For the LOVE of Money
You can listen to the song here:
This article is based on the verse:
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” (1 Timothy 6:10)
Now, if you’re like me, you know a different version of this verse because it was taught as, “For Money is the root of all evil.”
You might be thinking, “Yeah, same thing, right?”
Well… it’s actually not. And I hate to tell you—90% of the time this verse is quoted, it’s misquoted.
Just this last week, we were talking to someone who doesn’t claim to have a relationship with Jesus. They said: “The reason I don’t care for or like money is because it’s the root of all evil.”
I lovingly explained that this was actually a misquote. Come to find out—they didn’t even know it was from the Bible! Crazy, right?
So if you haven’t caught on yet to what’s going on, let me explain:
For the LOVE of money is a root of all kinds of evils.
For MONEY is the root of all kinds of evils.
What’s the difference?
Love is an action.
Money is an object.
It’s not that money is evil—it’s literally just paper and ink. Kinda like a gun, guns can’t randomly pick themselves up and shoot someone. It takes an evil person to pick up a gun and murder someone. Just like money—there’s no problem with making money and having it, but the action of lusting after money is the root problem.
So, I challenge you right now to stop reading and go read the whole chapter of (1 Timothy 6). Why? Because how do you actually know what the context is if you don’t? It’s easy to take one little verse and run with it. We see that happen all the time, and look at what comes from it. But reading the whole chapter and the whole bible helps you understand the context of the verse. Also, knowing who wrote this book and why is very important.
So go find that stuff out and read, then come back…
Great, you’re back! That was a good chapter, wasn’t it? Did you even know about that part where it tells you what to do if you’re rich? Or how about the part about a pink, fire-breathing horse? No? Well, good, because that’s not in the chapter, and you would know that if you really went and read it. Just trying to keep you on your toes!
But after reading it, you need to know this: Paul was writing a letter to Timothy. These letters were meant to encourage others to live a Christ-like life, not to create rules or religion out of them. Can you imagine writing a personal letter to someone because you heard they had been struggling, and then someone gets a hold of it, puts it in a book, and makes a religion out of it—putting your words higher than Jesus’s? And you even included in there that these things were your opinion, and that they should follow you, but in fact, follow Jesus. Crazy, right? Well, take a good hard look around—this is exactly what people do with Paul’s letters.
Now, at this point, I bet you’re about ready to call me a hypocrite. Because here I am, writing an article on one of Paul’s verses in one of the letters he wrote! Here’s why I say all of this: we can only use this scripture as encouragement. So, I’m here to encourage you to READ YOUR BIBLE, TALK TO GOD, and know that this scripture is widely misquoted and can hurt in the long run, but the truth don’t ever change and that matters!
Story time
Growing up, there was this couple that literally had nothing! If they got $5.00, they would find the first person and give it to them. Their house was a shack, their car hardly ever ran, they were always asking for food, and so on. Now, I’m not saying that living this way is bad if that’s what God is calling you to do, but also remember that the But the Bible also says:
• “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.” — 2 Thessalonians 3:10
• “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.” — Proverbs 16:27 (paraphrased)
and much much more. Yes, God provides (Matthew 6:26)—but not so we can waste it or become a burden to others (Galatians 6:5). And that’s exactly what this couple did. They burdened a whole community of people because they thought owning money was evil. Yet, they had no problem relying on others to take them places, feed them, pay their rent, and so on. We didn’t mind helping them out, but how much would it speak to non-believers if we were doing these things for them?
I told Joe today that I really think we should use this scripture in Timothy to actually better help us show Christ to people who don’t have Him. I know the Holy Spirit has led me multiple times to do this. And here’s why I say that. So, the LOVE of money is the root of evil, right? How amazing is it to use your hard-earned money to buy something for someone, or give them something for free, or pay a bill? I can tell you it speaks volumes to people because to them, money is one of the most important things in this world. And when you show them that it’s not, it opens up such a huge way to minister into other people’s lives.
More story time:
So, I was away and staying somewhere. I heard that someone I had just met was going to have to sleep in their car because they had no more money to stay at a hotel. This place we were at was cold in the middle of winter, and a month-long stay in a car would have been almost cruel. Now, was that this person’s choice? Yes! But let me tell you what God did with this. I had no idea that before I left on this trip, the reason God gave me so many extra jobs was because I was going to pay for this person’s hotel stay. But that’s exactly what happened. I even remember thanking God for all the random jobs (at this time, I was running oversized loads as a pilot car driver). But in that moment, when I found out this person was going to be homeless, I knew what God had done. What an amazing, awesome God we serve! That afternoon, I got to the person alone and said, “Here,” while handing them the money, and said, “I want you to know God provides.”
The look of shock I’ll never forget. But they looked at me and said, “No way! Why would you do that?” And I was able to tell them, “Because God loves me and provides for me, so I can help provide for you.” With tears in their eyes, they took it and kept thanking me. But every time they thanked me, I told them, “No, you can’t thank me. You have to thank God. He’s the one providing for you! I’m just the messenger.” And because that was my response, the next thing I heard was, “Can we talk about God and why you’re like this?” That then led to a 3.5-hour conversation about all things God and Jesus!
When was the last time someone who wanted nothing to do with God let you talk to them about God for 3.5 hours? And you know what the kicker was? This person grew up in a “church,” and the reason they didn’t want anything to do with God was because no one had any answers to why they had the rules they did, the greed of… wait for it… money, and many more common issues in the “churches” we see. But because I was willing to work hard, save, and not care if God uses my money, He blesses me with so many opportunities like this to better His kingdom.
In fact, if you did read the whole chapter of 1 Timothy 6, then you know at the end it tells you to do this exact thing if you do have money!
Now, IF you read 1 Timothy 6…
You saw this part too:
“As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty… but on God, who richly provides… They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share.” (1 Timothy 6:17–19)
Nothing is wrong with having money. It’s about what you do with it, and whether it leads you to evil.
If you’re obsessed with and love money, here’s my advice:
You can send all your money to Ann at… no, I’m kidding. But in all honesty You need to give all your money to God. Then be ready to spend it to glorify God. A lot of times, we’ve had the fun conversation about tithing. Not sure what that is? You can read about it in the Bible. But I bet if you’ve stepped foot in a “church,” you can tell me what percentage you need to give. If you haven’t, then the normal rule would be 10% or greater. Nothing is wrong with giving money to God; in fact, I just told you, you should. But here’s the kicker—you need to give it ALL to God. Since we don’t belong to an organized group, religion or “church” and chose to just follow Christ for ourselves, that means that we don’t have a shiny plate to pass around and hand it back to God. So what we like to do is just give it all to God and let Him be the one to spend it how He sees fit. Now, if you’re wondering… no, God does not have a special angel who’s His secretary, who sends out a tax write-off paper for our tithing!
I bet you think that last line I just wrote was pretty dumb, huh? Well, it’s about as dumb as someone giving only 10% to God and asking for a tax write-off paper! And if you’re wondering, YES, that really does happen in a LOT of “churches”! We have personally even gone to a few.
Last story, I promise:
Okay, as a young person, I was in this “church,” and so was some of my family. I remember that we took tithing a few Sundays because the funds were low. I also remember we worked a BBQ dinner to make money, and the youth held some type of fundraising as well. After all this work and money was collected, it was time for the board of the “church” to decide what to do with it. I bet you think I’m gonna say that they did something dumb with it, right? And then explain how it could have been used to actually help people. And how this is why we give our money to God and not to some man or board in a “church,” so we know God is doing what He wants with it. Well, all I can say is I’m glad reading our articles are paying off because it sounds like you’re getting smarter!
If you weren’t thinking that, then well, it’s okay, you’ll get the next one. But that’s exactly what happened. All that time and money went into buying brand new cabinets for the second kitchen the “church” never even used! So much so, you would walk in and have to clear cobwebs.
After that, I never gave my money to man. I always told God just to take all of my money and use it how He sees fit! Just be ready though—sometimes that can mean God asking for $5.00 or God asking for $5,000.00! But in the end, it’s His anyways, so what do I care how He spends it?
Okay, this is the end, I promise! Ending conclusion!
Money is not evil! Lusting after money or doing evil things for money is evil. (Hebrews 13:5)
• Read your Bible.
• Talk to God.
• Give ALL of your money to Him.
• Don’t misquote scripture.
• If someone does—correct them lovingly (2 Timothy 2:25).
• Above all, follow Jesus, love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37–39).
You can listen to the song from this here:
~ Ann Lester ~