What Does the Bible Say About Money?

Many people are confused by what the Bible has to say about money. Misconceptions abound about money being "evil," when money in and of itself is neither good nor evil. It is what we do with our money that matters. The Bible says that God cares more about our attitude toward money than about money itself. According to the Bible, God values money in a very different way than man does.

God wants us to keep money in perspective. If we "serve" money, then we cannot also serve God. While money has its place, God wants our focus on eternal things. Jesus pointed out that we need not worry about things like what to eat or wear. If we seek God's kingdom first, then God will give us these other things as well. See Matthew 6:19-34.

Many people mistakenly believe the Bible says that money is the "root of all evil." This is incorrect. What the Bible says is that the "love" of money is the root of all kinds of evil. See I Timothy 6:10. Some people have allowed their love of money to overshadow their faith. An example is Ananias and Sapphira, who lied to the apostles about donating all proceeds from a property sale to the church when they actually kept some for themselves. See Acts 5:1-10.

God measures the value of our money differently than man does. In Mark 12:41-44, Jesus observed rich people donating large amounts of money to the temple while a widow gave only two very small copper coins. Jesus said that the widow put more in the treasury than everyone else, because the others gave out of their wealth while the widow gave out of her poverty.

In Malachi 3:8-12, God makes it clear that he expects His people to tithe, which means give a tenth of your income to the church. God actually says to "test" Him on his promise of blessing those who tithe. Verse 10 states that, if we tithe, He will "open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it." By giving our money, we get the benefit of receiving generous blessings from God.

The Bible warns us against loving money. God does not like usury. See Nehemiah 5:9-11. God does not even like charging interest when we loan money to a "brother." See Deuteronomy 23:19-20. The Bible also warns that those who love money will never have enough money and will never be satisfied with what they have. See Ecclesiastes 5:10. Jesus, who rarely got angry, also took offense at money-changers doing business in the temple, because their love of money caused them to turn a place of worship into a "den of robbers." See Mark 11:15-17.