What does the Bible Teach about Money and Possessions?

On Monday, August 29, we looked at "What does the Bible Teach about Money and Possessions."  The Bible teaches that we should not spend our lives laboring to gather money and possessions, because they are all temporary.  If this causes us to lose sight of God and His blessings, then our riches amount to nothing.  However, if we seek God first and all His righteousness, He will provide for us what we need and will also give us eternal life.

The notes of our study are here below.

August 29, 2011

What Does the Bible Teach about Money and Possessions?

Opening Question: What is your most prized material possession and why?

We may have been blessed with a powerful computer, a great sound system or a fast car.  These are all things that make our life more enjoyable and our time more efficient.  Some material possessions help us to be refreshed and ready to face another day.  Others provide us with the tools to do our jobs faster or better.

What does the Bible say about our attitude toward money and possessions?

Many times when someone has great material wealth, people attribute that to the ability, the wit and the hard work of the individual.  This may be true is most, if not all cases.  However, people tend to forget that it is God who blesses people with everything they have.

Proverbs 28:20 says that: 20 A faithful person will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished.

We are not simply talking about material possessions, because we all know that happiness, peace, joy, satisfaction does not come necessarily because of having things.  It comes from having a state of mind that you know things will work out well for you in your life, no matter what the circumstances of your life area.  And such a calm, relaxed, trusting state of mind can only come by believing in God.

In Matthew 6:19-21, Jesus teaches us:  19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Then, in the following verses, Jesus continues: 24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.  25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?  26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

Our time and our resources are limited.  If we chose to serve money, to dedicate our life only to the pursue of the dollar and not to seek God, then of course we will not serve him.  So we can chose money and forget about God, or we can chose God and he will provide for all our needs.

Jesus continues in verses 28-33: 28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.  29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?  31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

It is important to remember that money and possessions are not inherently evil – meaning that we should stay away from them and never have any money or possessions.  God has blessed us with families, for which we need to take care of and He also expect us to help the people that are in need.

In 1 Timothy 6:6-10, we read: 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.  7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.  8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.  9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.  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.

It is not that money is bad, but if we love the money more than we love God, then we are serving money and not God.  Also, if we allow this love for the money to take away from our faith, then we have allowed money to become an obstacle to us seeking God.

Conclusions

The Bible is clear that we should seek God and his righteousness in our life and not spend our days laboring to gather money and possessions.  We know that money cannot buy us happiness or eternal life, but God can give us both: peace of mind and the hope of salvation while we are here on earth and eternal life with His in heaven.