What does The Bible say about Money

  know how many bible verses are on
the topic of “money”?
I was curious, so I did some research.
What I found is shocking to say the least. Here’s a few
of the highlights from my reading:
Money is mentioned about 2,000 times in the
bible.

Jesus spoke about money more than any other
subject.
In the New Testament, money is mentioned more
times than heaven and hell combined.
    I was sceptical, so I decided to head over to
biblegateway.com to do my own keyword search.
Here’s the list of the “money” related terms that I used
for the search: Money, Gold, Silver, Finances, Borrow,
Debt, Lend, Buy, Sell, Tithe, Wage, Wealth, Riches, Greed,
Poor, Talent.
The Bible Says a Lot About
Money
Believe it or not, this list of words returned 1,346 verses
using the New Living Translation. Add in a few more
terms that I probably left out, and it’s not such a far
stretch to believe money really is mentioned about 2,000
times in the bible.
I know what you’re probably thinking. “Why are you
    talking about 1,346 verses? This post is supposed to be
about 10 verses that will change my life!”
God Cares a Lot About Your
Finances
The reason I bring this up is to show you that God is
very concerned with our view of money. If the topic
wasn’t important, or if it was easy to grasp, 1,000+
verses would not be necessary.
I realize you’re probably not interested in going through
the full list of verses right now. So, I’ve tried my best to
narrow the field. It wasn’t easy.
My goal was to touch on each “money principle” found
in the bible. If more than one verse focused on the
same principle, I picked the more popular and
memorable verse. You may have heard a few (or all) of
these verses before, but that’s a good thing!
The purpose of this post is to give you a resource that
you can read, remember, and apply to change your
financial life for the better.
While you’re reading through this list, think about your
personal situation. If you find a certain verse that really
impacts you, write it down and save it for future
reference.
Top 10 Life Changing Verses
1. 1 Timothy 6:9-11
People who long to be rich fall into
temptation and are trapped by many
foolish and harmful desires that
plunge them into ruin and
destruction. For the love of money is
the root of all kinds of evil. And
some people, craving money, have
wandered from the true faith and
pierced themselves with many
sorrows. But you, Timothy, are a
man of God; so run from all these
evil things. Pursue righteousness and
a godly life…
“Money is the root of all evil” is one of the most
commonly misquoted verses from the bible. Do you see
what is missing? The words “the love of…” and the
context.
By itself, you get the impression that money is always
bad. It’s not.
Paul is writing this to Timothy, who has been sent to
Ephesus. The city has seen an uprising of false teachers
and people preaching as a means to become wealthy.
These “preachers” were so motivated to make money,
they turned their backs on Jesus and the truth of the
Gospel.
This is a scary example of evil that came directly from
the love of money.
It all comes down to priorities. You must put your trust
in God and pursue a godly life. If you find yourself
loving money, watch out. It’s a root that will cause all
kinds of evil.
2. Matthew 6:24
“No one can serve two masters. For
you will hate one and love the other;
you will be devoted to one and
despise the other. You cannot serve
both God and money.”
Again, it comes down to priorities. Are you going to
love God or love money? Are you going to serve God or
serve money?
You have a choice and you can’t choose both.
3. Hebrews 13:5
Don’t love money; be satisfied with
what you have. For God has said, “I
will never fail you. I will never
abandon you.”
If you haven’t picked it up by now, here’s a third verse
with the same phrase. Don’t love money.
This verse takes it a step further by explaining why you
should choose to trust God, not money. Why? Because
God has made a promise to never fail you.
Can money fail you? You better believe it. I’m sure you
can come up with a long list of reasons not to trust
money. Stock markets crash, people lose their jobs,
unexpected medical bills can send someone into
bankruptcy… The list goes on.
Since it’s true God will never fail you, you are free to be
content and satisfied, regardless of your financial
situation.
4. Matthew 6:31-33
“So don’t worry about these things,
saying, ‘What will we eat? What will
we drink? What will we wear?’ These
things dominate the thoughts of
unbelievers, but your heavenly Father
already knows all your needs. Seek
the Kingdom of God above all else,
and live righteously, and he will give
you everything you need .”
Someone once told me, “90% of what you worry about
will never happen and worrying about the other 10%
doesn’t help the problem anyway!” As believers we
know that God is in control.
If we seek him first, he will take care of the rest.
5. Proverbs 13:11
Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes
quickly disappears;
Wealth from hard work grows over
time.
Here’s the same verse from the NASB, which refers to
fraud rather than get-rich-quick schemes:
Wealth obtained by fraud dwindles,
But the one who gathers by labor
increases it.
To avoid any confusion, it’s important to understand
being satisfied with your circumstances does not mean
you can be lazy. As you may expect, hard work leads
to wealth .
Lying, cheating, and taking advantage of people are not
sustainable ways to increase your wealth. Over time
these things will catch up with you and before you know
it your money will be gone. Honest, hard work will lead
to increasing wealth.
6. Proverbs 21:5
Good planning and hard work lead
to prosperity ,
but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.
While you’re working hard, you may as well work smart.
Careful planning is also important to building wealth.
7. Proverbs 22:7
Just as the rich rule the poor, so the
borrower is servant to the lender.
If you’re living paycheck to paycheck with bills piling up,
you can relate to this verse. Debt can trap you and
control your life.
Unless you want to become a “slave to debt”, you need
to work hard, be honest, plan ahead, and spend less
than you earn.
8. Matthew 6:19-21
“Don’t store up treasures here on
earth, where moths eat them and
rust destroys them, and where
thieves break in and steal. Store
your treasures in heaven, where
moths and rust cannot destroy, and
thieves do not break in and steal.
Wherever your treasure is, there the
desires of your heart will also be. ”
One more verse about priorities. It’s ok, we need it.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of storing your treasure on
here earth, especially with the pressures of today’s
society.
The next time you’re trying to decide between a) buying
something you don’t really need, like new clothes or a
fancy new car, or b) giving your money back to God or
to someone in desperate need, think of this verse.
Store your treasures in heaven, not here on earth.
Moths eat clothes. Rust destroys cars. Treasure in
heaven is everlasting.
9. Malachi 3:9-12
You are under a curse, for your
whole nation has been cheating me.
Bring all the tithes into the
storehouse so there will be enough
food in my Temple. If you do,” says
the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will
open the windows of heaven for you.
I will pour out a blessing so great
you won’t have enough room to take
it in! Try it! Put me to the test! Your
crops will be abundant, for I will
guard them from insects and
disease. Your grapes will not fall
from the vine before they are ripe,”
says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.
“Then all nations will call you
blessed, for your land will be such a
delight,” says the LORD of Heaven’s
Armies.
It’s not everyday that God tells you to put him to the
test. In fact, this is the only place in the bible this
happens. I believe God does this to make a point.
Tithing is a touchy subject, but the bible consistently
says those that give generously and cheerfully will be
blessed. Unfortunately, when times are tough and we
need God’s blessing the most, giving is usually the first
thing to be cut out of our budgets.
We need to remember, it all belongs to God in the first
place. He doesn’t need our money, but he wants us to
be faithful in giving and surrendering our possessions to
him.
10. Luke 16:10-12
“If you are faithful in little things, you
will be faithful in large ones. But if
you are dishonest in little things, you
won’t be honest with greater
responsibilities. And if you are
untrustworthy about worldly wealth,
who will trust you with the true
riches of heaven? And if you are not
faithful with other people’s things,
why should you be trusted with
things of your own?
We have a responsibility to be faithful with the things we
have been trusted with. Our life on earth is just a vapor
that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.
Similar to this verse is the parable found in Matthew
25:20-30 (which deserves it’s own post). This parable
is about the master who divided his money among his
servants. The servants who took the money they were
given and used it to earn more were told, “Well done,
my good and faithful servant.” The servant that did
nothing with the money was called wicked and lazy.
With wealth comes responsibility. If you are faithful with
the money, opportunity, and skills given to you, you were
be rewarded here on earth as well as in heaven.
Top 10 Recap
1. Love God. Don’t love money.
2. You cannot love both God and money.
3. Be satisfied. God has promised to never fail you.
4. Seek God first. He has promised to give you
everything you need.
5. Work hard. Be honest.
6. Plan your work. No shortcuts.
7. Stay out of debt. The borrower is servant to the
lender.
8. Store your treasures in heaven. Not here on
earth.
9. Be generous and cheerful with giving. God will
bless you in this.
10. Be a good steward of what you have been given
here on earth.
What Do You Think?
Remember, this is the list of verses that have impacted
my financial life the most. Now I want to hear from you.
Which one of these verses has made an impact on your
life? Would you add any other verses to this list?
Please share your thoughts in the comments box below.