{"id":7993,"date":"2018-03-06T12:24:30","date_gmt":"2018-03-06T12:24:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=7993"},"modified":"2018-03-06T12:24:30","modified_gmt":"2018-03-06T12:24:30","slug":"christians-only-material-overcoming-the-love-of-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=7993","title":{"rendered":"Christians Only Material: Overcoming the love of money"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Tope Banso<\/strong>
\n\u201cBut know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money\u201d (2 Timothy 3:1-2a New King James Version).
\nEverybody needs money. But God doesn\u2019t want us to be possessed by the love of money like the Pharisees whom Jesus referred to as \u201clovers of money\u201d (Luke 16:14).
\nWe’re in the last days. One mark of being a lover of money is willingness and desperation to do anything (sinful, immoral or against societal laws) to get money. Are there things like these you\u2019re ready to do for a certain amount? That is the love of money.
\nMany people have elevated money above God. They worship money, and God hates idolatry including worshipping money. He wants you to dethrone this idol in your heart. The Psalmist prays: \u201cHelp me to prefer obedience to making money!\u201d (Psalm 119:36 The Living Bible). Love of money makes one disobey God’s Word just to get it despite claiming to be Christians.
\nHow to overcome the love of money
\n1. Make heaven your first priority. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Let your desire be towards God (1Timothy 6:11-15). Any business that will rob you of eternal life is not worth it (Mark 8:36).
\n2. Be content with what you have. Avoid greed and covetousness which the Bible forbids (Exodus 20:17, Deuteronomy 5:21; Luke 12:15, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 5:11, Ephesus 5:5). \u201cBeware! Don’t be greedy for what you don’t have. Real life is not measured by how much we own\u201d (Luke 12:15 New Living Translation).
\n3. Recognize the difference between your needs and your wants. What drives most people to sinful and criminal practices, is their greed not their needs. The Bible says, \u201cSo if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content\u201d (1Timothy 6:8 New Living Translation).
\n4. Don\u2019t nurse a desperate ambition to be rich. Work hard and work smart but avoid a desperate ambition to be rich which only plunges people into ruin and destruction (1Timothy 6:9). The Amplified Bible calls it \u201cthe crave to be rich.\u201d The blessing of the Lord makes rich and adds no sorrow to it (Proverbs 10:22).
\n5. Acknowledge the vanity of riches. You won\u2019t take anything out of this earth; you brought nothing (1Timothy 6:7; Ecclesiastes 2:18). According to Ecclesiastes 5:10, if you love money or wealth, neither will bring you satisfaction.
\n6. Understand that the love of money will expose you to many temptations – to steal, cheat, cut corners, etc. just to be rich or richer (1Timothy 6:6-10).
\n7. Be a giver and operate the Kingdom financial principles. Generous giving destroys the spirit of greed and covetousness. Be generous towards God and people (Galatians 6:6-10; Isaiah 32:8, Proverbs 11:24).
\n8. Carefully examine your motives regularly. It\u2019s very easy to slip into a mind condition of love of money unconsciously. Search your heart regularly. Study and meditate on God’s Word.
\nBeware of the love of money. Trust God for your provision but be diligent \u2013 he who refuses to work should not eat (2 Thessalonians 3:10). Never violate God’s word because of money.
\nThis is wisdom for living, and it\u2019s worth sharing. Please share.
\n\u25cf\u25cfBanso, an Abuja-based minister can be reached via\u00a0cedarministryintl@yahoo.com, cedarministryng@gmail.com;\u00a0 on Tel No: +2348155744752, +2348033113523; and on\u00a0 WhatsApp No: +2349081295947.\u00a0(For more inspiring messages, visit: www.cedarministry.org)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Tope Banso \u201cBut know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money\u201d (2 Timothy 3:1-2a New King James Version). Everybody needs money. But God doesn\u2019t want us to be possessed by the love of money like the Pharisees whom Jesus referred to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":7995,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5772],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-faith"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7993"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7993\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}