What does God’s word say about wealth?
Genesis 13:1-9So Abram left Egypt and traveled north into the Negev, along with his wife and Lot and all that they owned. (Abram was very rich in livestock, silver, and gold.) From the Negev, they continued traveling by stages toward Bethel, and they pitched their tents between Bethel and Ai, where they had camped before. This was the same place where Abram had built the altar, and there he worshiped the Lord again. Lot, who was traveling with Abram, had also become very wealthy with flocks of sheep and goats, herds of cattle, and many tents. But the land could not support both Abram and Lot with all their flocks and herds living so close together. So disputes broke out between the herdsmen of Abram and Lot. (At that time Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land.) Finally Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not allow this conflict to come between us or our herdsmen. After all, we are close relatives! The whole countryside is open to you. Take your choice of any section of the land you want, and we will separate. If you want the land to the left, then I’ll take the land on the right. If you prefer the land on the right, then I’ll go to the left.”
Job 1:1-5There once was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz. He was blameless—a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil. He had seven sons and three daughters. He owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 teams of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and he employed many servants. He was, in fact, the richest person in that entire area. Job’s sons would take turns preparing feasts in their homes, and they would also invite their three sisters to celebrate with them. When these celebrations ended—sometimes after several days—Job would purify his children. He would get up early in the morning and offer a burnt offering for each of them. For Job said to himself, “Perhaps my children have sinned and have cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular practice.
Both Abraham and Job were extremely wealthy people in their day. Their lives demonstrate that wealth can occupy a place other than the center of a person’s life, the place where only God belongs.
1 Kings 3:10-14The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for wisdom. So God replied, “Because you have asked for wisdom in governing my people with justice and have not asked for a long life or wealth or the death of your enemies—I will give you what you asked for! I will give you a wise and understanding heart such as no one else has had or ever will have! And I will also give you what you did not ask for—riches and fame! No other king in all the world will be compared to you for the rest of your life! And if you follow me and obey my decrees and my commands as your father, David, did, I will give you a long life.”
Through Solomon God shows us that wisdom is the most necessary trait for living in any circumstance. Wealth does not necessarily always come with wisdom, but without wisdom, wealth is only a liability.
Proverbs 3:9Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce.
Proverbs 13:11Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows over time.
Proverbs 14:24Wealth is a crown for the wise; the effort of fools yields only foolishness.
Proverbs 18:11The rich think of their wealth as a strong defense; they imagine it to be a high wall of safety.
These proverbs and others point to many practical aspects of wealth development and management. Since God is the ultimate source of our wealth, the use of it without reference to God is unwise and shortsighted. Allowing wealth to take God’s place in our lives will lead to disaster. For all its potential, wealth has limitations and can never provide the ultimate security we might think it offers.
Ecclesiastes 5:10-20Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness! The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it. So what good is wealth—except perhaps to watch it slip through your fingers! People who work hard sleep well, whether they eat little or much. But the rich seldom get a good night’s sleep. There is another serious problem I have seen under the sun. Hoarding riches harms the saver. Money is put into risky investments that turn sour, and everything is lost. In the end, there is nothing left to pass on to one’s children. We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born. We can’t take our riches with us. And this, too, is a very serious problem. People leave this world no better off than when they came. All their hard work is for nothing—like working for the wind. Throughout their lives, they live under a cloud—frustrated, discouraged, and angry. Even so, I have noticed one thing, at least, that is good. It is good for people to eat, drink, and enjoy their work under the sun during the short life God has given them, and to accept their lot in life. And it is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life—this is indeed a gift from God. God keeps such people so busy enjoying life that they take no time to brood over the past.
As part of his grand experiment with life, Solomon discovered that wealth pursued for its own sake yields much frustration and despair. Wealth may multiply our choices in life, but if those choices are made without wisdom, the wealth is invariably wasted.
Jeremiah 9:23-24This is what the Lord says: “Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom, or the powerful boast in their power, or the rich boast in their riches. But those who wish to boast should boast in this alone: that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord who demonstrates unfailing love and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth, and that I delight in these things. I, the Lord, have spoken!”
Wealth, along with wisdom and power, is one of three dangerous pitfalls that often lead us to pride. God often warns against these, reminding us that God must take first place in our lives. As good as wisdom, wealth, and power can be, they must be kept in their proper place. They are helpful tools for doing good in this world, but they cannot be of central concern. Only God belongs in first place, and only his presence there can enable us to use these other things properly.
Matthew 6:19-24“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. Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is bad, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is! 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.”
Luke 12:13-21Someone called from the crowd, “Teacher, please tell my brother to divide our father’s estate with me.” Jesus replied, “Friend, who made me a judge over you to decide such things as that?” Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.” Then he told them a story: “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’ Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’ Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.”
Jesus pointed out that the reality of spiritual or heavenly wealth far out-values anything we can accumulate in this life. He also used the parable of the wasted barns to emphasize the importance of a “rich relationship with God” (Luke 12:21). Beyond this, Jesus warned that what we value or treasure most captures our hearts. If our treasure is earthbound, it is vulnerable to loss through rust, decay, thieves, and death. None of these can touch what we entrust with God.
Matthew 13:44“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.”
Having the priceless treasures of the Kingdom of Heaven is free to us if we are willing to sell all our attachments to the things of this life. It costs us everything to accept all of life as God’s field, which we only “own” in a secondary sense as stewards. The Kingdom of God belongs only to God himself.
Matthew 19:24-21“I’ll say it again—it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!” The disciples were astounded. “Then who in the world can be saved?” they asked. Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”
Luke 6:24“What sorrow awaits you who are rich, for you have your only happiness now.”
Luke 12:33“Sell your possessions and give to those in need. This will store up treasure for you in heaven! And the purses of heaven never get old or develop holes. Your treasure will be safe; no thief can steal it and no moth can destroy it.”
Jesus taught that too tight a grasp on earthly wealth becomes a barrier to salvation. It may bring a measure of happiness now, but eternity’s values call us to share our possessions rather than hoard them. Generosity is a much better way to handle our wealth. It allows us to become God’s hands and feet in every place he calls us.
1 Timothy 6:17-19Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life.
James 1:10-11Those who are rich should boast that God has humbled them. They will fade away like a little flower in the field. The hot sun rises and the grass withers; the little flower droops and falls, and its beauty fades away. In the same way, the rich will fade away with all of their achievements.
Both Paul and James reminded wealthy believers about the dangers of dependence on riches and the opportunity riches provide for helping others. Giving things away in this life increases our eternal treasure in heaven.
James 2:1-7How can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others? For example, suppose someone comes into your meeting dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in dirty clothes. If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, “You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor”—well, doesn’t this discrimination show that your judgments are guided by evil motives? Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters. Hasn’t God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith? Aren’t they the ones who will inherit the Kingdom he promised to those who love him? But you dishonor the poor! Isn’t it the rich who oppress you and drag you into court? Aren’t they the ones who slander Jesus Christ, whose noble name you bear?
Discrimination based on wealth, an almost irresistible human temptation, receives a scathing rebuke in Scripture. This intervention isn’t simply directed at the wealthy but also concerns those who seek to ingratiate themselves with the wealthy by giving them special favors.
