When giving a talk about money, I sometimes start by asking people for a list of verbs we can use in reference to money, like filling in the blank “They _____ money.” People start off with the usual list you’d expect: earn, spend, save, give, borrow, lend. Then you start getting a little deeper: need, waste, steal, hoard. Sometimes it can get really deep: hate, covet, trust, love, worship.
That last list is the one that makes God really jealous and angry, when we feel emotions for an inanimate object, particularly love and worship. The very first two of the ten commandments are exactly this; put no other god above the Lord our God and don’t make a man-made idol and worship it instead. When we start to put our faith and our trust and our security in money, that’s violating these commandments. When we love money, then we cannot love God.
Matthew 6:24 No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
Money is mentioned so many times in the Bible because it is the main competitor with God for our love and our trust. When we love money, then our goals are aimed at getting more money. There’s never enough, we always need more. So when we love money, how do we answer these questions: Are we generous? Are we giving regularly? Are we thinking about people we work with as ones to serve and care for or as competitors for promotions and raises? Are we saving consistently or seeking quick gain with big risks? Are we trustworthy or more likely to cheat/steal for our own gain?
You can read more here: http://matthew2521.wordpress.com/2010/03/17/what-does-it-mean-to-serve-money/
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