Posts Tagged “money”

Over the past several years Jim and I have taught on money many times, check out some more money teachings here.

There’s an App for That – Money.
In The Margin – Margin for the Marginalized
Brix
Pirates
Who Cares
Nightmare on Our Street

Jim quoted 1 Timothy 6:10 this weekend and the phrase at the end of that verse stood out to me, “pierced themselves with many griefs”. What is so tragic about this is that this wound is self- inflicted and in the context refers to a fatal wound. If you read this verse in its context 1 Timothy 6:3-21 Paul is actually telling Timothy to guard his church against false teachers and their tendency to use God and people to gain wealth. Yet the principle applies to more than just religious gold diggers, it applies to all of us who get deceived by wealth. 1 Timothy 6:6-8 gives us the principle that drives this entire teaching, and its so obvious. This truth much like the truth we looked at with worry (Matthew 6:27) is undeniable. You cannot argue with this truth, but again we don’t live like we agree with it. The great disconnect between what we say we believe and what we live like we believe is where the deceitfulness of wealth is revealed. We say we believe that we brought nothing into the world and we cannot take anything out of it (1 Timothy 6:7) but we live as if we were preparing to furnish our own houses in heaven. The problem is Jesus said, “in my fathers’ house there are many ROOMS” (John 14:2) and He has gone on to prepare a place for us. God has heaven under control and He has commanded us to travel light as strangers or foreigners (1 Peter 2:11) just passing through while we are here. How many of us will get tripped up along the way by the deceitfulness of wealth and in so doing “pierce ourselves with many griefs”? The good news is that we are not only told what to avoid, but what to run after (1 Timothy 6:11). Paul doesn’t take things away without replacing them, because Paul was helpful and knew his own heart well enough to know that just telling people what not to do is not helpful. We need things worth chasing, things worth pursuing and a a life worth living. With all that in mind Paul tells Timothy to pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness and to fight the good fight of faith.