Think about this with me… when you came into this world you were naked and unable to gain anything on your own… you couldn’t get food… you couldn’t get clothing… you couldn’t get a diaper wipe when you messed up your diaper.
Do you love money or do you love God with your money? Are you consumed by the pursuit of material gain? Does the next purchase control your ability to be generous? Are you unhappy unless you can buy something new? The Lord wants us to love him with our money by not being controlled by the pursuit of material gain.
Look at 1 Timothy 6:3 – 10…
3 If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, 4 he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, 5 and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
Are you a person who loves money or do you love God with your money? Are you consumed by the pursuit of material gain? Does the next purchase control your ability to be generous? Are you unhappy unless you can buy something new? The Lord wants us to love him with our money by not being controlled by the pursuit of material gain.
Verses 9 – 10, which we looked at a few weeks ago, are most likely the key verses of this passage & they’re located in the middle of 1st Timothy, which is a letter that was written by the apostle Paul to Timothy who was his son in the faith and a young church planter in the city of Ephesus. Throughout this letter Paul tells Timothy how to deal with many different obstacles that arise in ministry and one of the things he warns Timothy about is the danger of being a person who loves money.
In verse 7 Paul reminds Timothy that, “we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.” Think about this with me… when you came into this world you were naked and unable to gain anything on your own… you couldn’t get food… you couldn’t get clothing… you couldn’t get a diaper wipe when you messed up your diaper.
When you came into this world you had nothing & you were capable of nothing. When you leave this world you will leave in the same fashion as you entered this world. When you leave this world you will take nothing with you.
One scholar recounts the story of a millionaire who, “when he died, everyone wanted to know what was in his will. So they whispered to the minister ‘How much did he leave behind?’ And the minister said ‘Everything!’ ‘He left it all behind!’” The millionaire took nothing with him. He left everything behind. This story illustrates how enamored we can be with material gain but it also reminds us that every material thing we work hard for here on this earth will rot away. We won’t take it with us when we die.
So how can you and I grow in our ability to love God with our money instead of being consumed by material gain? I would propose the following four diagnostic statements:
- If you love God with your money then you won’t be negligent with your money you’ll be faithful with it.
- If you love God with your money then you won’t be constantly thinking about your next big purchase you’ll be constantly thinking about how you can wisely manage what God has given you.
- If you love God with your money then you won’t spend your money impulsively but instead you’ll spend your money in accordance with a carefully thought out budget plan.
- If you love God with your money you’ll give a certain percentage of your money to the ministry of the gospel regularly because God gave his Son on your behalf.
Are you a person who loves God with your money or are you a person who is enslaved to material gain? Are you negligent or faithful? Are you a wise manager or a big spender? Are you an impulsive spender or a careful budgeter? Are you generous or selfish?
My prayer is that the Lord applies these questions to your heart and that he produces the fruit of faithfulness in us as we seek to love God with our money.