Counterfeits are dangerous precisely because they look convincing. The same is true of spiritual sayings that sound biblical but quietly distort how we think about God, stewardship, and money.
Many believers can quote phrases that feel deeply spiritual—comforting even—but when placed under the light of Scripture, they don’t actually appear there at all. Or worse, they twist what Scripture truly says. These “counterfeit verses” often shape how we view success, risk, provision, and dependence on God without us even realizing it.
To explore this issue, we sat down with Taylor Standridge, Production Manager of FaithFi and a regular contributor to Faithful Steward. Taylor is also the lead writer behind Look at the Sparrows and Our Ultimate Treasure.
In his recent article, Counterfeit Verses: How to Spot The Sayings That Aren’t in the Bible, Taylor traces this problem all the way back to the beginning.
“Did God Really Say?”—The First Counterfeit
Taylor begins in Genesis 3, when the serpent approaches Eve with a deceptively subtle question: “Did God really say…?” (Genesis 3:1).
This moment is critical because the enemy doesn’t begin with an outright lie. Instead, he distorts what God has said and, in doing so, undermines God’s character. The implication isn’t merely that the command is questionable—but that God Himself may be withholding something good.
Once Adam and Eve doubt God’s goodness, disobedience follows naturally.
That same pattern persists today. Many modern financial lies—whether cultural narratives or counterfeit verses—aren’t blatant falsehoods. They’re half-truths. They sound wise. They feel spiritual. And because they’re close enough to the truth, they feel safe.
Like a ship that veers off course by only one degree, the deviation seems harmless at first. But over time, it leads somewhere very different from what was intended.
At the heart of every counterfeit is the same ancient question: Can God really be trusted?
Counterfeit verses don’t come with warning labels. They borrow biblical language, appeal to our emotions, and speak to real desires—hope, comfort, identity, and security.
Sometimes they even quote Scripture, but rip it out of context.
The danger isn’t familiarity with Scripture—it’s fragmented familiarity. When we know verses as slogans rather than as part of God’s larger story, we become vulnerable to subtle distortions. The goal, however, isn’t suspicion or cynicism. It’s discernment—learning to recognize when a truth has been nudged just slightly off course.
Studying the Real Thing: A Lesson from Counterfeit Currency
Taylor uses a powerful illustration from the film Catch Me If You Can. Frank Abagnale Jr. succeeds as a forger not by inventing fake money from scratch, but by studying the real thing in obsessive detail—down to the ink, paper, and watermarks.
Ironically, that expertise later makes him invaluable to the FBI.
Banks don’t train tellers by showing them every possible fake. They train them by handing them genuine currency until authenticity becomes instinctive.
The same is true of Scripture. Discernment doesn’t come from memorizing every error—it comes from knowing God’s Word so deeply that when something sounds “almost right,” you can feel that it isn’t.
Common Counterfeit Verses That Shape Our View of Money
“Money is the Root of All Evil”
This misquote radically reshapes our theology of money. If money itself is evil, then wealth becomes suspicious, and stewardship f
