Love of Money
9 But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.
1 Timothy 6:9-10 HCSB
When I think of what the bible says about money, the first thing that usually comes to mind is “for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil…” It’s often pointed out (and rightly so) that it’s the LOVE of money, and not money itself that underlies many of the world's motivations for evil.
Yesterday I covered:
6 But godliness with contentment is a great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. (1 Timothy 6:6-8 HCSB)
The point is not that we should be poor, but that we should be content with what we have whether little or much.
This leads us to today’s verse, “9 But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction (1 Timothy 6:9).” This is a contrast to the previous verses, and is intended to show us that our goal should not be to be rich; but godliness (meaning to be like Jesus). And we are warned that by chasing riches, many have been ruined and destroyed. “10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains (1 Timothy 6:9).”