Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  Day 140

May 20;   I Timothy 6:10;   196/260(I);   ‘The Love of Money’

1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

This is one of the most misquoted verses in the Bible.  Those who do not know the Lord have been erroneously taught by this verse that the Lord does not want His people to have anything.  They have been taught that God says that money is the root of all evil.  Money is neither good nor evil, money is neutral.  The use of money can be and should be for good.  Money can also be used for evil things.  The Lord is good.  In the Old Testament, the men of God who served the Lord faithfully were abundantly blessed financially.  3 John 2 teaches in the New Testament that above all things the Lord wants us to prosper financially and be in health.  It would make absolutely no sense for the Lord to want those who do not love Him, nor serve Him to prosper more than the people who do love and serve Him.  The Bible teaches that the Lord Jesus was made poor (2 Corinthians 8:9), when He redeemed us from the curse, so that we could prosper.  The devil loves it when those who are not yet saved believe that the Lord wants them to have nothing materially.  You can see how that would be a powerful hindrance for them to get saved.  What Jesus does not want is for us to be greedy, and have an inappropriate desire for money.  God has established the biblical financial principles of the tithe and offerings to fund His work and to be an investment for Christians to be blessed by. The tithe and offerings are given out of love.  We kow how good the Lord has been to us and the desire of our heart is that others know Him. Finances are necessary. The Lord uses the finances to accomplish His work and bless you.