Biblical View of Money

It is interesting to notice that half of the parables of Jesus recorded in the Gospels deal with money and possessions. In fact, Jesus said more about money than about heaven and hell combined. There are about 500 verses in the Bible dealing with prayer and about 500 verses dealing on faith, whereas there are over 2000 verses in the Bible concerning money and possessions. Check out the following topics.

• God the provider for our needs - Matthew 6:31-33
• Being good stewards of what God provides - Genesis 1:28
• Debt and how to handle it - Psalm 37:21, Proverbs 3:27-28
• Cosigning loans - Proverbs 6:1-5
• The acquisition of money by work - Proverbs 6:6-9
• Being ethical in our financial dealings - Deuteronomy 5:19-21, Proverbs 10:2
• Saving - Proverbs 21:20
• Investing - Proverbs 21:5, Matthew 25:14-29
• Inheritances - Numbers 27: 8-11, Proverbs 13:22
• Giving to God - Genesis 28:22, Matthew 23:23-25
• Giving to others - Deuteronomy 18:1-5, Proverbs 28:27

The basic concern of the Bible seems to be with our attitude toward money. Greed and love of money are particularly addressed. Paul warns Timothy that "the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil" (1 Timothy 6:10). In his letters to the Ephesians and the Colossians, Paul equates greed with idolatry (Ephesians 5:5, Colossians 3:5). In the story of the rich young ruler, we see that the ruler's love of money stood in the way of his following Christ (Matthew 19:16-22) And Jesus taught, "Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions" (Luke 12:14).

The society we live in has a much more complicated economic system than societies had in Bible times. However, it is plain to see that the principles of scripture are just as applicable today.