Money has always been tremendously important to humans. The oldest handwritten document ever discovered in England was about a personal loan. In 57 AD, a freed Roman slave named Tibullus promised to repay another freed slave, Gratus, the sum of 105 denarii, or in today’s money perhaps around $4,500.

While money is a part of our lives, the love of money is dangerous. In 1 Timothy 6, Paul warned Timothy and the church in Ephesus to fight the world’s tendency to crave material things. Instead, we are to pursue “godliness with contentment” (vv. 6, 8). We’ve heard people say, “you can’t take it with you” or “I never saw a U-Haul following a hearse” (see v. 7). Paul himself demonstrated this “godliness” virtue in Philippians 4:11–13. How? “Through him [Christ] who gives me strength.” If we depend on the Lord, the temptation to love money won’t pose much of a threat.

If our walk with Him is weak, however, the desire to get rich can be a dangerous “trap” involving “many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction” (v. 9). Why? Because “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (v. 10). Money itself is neutral— it’s the love of money that is spiritually corrupting. On what do we have our hearts set? If the root is rotten, so is the fruit. Asking ourselves “Who or what do we love most” is a good defense against temptation. We can consider what a love or a choice or a priority might grow into if pursued wholeheartedly.

When we are “eager for money,” the consequences are dire. Because of it, some have “wandered from the faith” or otherwise harmed themselves. Those who believe they can love both God and money are only deceiving themselves (Luke 16:13).