Christian Bible Lesson 85:  Do not love money

Bible Verses

“Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless.” Ecclesiastes 5:10

“Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.” Proverbs 11:4

“Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.” Proverbs 13:11

Christian Bible Lesson Overview

Focusing too much time on gaining wealth will cause one to miss many positive aspects of life.  Many people spend the majority of their lives gaining more wealth and, in most cases, they die before they can benefit from all that work.

When people are dedicated to the accumulation of wealth, some people spend the majority of their time working to increase their finances or in other cases, they sacrifice their honesty to take advantage of other people. 

In either case, they sacrifice many benefits from life to gain wealth they will not enjoy.

Christian Bible Lesson for Today

My best example of people who did not focus on money was my grandparents (my father’s parents).  They made family their first priority.  My grandparents lived about a two-hour drive from the house where I lived during my childhood.  Our family traveled to my grandparents four or five times a year.  We went there for special occasions like Christmas, Thanksgiving, and birthdays.  During the major holidays, all the family would celebrate together.  I remember Thanksgiving Dinners with more than fifty people.  Everyone was always so happy. 

When any family member had challenges, financial or otherwise, my grandmother would work with the other family members to address the challenge. 

When I was an adult, I drove to my grandparents with my children one Christmas.  I did not make this trip often because I lived far from my grandparents’ house. We had a wonderful time.  It was good for my children to experience the importance of working together.  However, when I began driving my family home I was involved in an accident about an hour’s drive from my grandparent’s house.  No one was injured, but my car was damaged.  My grandmother called one of my aunts and they immediately drove to the scene of the accident and supported us.  I was so grateful.  My children never forgot how supportive my family was.

That was my father’s family.  On the other hand, my grandparents on my mother’s side were just the opposite.  They focused on gaining wealth.  My mother was often in conflict with her older sister.  My sister and I visited my mother’s parents many times.  They were nice to us, but it was never the same feeling as my other grandparents.  It was very clear that gaining wealth overwhelmed everything else.

I loved both grandparents, but I feel much closer to my father’s family. 

Christian Bible Lesson Summary

We need to focus some attention on supporting ourselves, but when money is the top priority, many important parts of life suffer. When we help others, it promotes a culture that helps too.