Principle Number 2
Establish the right mindset about money – Part 9
Pastor Maselo Mosomane
“For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.” (Matthew 25:14-18)
Is money the root of all evil?
Money is not the root of all evil. Don’t believe that lie. Jesus calls the devil a liar. “Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” (John 8: 43-44) Paul puts it this way: “let God be true, but every man a liar” (Romans 3:4). Every statement needs to be tested against the Word of God. The bible says to test every spirit. Meat has bones, eat meat and throw away bones. Don’t just swallow whatever is offered to you; it will upset your spiritual stomach and make you spiritually sick.
Any person who tells you that money is the root of all evil is of the devil and is on a mission to fulfill his desire. “(He is) of (his) father the devil, and the lusts of (his) father (he) will do.” (John 8: 44) It does not matter whether he is aware that he is been used by the devil or not because the devil’s poison will still work; anyway. Poison doesn’t wait for you to find out that it is poison before it kills. No one is allowed to add or reduce the prophecy of the Word of God. No one has the right to change the scriptures. “And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” (Revelation 22: 19)
More often than not such people are unconscious of the fact that they are been used by the devil. That’s what the devil likes: to operate under cover, masquerading as an angel of light. “And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light” (11Corinthians 11:14). Poor people will even defend the statement “money is the root of all evil” and claim it to be theirs. “It’s just me. I didn’t really mean it,” they say. If you only knew that it is not just you! The devil is behind that statement and wishes to scare you from believing otherwise about money.
Money is the root of all evil is the invention of the devil. He invents such statements in order to scare people away from money. The devil is skillful in twisting and bending the truth to make it look ugly and scary. God said he is subtle. Sometimes he will invent lies by omitting unnoticeable words from the scriptures in order to distort the meaning of the whole statement. Unnoticed statements that sound insignificant are his hiding place.
Look; all he did was to omit the word love from a bible statement; “the love of money is the root of all evil,” and what remains is; “money is the root of all evil.” The original statement deals with man’s attitude towards money and not money.
Some people pervert the love of God for one another; and instead love money or things. When this happens, an evil attitude towards people you should love develops. You may even kill them for money. How many people with outstanding potential or skills are rotting behind bars because of that? See? Their love for money has consumed them so much that they have lost control of themselves and can no longer tell what is right and what is wrong. They are so obsessed with the love for money that they can no longer tell the difference. Isaiah, the prophet sounded a word of warning in Isaiah 5: 20. “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”
As soon as the word love is taken out of this statement, the emphasis shifts from the love of money to money. Evil no longer come from such attitude that takes its origin from “the love of money” but from money itself. What a perversion
“The love of money is the root of all evil.” (Timothy 6:10) This statement condemns the love of money and not money itself, but the devil has sneakily shifted the attention from the love of money to money and many people are confused. By this the devil shifts the guilt that emanates from the love of money from man and attempts to blame it on money.
Carefully observe the two statements and listen to what the devil is trying to put across to us. “The love of money is the root of all evil.” With this statement God is saying; money is just an object. It can neither be good nor evil on its own. It is man’s attitude towards it; man’s love for it that makes it good or bad. Money is just a mere tool, a piece of metal or paper. It depends on you what value you attach to it. It is this love or attitude towards money that produces evil desires in man and later criminal activities. It is not money but man’s attitude - man’s love for money.
On the other hand the devil emphasizes; “money is the root of all evil.” Man is not at fault, it is just money. Don’t blame it on man; it’s all because of money. Money is the root of all evil. Money is evil, keep away from it and you will be holy and you will please God. If there were no such thing as money, man would still be a good boy;” says the devil. Some Christians, shockingly offer their unreserved amen and applaud such statements. Many people have no problem being blessed by a lie.
Deception! Can you see how a little omission can change the whole meaning of a sentence? The latter statement condemns money and not man’s love for money. Love is for God and people, not things. Don’t love things; love God and people. Don’t love money; love God and the people He has created. There is always a danger of loving money and using people rather than loving people and using money.
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