Money

An Economist would define money as a medium of exchange. Wikipedia sees money as “any object or record, that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts in a given country or socio-economic context.” With God all things are possible but with money all things are buyable. Money is a means by which one acquires that which one needs. Money can be seen to be the god of this world and many people have sacrificed their souls in search of money. I once heard a business man say that he had spent 30 years asking God for money and his prayer was not answered, but he only spent three days asking the devil for money and he got all the money he needed. What a jerk!

The Bible has a lot of hard words to say about money. Paul, writing to Timothy said thus: “If we have food and clothing, we shall be content with that. Those who want to be rich are falling into temptation and into a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all evils, and some people in their desire for it have strayed from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains.” 1Timothy 6:8-10. Very interesting. Note that Paul is not condemning riches, he is against the love of money – an inordinate pursuit of money. How can we be lovers of money? We love money when we hold on to it and refuse to share it with others, especially those who are more in need than ourselves. When we hold on to money we make money into a god and worship it. Here then is where another condemnation comes in, this time from Christ. “No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” (Mt. 6:24).

Apart from sex that has brought untold pain, sorrow and degradation to many including many a man of God, money ranks second in the echelon of vices that militate against many of us. No wonder our brother Paul has this very timely instruction for us: “Whoever teaches something different and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the religious teaching is conceited, understanding nothing, and has a morbid disposition for arguments and verbal disputes. From these come envy, rivalry, insults, evil suspicions, and mutual friction among people with corrupted minds, who are deprived of the truth, supposing religion to be a means of pain. Indeed, religion with contentment is a great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, just as we shall not be able to take anything out of it.” (1Timothy 6:3-7).

So how can we make the best use of our money? Christ has the final say on this. Let us listen and learn: “I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small maters is also dishonest in great ones. If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who will trust you with true wealth? If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours?” (Lk. 16:9-120). This seems very simple but unless we are detached from money and learn to use it properly we may end up turning money into a god rather than a thing to be used for others. How generous have you been lately with your money?