In this lesson, we’re going to look at how God views money. What is the reality of God’s expectations for how treat the money we have? To many of us, our money can become everything. Think about it – when we lose our jobs or financial disaster strikes, we may say, “I’ve lost everything,” but the truth is we haven’t. Yes, we’ve lost things that make us feel secure in our lives, but we have not lost the reality of God’s salvation. We have to remember that our finances are not, in fact, everything.
A Different Priority
In Matthew 6:19, Jesus says:
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
If we’re dedicated to accumulating and building up stuff, we’re setting ourselves up to fail. It cannot last. I Timothy 6:5-7 reminds us that we enter the world with nothing and can take nothing with us while criticizing those who look to religion as a financial opportunity. Paul goes on to call greed the root of all evil.
Laying Up Treasure with Treasure
So what should we be doing with our money? How can we lay up treasure in Heaven with the treasures of this world? Paul tells us providing for our family is important in I Timothy 5:8. II Thessalonians 3:6-11 talks about encouraging one another to avoid idleness in providing for our own. Also, Acts 2:42-47 and Acts 4:32 show Christians not just taking care of their own families; they took care of each other too, giving up things we have a hard time imagining to help each other out.
Even beyond using our resources to care for our families and our fellow Christians, we should be looking out for the poor and needy. There are about a hundred passages in the Bible about providing for the poor. Matthew 25:31-46 drives this point home, showing Jesus judging His disciples by the way they gave of themselves to those in need. Matthew 6:1-4, though, talks about our motivation in our generosity; not for praise or attention but simply because it is the right thing to do. Like the rich young ruler, though, we sometimes find this tough because we don’t want to lose “everything.”
Content with God’s Grace
What attitude do we have about our money, our financial security, about our generosity, about our giving? In no part of our lives does God want a portion of our dedication. As Christians, we know we should not be selfish with our time or with our effort, so why do we think it’s okay to be so selfish with our money? We know we are living sacrifices, and that we entirely belong to God, so we have to realize that if we are God’s, then all that we have is also His.
Think about that first sin in the garden, Eve being enticed by the serpent. Satan is promising her more than God has given her. He tells her, “You deserve more,” and he does the same to us today. He entices us away from investing in treasures in Heaven, and he drives us to focus on ourselves instead of others.
We need to think about our spending priorities. We need to search out opportunities to give of ourselves – to the poor, to missionaries, to those with an immediate need – keeping a humble spirit in our giving. And we need to realize that the things of this world are not everything. This is not our reality. God is, and we have to be willing to turn away from the priorities of this world and turn toward those we see in God’s word.
lesson by Ben Lanius
