Money: Roots of evil or Tool for Glory?
William Yarbrough
Liberty University
BUSI 301
Chad Shimel
July 25 , 2022
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According to Business for the Glory of God: The Bible's Teaching on the Moral
Goodness of Business making a profit through a personal business is completely ethical and
moral in the eyes of God. Making a profit is fundamentally good in theory because the root of
evil is not money itself but rather the love for money (GRUDEM, 2003 pg. 31). However,
becoming reliant on profit to come in can lead to the business owner becoming more dependent
on money rather than God. God does not wish for us to glorify him through money. God asks us
to simply build a relationship through him and to share his love with others.
1 Timothy 6:10 says, “The of money is a root of all kinds of evil”. The apostle Paul love
make it clear to us in this chapter that money itself is not evil because many people would be
content with only food and clothes in their possession but the eagerness for money and the
temptation that money gives people will lead them astray from their faith. Paul says that is not
the goal for Christians to gain finances because everything on this earth cannot enter into the
kingdom of heaven. There are some instances in which money can be used for good. Such as
charities, homeless centers, and funding missionary trips (Christensen, 2022). God is please with
those who travel to remote location to spread his name and love. Money is simply a tool in which
the owner has the power to do with as they please. Similar tools can be compared to money such
as power and authority. When used in the right way they can lead people to be closer to God but
when use in an evil way they will stray away from faith and possible lead other people with
them.
Making a profit is ethical Ephesians 4:28 “He who has been stealing must steal no says,
longer, but must work doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something
to share with those in need”. Father, mothers, and legal guardians all must be able to provide for
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their families and to do so they must conduct business or learn a useful skill to bring money into
the house hold to take care of those who are not able to. God encourages hard work and
discipline because it leads to profit and profit is becoming more and more necessary in the
modern world we live in today (Utley, 2022). Money is a tool for us to be able to support those in
need and the ones we love like our family.
Although profit in a general sense is good in itself temptation follows closely behind
profit and leads many people away from Christ. For one to say that they need money is to say
that they do not need God. Christians know that God will provide all things that someone needs
in order to survive and be closer to him. Those looking to make a profit need to remember that
there will be good times and there will be bad times but to trust the Lord in every situation to
provide for them (Utley, 2022). Hebrews 13:5 says, “Keep your lives free from the love of
money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never
will I forsake you.” Trust in the Lord, for he will provide and do not give into temptations like
greed, anger, and envy.
Money can be a useful to tool help open up charitable opportunities and fund mission
work around the world. In some cases money should not be use as a pathway to give God glory.
Some examples of these pathways include the responsibility of giving money to the Church. I do
believe that we should all give money to our church to help support it however I do not believe it
is necessary. The Bible verse that suggest that we should come from the Old Testament and when
sacrifices were often offered to glorify God. God sent his son to die for the sins of the world so
that we no longer had to sacrifice to him but rather believe in his sacrifice that he made for us.
We can see in the New Testament that tithes are not brought up by Jesus or his disciple except for
mentioning the Old Testament system (Mbantoh, 2020). There are plenty of way we as Christians
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can give back to God and the church that doesn’t involve money such as volunteering. Our goal
as Christians should be to give generously when we can but it isn’t required to always be to the
Church. Perhaps our neighbor is in need of food to feed their family and the profits we bring in
are enough to help this neighbor out. We as Christians would not be wrong to help our neighbor
out. One of the most important things we can give each other is love. Love those in your church,
love your neighbors and love strangers that you meet 1 John 4:8 says “Whoever does not love
does not know God, because God is love”. This verse leads me to believe that love in more
important than money and if you are going give either give generously because the Lord
commands us to “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 12:31).
If you are willing to give then give generously but do not be tempted with the sins that
money can be closely related to. Grudem does an excellent job of discussing how serious the
responsibility of having money can be and temptation involved with it. He presented facts that
are relevant and true. Theoretically money is good but for the betterment of Christians I would
advise to turn away from riches and towards God because there is nothing money can buy your
that God cannot give you for all things are possible with God Mark (10:27).
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References
Mbantoh, D. (2020, December 22). Bible verse on tithing 10 percent KJV. BEST OF
CHRISTIANITY. Retrieved July 21, 2022, from https://bestofchristianity.com/bible-verse-
on-tithing-10-percent-kjv/
Utley, J. (2022, April 4). Cornerstone. Retrieved July 21, What does the Bible say about money?
2022, from https://www.cornerstonenashville.org/what-does-the-bible-say-about-money/?
gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4uiEh5OK-QIVF9SGCh2VsAqOEAAYAiAAEgInY_D_BwE
Christensen, T. (2022, April 11). Is money the root of all evil? Debt Relief | Debt Consolidation |
Credit Counseling. Retrieved July 21, 2022, from https://moneyfit.org/blog/is-money-the-
root-of-all-evil
GRUDEM, W. A. Y. N. E. (2003). Business for the glory of god: The Bible's teaching on the
moral goodness of business. CROSSWAY BOOKS.
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