One of the most complicated things in life comes in the form of a small, rectangular, green piece of paper: money. It may be small, but we need this piece of paper to survive. Money isn’t a bad thing, but scripture is clear what is: the love of money.
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” 1 Timothy 6:10
The Bible is clear that (at least) three things are greater than money: Godliness, wisdom, and people.
Godliness
“Better is the poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways.” Proverbs 28:6
A lot of people scrap their integrity as soon as it comes to pursuing stuff. Case in point: 11% of people find it perfectly fine to cheat on their taxes; if they can get away with it. That’s nearly one in ten people that think it’s morally right to cheat on their taxes! Other people cheat their customers to save a couple of dollars. Or cheat their company to gain a couple of dollars. The power that money has over us is remarkable, but godliness should reign over it.
Wisdom
“Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her.” Proverbs 8:10-11
Solomon, one of the primary writers of the book of Proverbs, desired wisdom more than anything else in the world. When God asked him, “what do you want?”, Solomon replied, “give me wisdom.” Because he sought wisdom over everything else, God made him ridiculously wealthy as well. And even as a super wealthy man, he still declared, “wisdom is better than jewels.” Wisdom is better than money.
People
“Do not rob the poor, because he is poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate, for the Lord will please their cause and rob of life those who rob them.” Proverbs 22:22-23
As a follower of Jesus, we know that all people are created in the image of God and are worthy of honor and respect for that reason alone. But how many of us consider this when we’re dealing with people and money all at once? This verse has a good warning that if we don’t honor and respect people, God will make sure he does.
The bottom line is godliness, wisdom, and people are far greater than money. Being rich isn’t a sin (neither is being poor). But having an unhealthy pursuit of money is. Instead of “wandering from the faith and piercing ourselves with many pangs,” let’s prioritize godliness, wisdom, and people.