The Value of Money
There are two very different views about money: the wrong view and God’s view.
1. Wrong Views of Money
The world views money as an object to obtain. It’s something to acquire, something to get, something valuable that people think they need.
What exactly do people hope to obtain with money?
• A way to gain possessions.
First of all, the world will tell you that money is valuable because it can help you gain a lot of possessions. People will say, “You need money so you can get lots of things – clothes, cars, houses, mobile phones, big televisions. All that stuff we buy with money.”
In Luke 12 Jesus tells us about a man in the Bible who had that view of money. He was very wealthy, and he made it his goal in life to get more and more money.
But Jesus tells us that when the man died, all the things he had bought with money couldn’t save him. He couldn’t take them with him. And that’s why Jesus said this about the man: “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
In another passage Jesus says the same truth like this: “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?”
People value money because of all they can buy, but you can’t take any of those things with you when you die.
• A way to gain happiness.
Another thing the world values money for is this: they see it as a means to buy happiness. “If I can just get rich,” men say, “then my problems will be over. I’ll finally be happy!”
Listen to this powerful verse found in Ecclesiastes 5:10:
“Those who love money will never have enough. How absurd to think that wealth brings true happiness!”
How absurd! How foolish! Money can buy a new mobile phone and a new big screen TV – but it can never buy happiness. Money can put you in a Mercedes Benz, or a house at Trasacco Valley – but it can’t buy happiness.
You know what the problem with this view of money is? It’s the word MORE. Because those who set their focus on money will never have enough. Those who set their focus on possessions will never be satisfied. They always want more.
But there is a danger in the more. In our lust for things we end up loving money and using people. God has called us to love people and use money, but in our pursuit of more we turn it around. And in chasing money we end up catching grief. Listen to 1 Timothy 6:10:
“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.”
• A way to gain power and protection.
The third thing the world values money for is they see it as a means to gain power. With enough wealth, man feels invincible. With enough money, man feels secure. But man forgets one simple truth – money won’t last. And all the power and security you gain from money will fly away.
Listen to Proverbs 23:4-5: “Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich. Be wise enough to know when to quit. In the blink of an eye wealth disappears, for it will sprout wings and fly away like an eagle.”
See, friends, the truth is that the world’s view of money doesn’t work. The world will tell you that money can bring you lots of things, and that it will make you happy, and give you security. But there are millions of rich people in the world who are miserable. There are millions of rich people in the world who hate their lives. They live in fear. They don’t know peace. And even if somehow they feel some satisfaction from their possessions, it doesn’t last. It takes wings and flies away.
So what do we do? Do we give up on money? Do we stop working and just sit around and say we don’t care about money?
Well, actually there’s another view of money that we need to consider. It’s God’s view.
2. God’s Views of Money
God is not against money. Just because the world sees money in a wrong light doesn’t mean that God is against money. A lot of people misquote the Bible and say, “Money is the root of all evil.” But that isn’t true. The Bible says, “The LOVE of money is the root of all evil.”
Money is not bad or wrong. It’s only bad when we view money as something that will buy us protection or happiness. But when we see money from God’s view, we have the wisdom to know how to use money.
And God wants us to use it. He wants us to use money as a tool to do certain things. What does God want us to do with money?
• God sees money as an investment: it is a seed to sow.
Genesis 12:2-3 “I will bless you…and you will be a blessing… and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
God says the reason he has blessed us is so that we might be a blessing. God sees blessing as a continuous chain. He blesses you so you’ll bless someone else and the blessing will go on and on. But when you take his blessing and hoard it to yourself, you break the chain. And God says, “I am not interested in blessing someone who is breaking the chain of blessing.” God doesn’t bless those who are working against his purposes and plans.
But when you see money as an investment, you’ll understand that God has a purpose for your money. You’ll be careful to make sure that purpose is fulfilled.
I’m not just working to earn a living – I’m working to invest and be a blessing. I’m not looking for money just to acquire things – I am multiplying my impact by passing God’s blessing to others.
• Secondly, God sees money as a test: it is a way to grow.
Deuteronomy 8:16 “He gave you manna to eat in the desert…to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you.”
God provided for his people and the provision was a test. He wanted to know what was in them.
This is why David prayed, “Lord, don’t let me become so rich that I get lifted up in pride and forget about you. And don’t let me be so poor that I steal and cause shame to you.” David knew that money was a test – and that both riches and poverty would come to test our hearts.
Success can be a test. When God’s blessing comes, it tests our hearts. Will we begin to lust after more, or do we continually remember that all we have and all we are belongs to him? Do we allow that blessing to continue to flow through us to others?
Money is the test all of us will face. Sometimes we may be tested with blessings. Will our heart turn from God to lust after things? At other times we’ll be tested when we don’t have enough money. We’ll be tempted to cheat and lie and steal.
Third, God sees money as a revelation: it is a chance to show.
2 Corinthians 9:11-12 “You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.”
Your gift is not just a gift – it’s an example of God. Giving brings glory to God because people will praise him for your generosity and they will praise him for his lavish gift to us.
God doesn’t need your money. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof! But God wants you to participate with him in blessing others. He wants you to show an example of how good he is. When we give, people will ask, “Why are those people so generous? What makes them give so much?” And our answer will be: “Because God is generous! He has lavished his grace on us. He has given us his best. He gave his only son Jesus Christ for us.”
Friend, I give not just to meet the need but also to show his glory. I give because he gave. I am generous because he is generous. I want to give sacrificially because he gave sacrificially. I want to be extravagant in my giving because God is extravagant in giving! Hallelujah!
My giving is a chance to SHOW – to show who God is.
What is YOUR view of money?
What is your view of money – do you share the world’s view or God’s view?
The best way to answer that question is to see how you are handling the money you do have now. For if you are a giver now, you will give if you became rich. If you are wasteful now, you’ll be wasteful with a million dollars.
If you are saving and investing now, you would still save and invest with a million dollars. If you are faithful now with the little you have, you would be faithful still with a large sum.
This is why Jesus said in Luke 6:10-13: “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own? 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.”
Some of us think, “When I get rich, then I’ll give generously.” No you won’t. If you won’t give now when you have little, you won’t give later when you have much. It’s actually easier to give ten cedis than it is to give a million cedis.
How you are handling the money God has given you today is the same way you will handle vast wealth should God give that to you tomorrow.
If we value money as an object to be obtained, we’ll never find God’s truth about money. If we keep seeking money so that we may pile up possessions, thinking it will bring us happiness and power and protection, then we are blocking God’s favor in our lives.
But if we see money as God sees it – an investment, a test, and a revelation – then we are on the path to a life of greater riches, greater peace, and greater joy than we ever dreamed possible.
We all need to examine our view of money. We need to search our hearts and ask the Holy Spirit to convict us of any greed or covetousness, any deception or pride, any place where we have elevated money above Him.