“Money is the root of all evil” – we’ve all heard it before, but is it true?
We can’t live without money, but too much money can consume us and change us.
We think money can buy us and bring us everything that we want, but is it true? John D. Rockefeller after making millions of dollars admitted, “I have made millions, but they have brought me no happiness.”
Deep within us, all of us want to be loved – it’s a natural human craving. No one is born with an innate craving for money. Babies and children don’t even understand the concept of money! What we are born with is an innate craving for love and acceptance.
However, when our innate craving for love and acceptance isn’t met, especially as adolescents and adults, money enters the scene. Money is the love and acceptance of our culture. We use money to buy ourselves love. We use money to buy ourselves acceptance.
Therefore, perhaps the reason all of us want excess money is because deep down inside of us, we are all craving for love and acceptance.
Perhaps the reason we all want excess money is because it’s sometimes easier to make money than take time to build deeper relationships with those close to us. So we end up sacrificing and replacing true love and acceptance with the illusion of love and acceptance through money.
Sure, we all need money to live. That’s how our society functions. That’s how we can have a roof over our head and eat. But what about all of that excess money? What about that $60/month you spend on movies and games, or the $200/month you spend on eating out, or even the $80/month you spend on alcohol and/or drugs? What are you doing with all of your excess money?
Perhaps you have a natural talent to make money, or maybe you find yourself with $100 of excess money each month always trying to figure out how you can blow it. Next time you find yourself in that situation, ask yourself this:
Is there someone else in this world, right now, who doesn’t have enough money to live? (See Blessings from God)
And don’t just stop there. Go. Move. Act.
Let’s return back to that opening quotation, “Money is the root of all evil.” That can’t be true, can it? It just doesn’t make sense. Then how about this one? “For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.” (1 Timothy 6:10). That makes a bit more sense. It’s not about having money or not having money, but it’s about your heart. How much do you need that thing you are about to buy?
Let me end off with one of my favorite proverbs.
Give me neither poverty nor riches!
Give me just enough to satisfy my needs.
Proverbs 30:8
Good one hun! What a challenging and encouraging post! Thanks!
This was an awesome post.
I must say, that i agree. America is one of the most wasteful countries in food, in money even in gas. This is a very well written post you should check out my blog, this week i’ll be blogging about technology i’d totally like to hear your thoughts.
And Keep an eye out, i might become a regular. 😉
http://gstoneawong.wordpress.com/
The LOVE of money is the root of all evil.
I think anybody who has money is in danger of misusing it, not just americans.
I think a good rule of thumb is if you can’t be responsible with the powers (whether financial or otherwise) you have don’t trust yourself with more.
OR! In other words, if you aren’t generous with the money you have now, you can’t expect to be generous once you have a lot more.
Think about it, if we were to give 10% away…
– 10% of $10 = $1
– 10% 0f $100 = $10
– 10% of $1000 = $100
– 10% of $10 000 = $1 000
– 10% of $100 000 = $10 000
– 10% of $1 000 000 = $100 000
If you can’t give away $10 when you have $100, why do you think you can give away $100 000 when you have $1 000 000? Most likely, if people don’t understand generosity when they have little, they’ll probably only give $10 when they get $100 000.
Exactly. Well put.
LOOK AT THE ROOT
Is a kitchen knife evil?
It depends how it is used.
Is money evil?
It depends on how its used. Greed however is evil,
In all its forms.
dhamma-traveller,
Right on. I totally agree that we need to look at the root. Or in other words, look at the heart.
This is what Jesus said,
“Good people bring good things out of the good stored up in their heart, and evil people bring evil things out of the evil stored up in their heart. For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.”
(Luke 6:45)
Dear friend,
Well said!
Yes greed, desires, lust, hatred, aversion, irritation, anger, envy, confused/misguided/wrong thinking all corrupt the ‘heart.’ It is better to put aside such qualities and develop the opposites such as kindness, compassion, honesty, integrity and wisdom. These qualities uplift the ‘heart.’
May all beings be happy and well…
dhamma-traveller,
I agree with you.
Here is what Jesus says about that as well,
So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
That’s from Galatians 5:16-26