Is money is the root of all evil?

3 Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, ~ Matthew 27:3

It has been said that "money is the root of all evil." I however do not ascribe to the this old saying as we all know that in order to survive in this world you need money. However I do think that the desire for money can be an overpowering force. The love of money can even cause one to betray a friend. If we are not consciously aware the idea of making money will, without notice, take priority over all other aspects of our lives. Yes even investing in the relationships most important to us, spouse, children, friends, church family, etc. Here in Matthew the 27th Chapter we see Judas facing this temptation and as with many of us he failed. This is the very person who all the other disciples, even Jesus Himself had trusted with their monies and he, Judas violated this trust. Judas chose 30 pieces of silver over his influence with Jesus For the price of about four months income Judas chose to hand over the Messiah to His enemies. It was too late when Judas finally realized his mistake. We can see from his response and what followed that he was sorry, however he did not seek forgiveness from his savior Jesus, but made another bad decision. In this case of Judas we can clearly see that the love of money bankrupted his soul and removed Jesus from his sight. No Jesus no hope, Know Jesus and know hope.

We MUST keep money in proper perspective as it concerns our lives or it will slowly replace the love and peace of Christ with an unbearable emotional burden on all our relationships. If we convince ourselves that money is answer to our problem, that if I can just get this one more thing or pay this last bill, all I need is another $100 then I can concentrate other issues that I will be better equipped to place my attention on Jesus Christ. It I have these things then I will have more time to spend with my spouse and play with the kids. One more paycheck and I will be able to go to church and invest in others. If we truly believe that, then we are setting ourselves up for relational contest, one in which the important things, suffer.

Remember the man who ask Jesus what he must do to have eternal life? Remember their exchange about following the ten commandments, and how this did not satisfy the man so he ask Jesus what else he must do? Look closely here at what Jesus says too him, Jesus said to him, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." (Matthew 19:21) Do you see what Christ places value on? It's not what we posses it is who we follow, it's not whom we know or have influence with it's who we follow. Give!! We must give in order to receive. We must follow Christ, not as simply a good teacher but with the deep desire to be like the one we follow, we MUST BECOME CHRIST to the world!

Nothing, I mean NOTHING else matters if we do not do this one thing first. Give total control to who you are to the One Who Made You. As we gain more and more momentum as we gain the trust and love of those around us we must be careful to give all the glory to God. The right-mindedness we develop over time is the single most important asset on our balance sheet. Who we are in Christ is to be treasured, not traded for treasures of this world which quickly disappear. Relationships are the legal tender that Christ treasures and blesses. Money is meant to be a means of living and should only be used as a tool to enhance how we love and to encourage others to love as Christ loves. We are to intersect the love of Christ with those we meet by developing a community that values people and lifts people up to love others. Amen. <><