For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.
Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced
themselves with many griefs.
Donned in clothes belonging to another, I could be
anything I wanted…at least temporarily.
Playing dress up was a popular kid's game when I was
growing up. After all, the techies hadn't invented the distractions that
currently occupy kids' attention and often steal their imagination. With an
adult's clothes-along with accompanying implements found around the various
houses, the list of our futures was as endless as our mind's eyes. Teachers,
preachers, housewives, nurses, doctors, princesses, kings, and queens. We were
dressed for success and frequently believed we could be these people when we
reached adulthood.
Sometimes the dress up doesn't stop when we become
adults; we just choose alternate things to suit up in…money and possessions
among them. But people who long to be rich "fall into temptation and are
trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and
destruction" (I Timothy 6:9 NLT).
Many mistakenly quote the next verse as; "Money is
the root of evil" when what it actually says is, "For the love of
money is at the root of all kinds of evil" (v. 10). Human nature leads us
to dress in what we love…what draws our time and attention. Money is inanimate
and neutral…neither good nor evil. It's the "love of" that determines
whether we dress in greed or generosity. Criminal acts, marital relationship
quandaries, partnership splits, friendship turmoil, and church fights all
result from dressing in the wrong definition of success.
Neither money nor what it can buy brings true happiness.
Contentment with the necessities of life, realizing possessions are temporary,
keeping our motives in check, loving God and people more than things, and
sharing with others what God entrusts to us are all good ways to put on clothes
that will always fit regardless of age. What attitudes are you dressing in?
Dear Lord, thank
You for being the giver of all good gifts and of everything we own presently or
ever will. We ask that we would turn our eyes from greed and toward the
opportunities You give us to assist others. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
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