"For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil" (1 Timothy 6:10). Using vivid examples, biblical references, and practical insights, discover how greed traps us and why God warns against loving money. Read, listen, or watch this material from Your Finances God’s Way to learn the truth behind this well-known verse that it is not money itself but the love of money that leads to sin and destruction.

https://youtu.be/GuVZIAo5P6M

Paul wrote, "For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evils" (1 Timothy 6:10). Read on to learn why loving money is so dangerous.

Table of ContentsThe Love of Money Versus Money Is the ProblemFor the Love of Money Leads to SinThe Resulting DiscontentmentFor the Love of Money Hurts OthersFor the Love of Money Ruins and DestroysLearning from the Rich Young RulerFor the Love of Money Requires RepentanceFor the Love of Money Chokes Christ Out of Our LivesFootnote

I once watched a fascinating video of a man trapping a monkey. He hollowed out a space on the side of a mound and put food in it. The opening was large enough for a monkey to insert his hand to get the food. Then, the man stood behind a tree a little distance away and waited. A monkey went to the opening, put in his hand, and grabbed the food. The opening wasn’t big enough for the monkey to remove its hand with the food, and because it wouldn’t let go, it was trapped. While the monkey tried to free itself, the man came behind and captured it.

While it’s easy to mock the monkey because its foolishness caught it, the same can happen to us. Paul said those who love money “fall…into a snare” (1 Timothy 6:9). The Greek word translated snare is pagis, which refers to a trap in which animals are entangled and caught unexpectedly, like the monkey. Let’s consider why the love of money Is the root of all kinds of evil, as 1 Timothy 6:10 says, so we can avoid being trapped.

The Love of Money Versus Money Is the Problem

Money is amoral, but our relationship with money is moral, meaning the way we feel about money is also moral. Consider how many verses condemn loving money:

Luke 16:14 criticizes the Pharisees for being lovers of money.

First Timothy 3:3 says one of the qualifications for elders is that they don’t love money.

Second Timothy 3:2 says one of the behaviors characterizing the wickedness of the last days will be love for money.

Hebrews 13:5 commands us to keep our lives free from the love of money.

Why do so many verses warn against loving money? The answer is in 1 Timothy 6:9-10:

Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, 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.

Consider the way the Amplified Bible translates parts of 1 Timothy 6:9-10: “Those who…crave to get rich [with a compulsive, greedy longing for wealth]…the love of money [that is, the greedy desire for it and the willingness to gain it unethically]…” These verses are not about people who say, “It would be nice to be rich.” Instead, they are about people so fixated on riches that it controls their lives, which is the danger.

You have probably heard the well-known maxim, “Money is the root of all evil.” This sounds similar to what 1 Timothy 6:10 says, but there are two differences, which, although subtle, are significant.403

First, the maxim says money is the cause of all evil in the world, but money itself is amoral. There is plenty of evil that has nothing to do with money. It’s wrong to think money is immoral or responsible for evil because that puts the blames in the wrong place. Jesus blamed our hearts: “Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murder, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies” (Matthew 15:19), and James blamed our flesh: “Each one is tempted when he is drawn awa...