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The Love of Money

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Samson:
Hi Phazel,

              Money in itself isn't the problem: " For we have brought nothing into the World, and neither can we carry anything out. So, having sustenance and covering, we shall be content with these things. However, those who are determined to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and many senseless and hurtful desires, which plunge men into destruction and ruin. For the Love of money is a root of all sorts of injurious(Evil) things, and by reaching out for this Love some have been led astray from the faith and stabbed themselves with many pains." 1Tim.6:7-10. Although we usually equate the " Love of Money " with the Rich class, you can be poor and have a " Love for Money", people can have an inordinate desire for money to the exclusion of all else. I've heard of people that were of the working class winning the Lottery and to squander their big winnings in a matter of months to a year. That unbalanced view of money can be an Idol or our God, many have killed others for its' sake. Of course Solomon says that Money can be for a protection(Ecclesiastes. 7:12). Money represents purchasing power and in itself has no Morality or desires, it depends who's hands its' in. The Real Question that one could pose is, What would happen if one of us were to inherit a large sum of money. In my case, I know what I hope I would do, but would it actually turn out that way, how would it affect me, would I become arrogant, would I try to hoard it. I have a relative who has a large sum of money and is in his eighties, with no financial concerns at all, yet if he is late returning a library book and owes 20 cents, its' a big deal to him. Obviously, he can't take it with him to the grave, to some extent he's got some of it in a Trust Fund for his offspring, but aside from that amount, he has plenty to spend, yet lives very cheap and is in deep worry about his stocks. He has alot of oil stocks(no need to worry about them at this time, Ha Ha). Anyway, I cited this example regarding money, because its' one I'm directly familiar with and is a fact in this case.  Just my thoughts, For whatever its' worth.

                                         Your Brother in Christ, Samson.

phazel:

Thanks for your input Samson.  I will clarify a bit on what I am saying.  I am not suggesting that money itself is a problem.  There are many good uses for money as you have pointed out.   I work for a living and if I can get a raise at work, I certainly will.    But I am going by the whole verse.   It seems that a fondness for money cause some to go astray from the truth.


From my observance of  Christianity , the teachings in  church are structured to grow a churches membership so there will be more income and a large majority of the teachings appeals to human emotion and love of self.

I see a lot of the media that the church I left purchased was from large churches and it always has the free will self power aspect to the teaching structured in such a way to  get people all fired up about what they can do.  What poweer they have of their own.   The flesh likes control and power.

This also does not mean that a church with paid staff is inherantly evil just because they get paid.  But, if the large successful organizations in Christianity are setting the benchmark for what other churches teach because of the money it can generate and they do not care so much for biblical truth as just a biblical perspective that sounds nice and gets people to buy their stuff, then there is a root in evil for the love of money in that.

I hope that clarifies my perspective a bit.

hillsbororiver:

--- Quote from: phazel on February 25, 2008, 04:53:42 PM ---
In many areas of what we consider evil money does not apply at all I do not think.  If a child gets raped, it is doubtful the root is money, so that would appear to be a contradiction to the above verse?


--- End quote ---

Hi Phazel,

I don't think the verse is a contradiction, it is more of a translation issue. If you look at the definitions above (my previous post) you see that the original Greek word include covetousness.

"Thou shalt not covet" led to the very first sin that was committed.

Amen Samson,

Your post brought some scriptures to mind.

Pro 30:8  Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me:
 
Pro 30:9  Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.

Php 4:11  Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
 
1Ti 6:8  And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.

Heb 13:5  Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

Peace,

Joe

phazel:
Thanks for all the replies.

I want to make sure I am just trying to clarify the difference in how we may look at evil.  Ray does tell us to pay attention to the words.  I sometimes can be slow so bear with me.  :D

I see some significant things.  So follow my train of thought here a minute.

We typically view demons as evil, but I find it very curious in Mark 5 that Jesus seems to very calmly address the unclean spirits in the man in the tombs.  Jesus even honors the demons request of where to be sent.    Jesus seemed to treat the pharasees more harshly than he did a legion of demons.   I'm like.... What the????


So we would look at a rape as an evil act.  I am only trying to correlate  the evil we would perceive a rape to be and the verse that states what the root of evil is.

I know the verse is not saying that money is evil, it is saying  coveting money is a root of "all"  Evils.


So coveting in and of itself is not at issue, it is coveting money.   So I am trying to see how what we would  consider to be evil that doesn't appear to be rooted in the coveting of money applies to that verse.


Could it be possible, that what appears to be evil acts is not evil but simply a natural state of the flesh and Evil is actually in babylon when the source of evil teachings is the struggle for dollars?

Sorry if I am not getting this very quickly.

Samson:
Hello again Phazel,

                           This Topic is of interest to me, because I grew up in a household where Money and Secular success were more important than the people living in that household, I'm convinced that God planned that experience in my case as a learning experience, when love in your household is superficial and Money is the main emphasis, it devalues the people in it. Thats' why in my last Post in this thread when Quoting 1Timothy. 6:7-10, I began with verse seven, but wanted you to especially notice verse eight, " SO, HAVING SUSTENANCE AND COVERING, WE SHALL BE CONTENT WITH THESE THINGS ", I think the key point is BEING CONTENT WITH THESE THINGS. We can apply this point to Church Organizations in that they need money to run and finance their ministry, just like this ministry needs financing to sustain and operate this Web-Site. In these Tele-Evangelist Ministries, individuals are benefitting, so as to become filthy rich and then they act as if God is blessing their financial standing. It doesn't appear they would be content with only sustenance and covering. Does this imply that its' wrong to have more than Sustenance and Covering, Absolutely Not. When someone due to circumstances beyond their knowing it, loses that Money, WHAT WILL THEY DO(theirs' that word Will again-oh,oh), BE CONTENT WITH SUSTENANCE AND COVERING or use ANY MEANS they can to achieve their former wealth. If in the right hands, money can be used for much good, money has no conscience, however as stated previously in my last post, I don't really know how inheriting alot of money would affect me, although my previous experiences in life, has given me insight as to how I wouldn't want to end up. Those that continue to be ruled by their excessive riches aren't likely to learn anything, at least in this lifetime and as I expressed in my last Post, I know of such a person(relative) close to home(no, he's not as rich as Mark Cuban or Bill Gates), but Money Pre-dominates his conversation(Matt. 15:17-19" that which proceeds from the mouth,comes out of the heart). Hopefully I helped you with this post to clarify further, hopefully I didn't add any confusion, sometimes I tend to rant on about a Subject, but my intention is to be clear on all points, so the reader doesn't get the wrong idea.

                         They say that English is one of the most difficult Languages to learn, words can have alot of different meanings or shades, must be difficult for those coming from another Language.

                                 Peace and Understanding to You-Phazel, we all need God to help us understand, thats' for sure.   Your Brother, Samson.

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