A Closer Look @ The Love of Money- part 3

1. Most children are raised with a culture of hustling; they grow up hearing of complaints on the need for more money and not for more of God. They hear of murmurings of the poor governance of their day but learn nothing about the government of the Kingdom. They are raised to hope in the comfort or glory that education would ultimately bring their way, while remaining spiritually uneducated. But that order is finally changing with the coming of the everlasting gospel (Psa. 18:35, 43, 144:14, Luk. 21:34).

2.  The doctrine of Christ, and of the Son and Father, promises to raise us to a place in the Father where virtually everything that used to bother us in seasons when we once loved this world or didn’t have the love of the Father in us would stop doing so; so that weighty matters (of life) that didn’t previously bother us would start doing so (2Jn. 1:9). Only then would we realize that things like money, influence, fame, position, title, shouldn’t have meant to us, what they didn’t mean to the man Christ Jesus (Matt. 4:3-11).

3. “Time is money” is a worldly philosophy that can mostly be traced to the love of money. Ungodly men agree with it—but godly men should disagree with it. Rather, time is a gift from God to man to enable him trap and dispense the divine life; and while trading with this understanding, our Lord Jesus seized every opportunity to amass life—until He was empowered to deny all temptations from the devil (Col. 2:8, Matt. 4:8-10, 2Cor. 6:14-16).

4. Man has so monetized time, that worldly minds can’t see value in the use of their time when the dividends aren’t monetary (Jn. 9:4). By subscribing to the philosophy “time is money”, the god of this world has inspired most men to make it their daily meditation. Time is a gift for capturing the divine life; even the life of Jesus whom money diligently served and still serves (Matt. 6:33).

5. The true need of men, or of an average hustler on the street, or a businessman that hustles for ‘more and more’ in hope of better ‘security and comfort’ isn’t the need for more money. The world says we need more money, but the gospel says we need to use our time differently, so we can fetch (more) grace; live supernaturally, engage the forces of heaven in all our affairs and thereby enjoy more of heaven on earth than many believers who remained carnal while making it to heaven (Rom. 1:16, 1 Cor. 4:20).

6. The use of time has been so monetized after the fall of man—that man now mostly uses and values time in monetary terms, rather than, like Jesus, primary use it to amass the divine life—or lay up treasure in heaven (Lk. 12:15, Matt. 6:20). Believers who do so are called wise men, and those who do otherwise realize they were actually unwise when they get to heaven (Matt. 7:24-27).

7. No believer can address his indebtedness to his generation or prove that this world is a well-fed fat lie, except he can faithfully handle unrighteous mammon in ways that unbelievers or carnal believers cannot. (Lk. 16:1-12). Only the light of Christ and of everlasting life guarantees this (Jn. 3:16). It not only offers us freedom from the grip that money has upon all men, but also promises to help us lay hold on eternal life (1Tim. 6:17-19).

8. The soul of man does different things simultaneously; but it has been designed to only seek one thing with his eyes or love one thing. And when a believer isn’t seeking first the Kingdom and its righteousness, he would fall prey to seek something inferior called this world, which has been anointed to make men anxious for more (Matt. 6:33-34).

9. Gain, even that strong wish to get an advantage or keep money, possessions, position etc., would always firstly consider or ask, “what is in it for me?”. The gospel, even via conversations influenced by godliness with contentment, would always firstly consider or ask, “what is in it for others?” (2Cor. 5:15).

10. What most men have realized at the tail end of their lives—or mostly in their 70’s, is the futility of a hope for a better tomorrow that was hinged on what money can do, which they unknowingly loved for a lifetime. (Eccl. 4:8). What the gospel of Christ has helped many to do, is to expose such vain lifetime pursuit in their twenties and deal a blow to it (Col. 2:6-8). And what the gospel of God (or of life everlasting and eternal) is now doing, is to perfect their victory over mammon, so we can walk in love with God.