“Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” (Matthew 19:21 (ESV))
As followers of Jesus, what should we make of a verse like this? Are we to go and sell all we have? Is this a command for Christians to live in poverty? The answers to these questions are not as cut and dry as we might like to think.
Abraham and Isaac, the fathers of the faith, were very wealthy men, but Jesus and the apostles seemed to live in poverty. Although Jesus lived in poverty, two of his disciples, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, had great wealth and were able to use that to provide a tomb and a proper burial for Jesus. The point is not that some of these men were right and others wrong, but that God had unique plans for each of them.
Although God doesn’t provide a one-size-fits-all solution, He does give us some guidelines that everyone would do well to pay attention to. 1 Timothy 6:6-19 gives us some good guidelines for managing our wealth as believers. We will consider this passage line by line and summarize at the end with 5 key principles.
1: Be Content with God
1 Timothy 6:6–7 (ESV)
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.
Here we see a key to biblical money management; our joy and contentment must come from godliness, not finances. If you think you would be happy if you just had something more, a better job, a nicer car, more vacation time, then you are deceived. A Christian’s contentment should come from God and God alone.
2: Don’t Desire to be Rich
1 Timothy 6:8–9 (ESV)
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.
The second principle is that we must not desire to be rich, or we will fall into temptation and a snare. Notice here that the verse states this as certain, not just a potential. The desire to be rich is not God’s will for your life. Please hear me right here, I am not stating that being rich is wrong, rather that the desire to be rich is warned against in the scripture.
Hearing this, many people may excuse themselves, believing that they do not desire to be rich. A good litmus test is to see if your standard of living is constantly increasing, or if you are constantly wishing you had a higher standard of living, then you probably desire to be rich.
3: Pursue Righteousness
1 Timothy 6:10–12 (ESV)
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.
11 But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
Here we see one of the few things we are called to flee from in the scriptures: the love of money. Money itself is neither good or bad; it is a tool that can be used for either good or bad, the love of money is something that is biblically commanded that you flee from. Rather than pursuing money, we are commanded to pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness.
Notice that the next verse describes this process as a fight. Pursuing God’s will rather than money is a constant fight and will not be easy and cannot be passively taken, but when fought for properly, it is a powerful tool!
4: Don’t Be Haughty
1 Timothy 6:17 (ESV)
17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.
The next command is directed specifically to those who do have enough. The command for them is to avoid pride. This pride can manifest in looking down on others who struggle to provide enough for their family. We must realize that all we have is from the LORD and that he is the one who gives us the ability to produce wealth, not our own efforts (Deuteronomy 8:18).
5: Be Rich in Good Works
1 Timothy 6:18 (ESV)
18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share,
Here, Paul instructs that the rich should do good, be rich in good works, and be generous and ready to share. One trap the rich fall easily into is thinking giving away their money is the only good work God requires of them, when in reality they should be Rich in good works. Just as you diversify your money, so must you diversify your good works, not just giving money, but also personally sacrificing for the good of others.
Conclusion:
1 Timothy 6:19 (ESV)
19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.
When these principles are followed, they allow us to store up treasure that will last for eternity and even help us obtain the eternal life promised by the free gift of God’s son, Jesus.
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