Most people who say they follow God will read one or two verses about money and spend the rest of their lives afraid of it.

They read about the camel and the eye of the needle. They read about the rich young ruler. And they walk away thinking money is dangerous, that wealth is something to avoid, that God does not want them to have it.

I want to push back on that. Not because money is the point, but because fear of money is not the answer either. And I think when you actually read Scripture, the picture looks very different from what most people have been taught.

The Verses People Don't Pay Enough Attention To

Start with the one everyone knows. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. People read that and conclude that being wealthy is basically disqualifying them.

But think about that for a second... Jesus, the Son of God, was nailed to a cross, and died to forgive our sins. That does not seem easy either. The point is not that rich people cannot be saved. The point is that nothing about getting into heaven is easy on our own. It requires Jesus.

Then there is the rich young ruler. He comes to Jesus, says he has kept all the commandments since his youth, and asks what else he must do. Jesus tells him to sell everything, give it to the poor, and follow him. The young man walks away sad because he had many possessions.

People read that story and conclude that possessions are bad. But look more carefully at what was actually happening. The young man's possessions mattered more to him than following Jesus. That was the problem. Not the money itself, but what he loved more. His wealth had become an idol.

That brings us to the verse that gets misquoted constantly. 1 Timothy 6:10 does not say money is the root of all evil. It says the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Those are very different statements. One says money is the problem. The other says where your heart is positioned toward money is the problem.

God Uses Wealth as a Blessing Throughout Scripture

If money itself were evil, you would expect God to never bless people with it. But that is not what the Bible shows.

Look at the story of Job. Job was a righteous man. Satan came to God and asked permission to test him. God allowed it. Job lost everything, his possessions, his children, his health. In the middle of all of it, his wife told him to curse God and die. He refused. He believed that even in this trail, God is good, God is King.

At the end, God restores Job. And it says he was given twice as much as he had before. That includes material possessions. God used abundance as a blessing for a man who stayed faithful in the worst circumstances imaginable.

Then there is Solomon. When he was first coming into power, God appeared to him in a dream and told him to ask for whatever he wanted. Solomon asked for wisdom to rule his people well. God was pleased. And in 1 Kings 3, God says: I have given you a wise and understanding heart, and I have also given you what you have not asked for, both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days.

God gave Solomon wealth as a reward. Not in spite of his faith, but alongside it.

What We Should Actually Do With This

God is not scared of money. He created the world, he created material wealth, and he has used it as a blessing for people throughout the entire biblical narrative.

What he is clear about is that money should not become an idol. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. That is not a promise that following God makes you rich. But it is a statement of priority. Love God first. Pursue his righteousness first. And do not be afraid of what he might add to your life after. 

If you have been scared of money your whole life because of a few verses you read out of context, I want to encourage you to go back and read the whole story. Read Job. Read about Solomon. Read First Timothy 6:10 in full, not just the quick and dirty version of it that gets passed around.

God says fear not throughout Scripture consistently... He is not scared of money. And as his children, we do not have to be either.

The goal is not to love money. The goal is to love God and use money as the tool it is, for good, for generosity, for building something that matters.

​If you want to start learning how money actually works and how to make it work for you, the First Stock Challenge is a great place to start. Click the link and register. I will see you there.