1 Timothy 6:10 – For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
God is not against us having money, God’s good plan for us is that we will be blessed with money so as to meet our lives needs and help those who need our help .
Individual We need money for many things
Ministry need money to run well ,
Families need money to run well .
It is difficult to achieve life’s dream without having some money for even a startup.
Being blessed with money is not a sin and is never a crime, it is the gift of God to be a blessing to MANY.
What God is against is the love of money.
We are living in a very dangerous time that many are driving by the love of money .
They believe once they have money , they’ve gotten everything, once they’ve built a big mansion and bought a big car they’ve gotten everything.
Unfortunately it is not so. Building a big house is never a crime to God , neither is buying a big car a crime .
》But wealth gotten from the devil,
=》a house gotten from the devil ,
= 》a car gotten from the devil ,
》will take away your peace , it will take away your joy, and at the end it will take away your life .
Men who run to the devil for money, always end up in double poverty , either they died mysteriously or are poorer than church rats .
The love of money is what is controlling this present world .
Desire to be influential either in the community or society has led many into fearful and dangerous things.
When the Spirit of the love of money enters into a man , such a man is a dangerous tool in the devil’s hand.
Because this Spirit has force and authority, it controls its victim , dictates for them , lures them , deceives them , commands them , assigns them and they follow and obey its instructions.
In the few years to come our street would be full of many young mad people, and many records of death of those who have gotten wealth from the devil except the one God rescued.
The love of money is one of the most powerful enemies of true grace in the soul,
and also one of the most destructive adversaries of peace and happiness in life.
This has scatter many marriage
This has turn children against their parents
This has turned parents against their children.
This has made many Pastors to abandon their calling and become something else.
Because of money, many are now vultures, very destructive, deadly and poisonous, anyone that walks with them or close to them are considered as men that are marked for sudden devouring.
Ecclesiastes 5:10 – He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.
Many nations today are not developed or far from advancement because the leaders love money, money that should be used to develop their nation is used to buy new houses abroad and wasted on baby mamas .
No one can imagine what sorts of evil springs from the heart of someone who loves money.
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》 You do know that men have killed for the love of money,
》that women have sold themselves into prostitution for the love of money,
》mothers and fathers sell their own children for the love of money.
》Lot wanted to get rich. He went to Sodom to make money. What was the result? He destroyed himself.
》 Balaam wanted to get rich as a preacher. What was the result? He lost his calling and went to hell.
》- Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, wanted to get rich. He not only missed the opportunity to be the next prophet after Elisha, but also brought leprosy upon himself and his children.
-》 Judas Iscariot wanted to get some money and he destroyed himself and went to hell. We have enough warning there.
-》 Demas could have been an apostle like Paul; he could have written scripture. Instead of that, he went after money and destroyed himself and lost his calling.
If you don’t confront your love of money and tackle it by the roots every time you see it spring up in another corner of your life, it will delude you until it takes over and destroys you.
– Note verse 9: “fall into temptation and a snare.”
A snare points to something hidden and unexpected.
So the picture is that of an unsuspecting animal stepping on some branches only to discover, too late, that they cover a deep pit.
The animal falls in and is trapped.
– The reason the pursuit of riches deceives is that money does not last and it never brings true happiness. You can be very wealthy, but it won’t extend your life if you get terminal diseases.
– Money will buy a bed but not sleep;
books but not brains;
food but not appetite;
a house but not a home;
medicine but not health;
luxuries but not peace of mind ;
amusements but not happiness;
religion but not salvation;
a passport to everywhere but not to heaven.
– Money can’t bring true happiness because it can’t reconcile us to God or to other people, because it doesn’t deal with our sinful self-will that alienates us from God and others.
The desire for money will deceive and ultimately destroy you.
Money is both a problem to man and a solution.
Money has been used to solve numerous problems and has equally created a myriad of problems in human societies.
I once heard somebody say when money speaks truth is silent! Unfortunately, this is the reality today in many lives and is responsible for the monumental decay and frightening poverty in many societies.
What a sad commentary! Men have mortgaged their consciences for the sake of money and the church is not exempted from this evil.
In Luke 16:14, Jesus described the Pharisees as “lovers of money” (NKJV).
Our spirituality is, in a way, actually reflected in our attitude to money and many have failed God’s money test.
The Psalmist prays, “Give me an eagerness for your decrees; do not inflict me with love for money.
Prosperity without the Kingdom of God in focus will lead to materialism.
There is a divine purpose for prosperity and this is the advancement of the Kingdom of God.
Contentment is not a function of what you have; it is a spiritual discipline. Godliness with contentment is great gain (1Timothy 6:6).
God has pleasure in the prosperity of his children (servants) (Psalm 35:27) but prosperity is not the same thing as money though money is part of prosperity.
God wants His children to have money, that is not to be poor but He has his own designed path for His children to follow to be rich.
God does not want us to be controlled by the love of money.
How to overcome the love of money
We are not supposed to be controlled by money but by the spirit of God.
1. Make heaven your first priority.
Keep eternity in focus. Any money or business you have to possess by losing your grip on eternal life is not worth it.
“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Mark 8:36 NKJV).
When people are possessed by the love of money, eternal life does not mean anything to them. They don’t value it.
2. Be content with what you have.
Avoid greed and covetousness. You cannot be content if you are comparing yourself with another person.
If you are greedy, you cannot be content. The Bible warns us severally against greed and covetousness. (Exodus 20:17; Romans 7:7.
3. Recognize the difference between your needs and your wants.
Differentiate between your needs and your wants. Don’t mistake your wants for your needs. Human wants are insatiable but our needs are usually few.
God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19). He won’t satisfy your greed!
4. Don’t nurse a desperate ambition to be rich quickly.
5. Acknowledge the vanity of riches.
Solomon says vanity of vanities, all is vanity (Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12:8).
You won’t take anything out of this earth; you brought nothing here (1Timothy 6:7; Ecclesiastes 2:18
6. Understand that the love of money will expose you to a lot of temptations.
It will ensnare you,
it will push you to do evil things,
it will derail you from the faith and it will draw you into sorrow.
The love of money will cloud your reasoning,
blind you to reality until you find yourself eventually in trouble.
It is at that point that you will begin to regret it.
You have been deceived. Only God can help you at that time.
7. Be a giver and operate the financial principles of the Kingdom of God.
You are master over whatever you can give away.
Be a giver; don’t be a grabber.
Be generous in your finances towards the Kingdom of God and be generous to people.
Paul told Timothy: “Tell them [the rich] to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and should give generously to those in need, always being ready to share with others whatever God has given them” (1 Timothy 6:18 NLT).
8. Carefully and regularly examine your motives.