The Folly of Loving Money

“The love of money is a root of all sorts of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10).

The book of Proverbs makes it clear that this love can easily lead to spiritual adultery—we treat money as our primary concern instead of focusing on our Creator, the One who truly provides for us.

There are three reasons why making money your primary concern is foolish:

1. There are profound limitations to earthly wealth. Your spiritual needs are more fundamental than your physical needs, but money cannot satisfy your spiritual appetite. Cultivating character is far more important than making money (see Proverbs 28:6).
2. Wealth is fleeting. The money you have saved so carefully can disappear in a moment (Proverbs 23:4–5). Ultimately, money is a gift from God. Even the talents you used to make the money in the first place come from God. And in the end, you cannot take earthly wealth with you when you die.
3. Wealth can lead to spiritual dangers. In general, the more you seek to gain earthly wealth, the more you will be tempted to put your trust in it. But it can never give you true security; only God can do that. As a result, we should pray that God would fix our eyes on Him alone, even if the means of doing that comes through the loss of wealth (Proverbs 30:7–9).

When it comes to money, we need to make sure we are trusting God with our resources, investing in that which is eternal rather than focusing on the things of this world. True profit, after all, comes from pursuing God above all else. Instead of putting hope in what will pass, rest in Him who is immutable, timeless, and transcendent.

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The Proverbs transcripts used in this video are available online.