Even though I was raised attending church every week, I’ve still got a lot to learn about what the Bible says – I’ll never know it all. Sometimes I think I know what the Bible says, but then as I read along, I’ll stumble across a verse I’ve misquoted my whole life or have been using out of context.
Lately I’ve been spending a fair bit of time learning more about what the Bible says regarding my personal finances. I’ve uncovered three scriptures that I have heard routinely misquoted or misused in relation to money.
#1 Money is Evil – Ever heard the quote “money is the root of all evil”? It’s actually a misquote of 1st Timothy 6:10, which says “For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (NIV). Now that is a game-changing misquote! In reality, money isn’t bad, but loving money is taking you down the wrong path, possibly leading you away from the faith.
Why is the love of money so bad? Truly loving money is the same thing as greed. I think we can all agree that greed can drive people to steal. It can drive people to lie. It can make folks hoard their money, instead of using some of it to share with others (1st Timothy 6:17-19) or provide for those in need (1st John 3:17).
God says we can only love one master – Him or money (Matthew 6:24), so he knew the love of money was going to be a big deal!
#2 Wealthy People Can’t Go to Heaven – Another misquoted Scripture is often phrased as “it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to get into heaven”.
The Scripture, found in in Matthew 19:24, actually ends with “to enter the kingdom of God”. This gets tricky. Some folks say that the “eye of a needle” was referring to a gate in Jerusalem that camels could actually kneel and pass through (albeit with some difficulty). Some folks will argue the kingdom of God is not heaven.
But let us assume He actually meant Heaven. He didn’t say it was “impossible”, just hard. Then He summed up by saying “with God, all things are possible”. If the wealthy person has God’s will in mind, they will have no problem being a part of the body of Christ.
It should also be noted that, if being wealthy was wrong, then it’s very curious that God blessed folks like Abraham (Genesis 24:1) and Solomon (1st Kings 3:13) with great wealth. Furthermore, it would be strange that the New Testament provides guidance for the wealthy, including to provide for those in need (1st John 3:17) and to be generous (1st Timothy 6:17-19).
#3 You Can’t Take it With You – “You can’t take (fill in the blank) with you to Heaven”. Since this quote comes in so many forms, it’s easy to see that it’s not in the Bible. However, it is very closely related to Scripture, where we are told not to lay up treasures for ourselves on earth. This is found in Matthew 6:21 and the verse ends by saying, “for where your treasure is, there your heart will also be” (NIV). You see, it’s not having the money that is wrong, but it’s important to have the right attitude about it. You can have your car or your boat, but you can’t take it with you to Heaven. Make sure you are preparing for your eternity in other ways.
Did you have these verses memorized correctly? What passages have you realized that you have misunderstood or misquoted?