Tag Archives: 1 Timothy 6:17-19

What God Says About Having Money

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Supposedly, there are over 2,300 verses in the Bible about how to deal with money, possessions, greed, investing, and so on while only 500 verses address prayer and faith. Whether these numbers are fact or fiction is not the point…that all wealth given to us or earned by us is sourced from God IS the point.

And for this reason, it is wise to look at wealth from God’s point of view — that is, what he says about wealth in the Scriptures.

Nowhere in scripture is it said that wealth is a sign of God’s favor, even though in ancient biblical times it was thought that rich people were favored by God and the poor were poor simply because they were not in God’s favor. 

Jesus set them (and us) straight in the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus [Luke 16:19-31] In short, Lazarus was dirt poor, covered in sores, lying at the door of an unnamed rich man. Both the poor man and the rich man died at the same time. The poor man was carried by angels to heaven; the rich man was condemned to the netherworld for eternity. If you’ve never read the story, read it here. 

The biblical view of wealth and riches is quite spelled out in 1 Timothy 6:17-19.

Tell the rich in the present age not to be proud and not to rely on so uncertain a thing as wealth but rather on God, who richly provides us with all things for our enjoyment. Tell them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous, ready to share, thus accumulating as treasure a good foundation for the future, so as to win the life that is true life.

1 Timothy 6:17-19

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“Sell All That You Have”

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A rich young man said to Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus answered, “Sell all that you have and give to the poor.” Mark 10:21

What? Sell my home, my cars, the sofa, the lawnmower, clothing, shoes, and all that stuff in my garage? You’ve got to be kidding!

When we, as wealthy Americans (and we are all wealthy as compared to the world population), read this Bible passage, how does it make us feel? Confused mostly, because it can’t be possible for God to wish that we actually sell all that we have and, after it’s all gone, still give more to the poor!

If we have “stuff” and money, are we doomed to the eternal fire because we disobeyed Jesus?

Look at the passage again, the rich young man asked Jesus how to inherit even more than he already had. In addition to his worldly goods, he also wanted to “inherit” (get without working for it) eternal life. 

Jesus was teaching the young man a valuable lesson. Serve the Lord, not money. Comparing the concept of eternity, endless time, with the 70 – 90 years of earthly life, can put a few things into perspective. We also learn in 1 Timothy 6:17-19, that we can serve God and His people by means of our money so as to “win the life that is true life.” Bottom line, material wealth should never become our god, nor should our greed prevent us from reaching out to the needy.