by Edwin Crozier<\/p>\n
The number one enemy competing with God for control of our hearts, minds, and lives is not Baal, Molech, Zeus, or Jupiter. It is, no doubt, money. Money seems to make life easier. It promises security and protection. It claims to give happiness. It certainly gains a following. And it is visible. It seems more real, even these days when so much of our money is just ones and zeros in a computer somewhere.<\/p>\n
Paul encourages Timothy, the Ephesians, and us to be content with food and clothing. I admit, I struggle with this one. I pray God will grow me to be this content. I think I find it easier to be content because I have so much more than food and clothing.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, Paul explains that the desire for wealth leads to temptation. After all, he had already described how the desire for wealth had ruined the teaching of those who enjoyed quarreling about words. The craving for money and riches often leads people to ruin and destruction. In order to chase money, folks have stolen, murdered, gossiped, slandered, lied, cheated, committed immorality, and on the list goes. Some have even wandered from the faith in God because of their faith in money. They have pierced themselves with many pangs.<\/p>\n
I can’t help but think of the apostle Judas Iscariot every time I read this passage. Judas’s problem was not that he hated Jesus. He didn’t betray Jesus because he disliked Jesus or even disagreed with Jesus. He loved money. In pursuit of money, he betrayed innocent blood. When he came to his senses and realized what he had done, he was so pierced through with pangs that he killed himself.<\/p>\n
And that is the problem for any and all of us. We don’t hate Jesus. We love Jesus. But we can’t love money alongside Jesus. That’s not to say we can’t have money or use money. But the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Even as we still go to church, even as we still try to obey God, the love of money will lead us astray. As Jesus said, we can’t serve two masters. We’ll either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to one and despise the other (Matthew 6:24).<\/p>\n
As the old saying goes, money is a good servant, but a terrible master. We can manage money. We can use money. We can spend money. We can save money. But we must be careful. If we start to love money, let us not think we’ll escape unscathed.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Edwin Crozier The number one enemy competing with God for control of our hearts, minds, and lives is not Baal, Molech, Zeus, or Jupiter. It is, no doubt, money. Money seems to make life easier. It promises security and protection. It claims to give happiness. It certainly gains a following. And it is visible.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[549,258,576],"class_list":["post-96695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-greed","tag-money-management","tag-wealth"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":20751,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-disagree-with-is-gambling-sinful\/","url_meta":{"origin":96695,"position":0},"title":"I disagree with ‘Is Gambling Sinful?’","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 6, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a 16-year-old boy. I've grown up in the church and I hope to get a degree in Biblical and Religious Studies when I graduate college. I feel that I am more intelligent and mature than most boys my age. Having said this, I disagree with \"Is Gambling\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11663,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/money-matters\/","url_meta":{"origin":96695,"position":1},"title":"Money Matters","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 3, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Chronicles 29:10-18 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We live in a society consumed with the desire for wealth \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Since money is a part of a Christian\u2019s life, we need to know how to properly regard money and wealth. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We need to know how to properly handle money. II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Wealth\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":59910,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/surviving-the-financial-crisis\/","url_meta":{"origin":96695,"position":2},"title":"Surviving the Financial Crisis","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 14, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by Kent Heaton A financial crisis occurs when the crisis of a man's soul is dependent upon the financial condition of his heart. Samuel Johnson said, \"The love of money has been in all ages, one of the passions that have given great disturbances to the tranquility of the world\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/03\/money.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11680,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/planning-for-uncertainties\/","url_meta":{"origin":96695,"position":3},"title":"Planning for Uncertainties","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 30, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Genesis 41:25-40 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Consistently, the Scriptures warn us that wealth is an unreliable commodity \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Wealth is untrustworthy - Proverbs 11:28 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Making wealth your goal is foolish - Proverbs 23:4-5 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is also dangerous - I Timothy 6:9-11 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Ironically, the desire for wealth \u2013 greed \u2013\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":96804,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/storing-up-treasures-in-heaven\/","url_meta":{"origin":96695,"position":4},"title":"Storing Up Treasures in Heaven","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 20, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Edwin Crozier On the surface, it may have seemed Paul had moved on from talking about a relationship with money. But I Timothy 6:17-19 brings us right back to it. Having explained to Timothy how the craving for money had ruined other teachers and Christians and then directed Timothy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42973,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/christlike-clothing\/","url_meta":{"origin":96695,"position":5},"title":"Christlike Clothing","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 8, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford One of the longest modesty texts in the Bible never mentions the word once. It appears in Colossians 3:12-17, a passage about the virtues in which Christians should clothe themselves. They are the things that others should see when they look at us. To many Christians\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/dress-199x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96695"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96695\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}