Ruin and Destruction

Good Morning,

1 Timothy 6:6-10 (NIV)
But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

We're all familiar with the verse that says, "For the love of money is a rood of all kinds of evil," but we don't often look at the verses surrounding those more famous words. And, if truth be told, way too many people misquote the Bible and say, "Money IS the root of evil." Now, I hope we all know and understand that money, in and of itself, isn't evil...nor is it the root of evil. However, of course, it can...and often does...lead to many kinds of evil in people's lives.

In these verses Paul talks to Timothy about being content before he speaks of the evil and temptations that money and riches often bring. I suppose then, as Paul wrote about several times in his epistles, we should grasp the true meaning of being content and examine ourselves to see what being content is to us as individual human beings. But, that's another message that we've spoken about in the past.

Today the verse that struck me in this section of Scripture is one that precedes the "love of money" words that Paul wrote. He tells Timothy, and us, "People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction." I guess if we want to use an example of the truth of these words all we've got to do is to look at the world around us and some of the individuals in the news. Does the name Madoff come to mind, perhaps? Does the unmitigated greed that we've seen for so many years make an impact on your thinking?

THIS, I think, is exactly the kind of world that Paul could see when he wrote the words that God gave him in these verses. Maybe he didn't foresee exactly what's occurring in today's day and age, but he certainly was given the Godly wisdom to see the consequences of the desire to be rich and what uncontrolled greed could bring to men...and to the world.

The sad thing in all of this is that so many of the people, those who have sought to be rich and who succumbed to greed in their lives, is the fact that they attended good Christian congregations each week. They professed a love of God and said that they are believers in Jesus Christ. The claimed to be living a Christian lifestyle. Yet, "the love of money" and the "want to get rich" proved the rule that Paul wrote as a warning to all people for all time. I truly believe that the problems and challenges that face the world in our financial markets today can go back, very simply, to what Paul wrote and one word...greed.

I know that at this point in time many are saying, "Oh, we've learned now from the mistakes that people have made. Yes, we know that we need to make changes in the ways that we do business so this can never happen again." I certainly agree that these statements are true. BUT...I also believe that if we don't heed the warnings that God gave us through Paul in these verses, well, we're destined to repeat the behaviors that have gotten into this mess.

I hope we all see that we need to change our mind set about money and the desire for riches. I pray that we all will listen to God and what He has to say to us about this.

Love, peace, and blessings,

David