2008 Woodie Awards
All for the love of money
Harry Bailey
Issue date: 11/10/04 Section: In The Spirit
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"Money, power, respect is the key to life...money, power, respect is what you need in life." These are the words echoed from the hearts of men and women around the world and lyrically spoken by one artist. Some may say that without money, power, or respect, one has little or no opportunity of survival. Money reigns supreme because it brings about power and demands a certain degree of respect. In light of this, we will examine the effect of money in our lives.
To start off, money is not bad. We need money to sustain us in everyday life. It is used to purchase necessities such as food, water, clothing and shelter. Money in itself is not detestable to God. However, what makes our world so corrupt is the love of money. It is the root and source of all kinds of evil. The love for money has become such a stronghold on society. In the process of gaining more money, people idolize it through the things they have.
Mainstream television has produced shows such as MTV Cribs and BET's "How I'm Living" which highlights materialism. They create a standard of living that most people can't live up to, but will do anything to get there. It is common to see music videos with artists iced out with top of the line jewelry rapping about the stuff they own.
God is no longer worshiped because of who He is and His provision, but rather His creation is the focus of worship. We place so much value on the possessions we own, thus forgetting about the One who gave them to us.
The Biblical perspective of money is clear. We are instructed not to store up our treasures on earth but in heaven. For wherever we store our treasures, our heart will be there also. Storing up treasures on earth does not necessarily mean that you should not save or invest your money. Neither does it mean that you should not have nice things. It simply implies that your material possessions should not be the focus of defining who you are. God does not want our hearts to be set upon materialistic things but instead on heavenly values. So the question is: How do we store our treasures up in heaven?
To start off, money is not bad. We need money to sustain us in everyday life. It is used to purchase necessities such as food, water, clothing and shelter. Money in itself is not detestable to God. However, what makes our world so corrupt is the love of money. It is the root and source of all kinds of evil. The love for money has become such a stronghold on society. In the process of gaining more money, people idolize it through the things they have.
Mainstream television has produced shows such as MTV Cribs and BET's "How I'm Living" which highlights materialism. They create a standard of living that most people can't live up to, but will do anything to get there. It is common to see music videos with artists iced out with top of the line jewelry rapping about the stuff they own.
God is no longer worshiped because of who He is and His provision, but rather His creation is the focus of worship. We place so much value on the possessions we own, thus forgetting about the One who gave them to us.
The Biblical perspective of money is clear. We are instructed not to store up our treasures on earth but in heaven. For wherever we store our treasures, our heart will be there also. Storing up treasures on earth does not necessarily mean that you should not save or invest your money. Neither does it mean that you should not have nice things. It simply implies that your material possessions should not be the focus of defining who you are. God does not want our hearts to be set upon materialistic things but instead on heavenly values. So the question is: How do we store our treasures up in heaven?