What does the Bible say about money? What did Jesus teach about wealth? Some people detest money because they claim that the God favors the poor over the wealthy. But is this the truth? I am not a Bible expert, but I do know some verses that I myself interpreted as God being partial to poor people. And it tremendously affected my attitude and thoughts about wealth and the wealthy. Let me share some:
"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." 1 Timothy 6:10.
The idea that really registered was: 'Money is the root of all evil.' So I never really minded whether I had or didn't have money. It never bothered me whether I got a peso or a hundred or a thousand pesos in my wallet. I even feared possessing lots of money.
However, financial crisis in the family would make me long for more cash, and somehow regret those times when I had taken for granted those amounts of wealth that passed through my hands.
Experience taught me that I somehow had a defective interpretation of this idea. The Bible says the LOVE of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Those rich people who experience grief are those who are attached to their money--those who made money the center of their universe. The idea is understandable. Whatever you hold dear, you prioritize and you sacrifice everything else just to keep whatever it is that is important to you. You tend to sacrifice your neighbors, friends, family, even God. This leads me to the next verse:
"No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." Luke 16:13
So, does this mean one should not possess money? Not really. because
He said to them, "Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." Luke 20:25.
This just means that we can have money, but that God should be our priority. We should not be attached to money to the point of shoving God aside.
The verse that had the strong impact on my idea of money being not a good thing is the famous declaration of Jesus:
"It is more difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God than for a camel to pass through a needle's eye."
To my mind, this shouts "Woe to you, rich people!" But on close scrutiny on the whole verse--Matthew 19:16-27, I came to see this with a new perspective. The story was that there was a rich young man who asked Jesus what he should do to have eternal life. To which Jesus then replied that he should keep the commandments. The young man further probed which commandments, which Jesus enumerated. The young man replied that he had done all those things but still felt something missing. Then Jesus answered: "If you really want to be complete, go sell what you own and give the money to the poor. Then you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me." Having heard this, the young man walked away, saddened. This is when Jesus uttered the famous words: "Again I tell you: it is much harder for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle."
Apparently, Jesus was again talking about priorities. This would again go back to the claim that one can not serve two masters at the same time. The rich man was not very happy that he had to give up everything that he owned on earth to achieve God's kingdom. This is a question of importance. Which is more important to the young rich man: his wealth or God's kingdom?
Again and again, Jesus emphasized that money is not the end, but a means to the end. It is supposed to be just a way to serve God. Just as is said in Proverbs 3:9 --
"Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops;"
Give money to the poor.
"If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother." Deuteronomy 15:7
Be generous. Share your earthly wealth to those who have less. Furthermore,
"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. "So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." Matthew 6:1-4
God does not intend for everyone to be poor. In fact, He made Solomon the wealthiest man ever lived. No one past or present has nor will surpass Solomon's wealth:
God said to Solomon, "Since this is your heart's desire and you have not asked for wealth, riches or honor, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you have not asked for a long life but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people over whom I have made you king, therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given you. And I will also give you wealth, riches and honor, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have." 2 Chronicles 1:11-12
Here, we see Solomon's priorities: He asked God to give him the gift that would enable him to do what God had intended for him to the best that he can be. This clearly pleased God, and He, in turn gave Solomon more gifts than any man could ever have. God gave him wealth--overwhelming wealth. Because Solomon intended to use these to give glory to God.
There are still so many verses in the Bible about wealth being gifts by God to be used to glorify the One Who gave it to us. Clearly, God intended for us to be wealthy, but not to be attached to these earthly riches, but to use these abundance to serve Him better.
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