christian judgment and distort our view – so do chemicals. It’s very serious and there are repeated warnings and commandments in the Scripture to abstain from the love of money.

 
Oh, it’s so subtle and perhaps that’s why it is so hard to nail down and identify. Is it love of money or diligent in business? Is it really me the owner of my business that loves the money or is it the business that loves the money?  See how slippery it can become? Is it love of money or just me being a good steward?

 
That’s why we must be brutal with ourselves in the presence of God upon our knees. We are quick to see the faults in others for their loves and their cherished sins but sluggish and slow in identifying our own weaknesses. We need to judge ourselves and our motives in the Lord’s presence. If there is even a hint of loving money, we must confess our sin and change course – just like we would do for other sins in our lives.

 
“Lord, search my heart and help me to judge in Your Holy Presence any and every trace of money-thirst in my life and abandon it completely in accordance with Thy Word and for Your glory.”

 
Walk carefully and closely with the Lord today.

Warmly in Christ

Peter Ramsay

peter@heaven4sure.com