When Christ is our greatest treasure, our hearts rest content in Him. By loving Christ above all, our other loves become appropriately ordered. Wealth becomes a mere tool in service to His will.

One time early in our marriage, I, exasperated by yet another unexpected bill, voiced the following sentiment to my wife: “Wouldn’t it be nice to reach a point financially where we can handle unplanned expenses without stress?” She replied with two simple words of immeasurable wisdom, “Maybe not.”

It took me awhile to grasp the profundity of her point. In fact, it’s taken my whole life so far, and I’m still not sure I fully get it.

The Bible is full of instruction about money. Randy Alcorn often points out that Jesus taught on the topic more than he did on heaven and hell combined. The human relationship to wealth is important to God because God wants the full devotion of our hearts and money is one of his primary competitors.

To better grasp my wife’s point, consider Paul’s warning to Timothy: “But those who desire to be rich fall into a temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs” (1 Tim 6:9-10).

Paul uses a variety of terms to describe a harmful disposition toward wealth—desire, love, craving. Money itself is a neutral tool that can be used for many good purposes, including but not limited to procuring the necessities of life. The danger lies in our sinful hearts. We see money as power in tangible form. It becomes a means for us to rise above our creaturely limitations, to live life without friction. In our sin, we are susceptible to these false promises of salvation. When we fall for them, our harmless desire for enough morphs into an insatiable craving for more. That’s when our souls enter the danger zone. That’s when money replaces Christ in the order of our loves.

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