IT'S NOT WORTH IT- THE LOVE OF MONEY

Dearly beloved, I welcome you to this month of October, our month of favour. May the favour of God encompass you like a shield in every aspect of your life in the name of Jesus.

 I will like to share with you on what I titled, the love of money – the root of all evil. 1st Timothy 6:9-11, “But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 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 man sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.”

I will like to bring to your notice that this letter by Apostle Paul was written to Timothy, his son in the faith. Automatically, he was writing to the church, to believers. If he was writing to believers then, he is still writing to us now.
A lot of people have often misquoted this portion of the Bible even believers as “money is the root of all evil.” It is not money but the love of it that is the root of all evil. Our money isn’t the problem but our attitude towards it. You can see the world today to the extent to which people can go for the love of money but not for God or His kingdom. Paul is telling us that the desire, craving for money will deceive and ultimately destroy a believer.

There are three steps or processes outlined by Apostle Paul regarding this issue. I will call them the three D’s:

1. The desire for money
2. The deception of money
3. The destruction carried by money
The desire draws the person in, the deception get the person comfortable and prone to the danger; the destruction polishes the person off. This pattern is followed in verse 9 and repeated in verse 10 for emphasis:

1. The Desire: “Want to get rich” (Verse 9), “Love of money” (Verse 10). The decision to pursue riches is a root sin. The love of money is not the only root of evil but it is a powerful one used by the devil today to deceive and plunge men to destruction. What does Paul mean by “the love of money? Does he mean it is wrong to enjoy material things? Are we sinning if we purchase and actually enjoy anything above the bare necessities of life? If that was so, Apostle Paul would not state in 1st Timothy 6:17 that, “God giveth us richly all things to enjoy.” The love of money is a reason or desire, craving to pursue wealth for personal consumption and luxury.

As with all lust, it tugs at you from the inside. The person “longs for” money. The Greek word means to stretch oneself out, to reach after, and to aspire to. It is used positively of a man aspiring to the office of elder (1st Timothy 1:3). It points of an inner desire. The word Paul used for “Love of money” (Philarguria -- Love of silver) points to the love of emotion and friendship (Philio). I am talking about this strong inner longing to be rich at all cost.

The love of money is a root sin. That is to say, it lies beneath the surface and nourishes many number of other sin. The root in this case bears several kings of fruits. Note this; the fruit is sin because the root is sin. The root determines the fruit. You are free to choose the root but not fruit. You are free to plant any kind of seed you want, but once they take root, you are not free to pick the different kinds of fruit. If you plant an apple tree, you may not later pick pineapple. If you let the love of money take root, it’s like weeds, it will dominate you and in the end will ruin and destroy you.
One day, I was in a car wash seated with some other customers. The workers were busy working and discussing how they were going to make it financially in life and impact in the lives of their families and environment. All of a sudden one of them said and I quote “I have given myself a target, the moment I get to a certain age and am not financially buoyant, I have said it, I will either use my mum or my grand-mum to make it, and after all they have both lived their lives to some extent.” You see, how did this come about, it all started from his thought and his desire and longing. Mind you, he is said to be a Christian. He goes to church, he hears the word of God ministered, but this is how much the desire, the craving for riches has eaten deep into him, to the extent he is ready to have anything done to be rich.
You see, believers today fall into such category, seeing people they call friends or relatives getting rich, they themselves want to be a part. Proverbs 10:22, “The blessings of the Lord, it maketh rich, and addeth no sorrow with it.” There are riches with sorrow, those riches God has not given to you. It does not just grow wings and fly away but leaves behind pains and destruction (Proverbs 23:3-7).

2. The Deception: The desire draws you in, if you don’t confront your love for money and pull it by the roots every time you see it spring up in another corner of your life, it will deceive you until it brings about a ruin.
Note verse 9 of 1st Timothy 6; “Fall into temptation and snare.” Fall into is used for an animal falling into a pit. A snare points to something hidden and unexpected. In verse 10, the word ‘wandered away’ come from a root word meaning to go astray, often with the thought of deception. So the picture is that of an unsuspecting animal gone astray and stepping on some branches only to discover, too late they covered a deep pit. The animal falls in and is trapped.
The reason the pursuit of riches deceives is that such money does not last and it never brings true happiness. As someone has written: “money will buy a bed but not sleep; books but not brains, food but not appetite, finery but not beauty; a house but not a home; medicine but not health; luxuries but not culture, amusement but not happiness; religion but not salvation; a passport is everywhere but not heaven.”
Money doesn’t last and it can’t but time or happiness. Colossians 3:1-2, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God set your affection(love) on the things above, not on things on the earth.” Matthew 6:19, tells us why your love should not be placed on the things of the earth because it does not last.

3. The Destruction: Note Verse 9, “which drown men in destruction and perdition.” and verse 10, “… they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” A person pursuing riches can go along looking fine, but he isn’t prepared for a crisis. He hasn’t been having each day trusting God and looking to Him. People who pursue riches wander away from the faith. The picture here is of a person getting lost. No one plans to get lost. It happens when you think you know where you are going. Pursuing riches often seem like a short cut to happiness but if you go off in that direction, you’ll soon be far from the faith, lost ad confused.
Just like there is a great gain in this world and that which is to come when you forsake the love of money, relatives and the world just for the love of Christ (Matthew 19:27-29); So there is great loss when you remove your love from Jesus and set it on material things. It doesn’t just cost one his life but can also cost him his salvation.

God wants to see you prosperous. 1st John 2, Zechariah 1:17, but in the ambit of His word, because anything outside His Word brings nothing but sorrow and pain. Revelations 2:4, “Nevertheless I have some what against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.” Set you love positioned again on Jesus and let His blessings rain upon you. 

 May God bless you. See you next month.