Those who are lovers of self will also be lovers of money. They will use money to bring love to themselves—to buy things for themselves. Thus, this second evil attribute comes closely attached to the first attribute. We will start this study by examining some key verses on this subject of money, with a view to how the love of it brings evil to us.

Matthew 6:19-21

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  20 “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;  21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Money is what we may use to purchase treasures on this earth. And those things will not last. They give us pleasure only for a little while. It is better to store up treasures for heaven—eternal treasures that will last. If I am placing my sense of value and worth in what money can buy, I am loving money and that will lead to all kinds of evil. Hoarding money and riches leads to the worship of those things; it leads to seeking pleasure from those things instead of God. That is idol worship.

Matthew 19:23-24

And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.  24 “Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

It is very hard for a rich man to become a Christian. But Jesus said (in verse 26), “with God all things are possible.”

Why is it so hard for the rich to be saved? Because the love of money is the root of evil (1 Tim. 6:10). Riches tend to deceive a person into thinking that this is really the life, that there is no other way to live than to have the pleasure of things: new homes and cars, and all kinds of conveniences, and endless entertainment, and nice friends gained by my lifestyle, and the best foods and vacations. And when all these things are acquired and the heart is strangely satisfied, it is very hard to give it all up for a different kingdom that we may not know about. In that case, God will have to do a work in that heart to let that person see what all his riches will eventually amount to—nothing.

Luke 12:13-34

Someone in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” 14 But He said to him, “Man, who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?”  15 Then He said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.”  16 And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive.  17 “And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’  18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.  19 ‘And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”‘  20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’  21 “So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”22 And He said to His disciples, “For this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on.  23 “For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.  24 “Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds!  25 “And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life’s span?  26 “If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters?  27 “Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.  28 “But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? You men of little faith!  29 “And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying.  30 “For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things.  31 “But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you.  32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.33 “Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys.  34 “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

In these verses Jesus tells a story to a man who was greedy for his inheritance. He wanted his brother to divide the family inheritance with him immediately. In the story Jesus was teaching the man what real “life” was. Real life does not consist of earthly possessions. It is more than food and clothing—things of this life. Real life is eternal life in which he would always be satisfied and never have to worry. The life of this world has an end, and when you die, even though you are very rich with earthly things, you will have nothing left for eternity. Jesus urged the man to sell his earthly possessions and give to charity so he would have treasures in heaven.

The greed that the man had for his inheritance was a love of money. And that greed compelled him to hoard it and spend it on more and more riches, which became for him an evil lifestyle—because he had saved everything for himself and nothing for God’s kingdom.

Colossians 3:1-5

Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.

The word “greed” in verse five, I think, is close to the meaning of the love of money. It carries the idea of having and desiring more. When we love money, we always want more and more of it in order that we may have all the things that money can buy. This term (greed) is also related closely with immorality (sexual sin), impurity (evil thoughts and intentions), and passion and evil desires (sexual lust). So, we see here the family of those who love money. It is a detestable group to God. And I would say that when we love our money, we definitely let all those sins into us.

Now here in these verses, Paul is speaking to any that are believers. He tells them that they must consider the members of their earthly body (with their sins—those I just mentioned) as dead. That is, they are not to give life to them by feeding those desires. Instead, Paul reminds us that if we have been raised up with Christ (been saved to new life) we must keep seeking things above (things that belong to our new life). Then in verse two he tells us to “set your mind” on things above—which amounts to the process of thinking or meditating on scripture (Josh. 1:8).

1 Timothy 3:2-3

An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money.

Paul writes to Timothy that an overseer (or an elder or pastor) must be free from the love of money (which characterizes false teachers). His love should be for God and the people in his church. This godly quality, along with the other nine that are listed, is what it means here to be above reproach or blameless. Certainly, the love of money, since it is true of false teachers, is a grave reason not to enlist such a man for the pastor of a church.

1 Timothy 6:8-11, 17-19

If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. 9 But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

11 But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.

17 Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. 18 Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.

It is a good thing to want to work for the necessities of life: for food and clothing. And Paul tells us that we should be content with these things. But beyond that; that is, to want to be rich, is foolish and destructive. In fact, verse ten tells us that “the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil.” So true! I like the next phrase too. “And some by longing for it [money] have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” And, of course, this is because no one can have two masters. If we love money, we have put ourselves in the camp of the devil and we can no longer serve God. If we really want to serve God and make Him our master, we must give up our desire to be rich and be content with only God wants you to have.

Now in verse seventeen, Paul addresses those who happened to be rich. It is not wrong to be rich, but we must not place our hope in our riches. All our hope must be in God. He will give us all we need, and will even allow us to enjoy what He gives us. However, it is not the will of God to hoard riches in order to please ourselves. It is always better to serve others and give to others. In this way we will be building up for ourselves a solid foundation for the future—our heavenly rewards.

Titus 1:10-11

For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, 11 who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain.

In these verses Paul warns Titus about the Jewish false teachers in Crete. Paul had left Titus there to appoint elders in order that they might build up the church. But first he must deal with the Jewish false teachers “who,” he said, “must be silenced.” They were rebellious, empty talkers and deceivers. And they were teaching things “for the sake of sordid gain.” I don’t know what they were teaching, but it must have been something very interesting that would draw a crowd that was willing to pay money to hear their stories. Sordid gain implies something sleezy or repugnant. No doubt it was lies told about certain people. But whatever it was, they intended to make money from it—from people who would pay money to hear about it. So, in this case these false teach were so in love with money that they were willing to lie and deceive people in order to get it.

2 Peter 2:1-3, 14

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. 2 Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; 3 and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

14 having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children;

Here is that word again (in verse 3 and in verse 14)— “greed”; which, I think, shows us the love of money. These false prophets and teachers were taken up with greed that they would do things that no Christian (if they were) ought to do. They “introduced,” and taught, “destructive heresies” in order to get rich. And they also used “sensuality” in their teaching. I have no idea what they were saying. Verse fourteen tells us that they had “eyes full of adultery,” and they went around “enticing unstable souls.” So, they were using their sexuality and their false teaching to get their money. Money and the things that money can buy was that important to them.