Ecclesiastes 5:10-12, 1 Timothy 6:10, Ecclesiastes 5:19, Luke 16:13, Matthew 7:24-27

Jim Lowe considers how God would like us to enjoy and use money.

Jim Lowe

Money! It's nice. I reckon if I were to ask you if you wanted more, you would probably say, "Yes please!"

From a young age we learn that money is great to have. It's something that affects us all. We need money to live.

If you listen to a lot of songs, we hear lyrics about money.

If you follow sport, it's all about money.

But money can't buy you happiness - that's just a myth.

Money is not bad. Making money and wanting to make money is not bad. But our attitude to it is often the problem.

Ecclesiastes 5:10-12 says: 'Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness! The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it. So what good is wealth-except perhaps to watch it slip through your fingers! People who work hard sleep well, whether they eat little or much. But the rich seldom get a good night's sleep'.

This talks about the trap of money. It doesn't say that money is the problem; it's loving it that's the problem.

I often think if the Bible says something once, it's important. If it says it twice, then it's really important.

The same thing is said in 1 Timothy 6:10, that the love of money is the root of all evil.

If you love money and become obsessed, it traps you. It can become an addiction. You don't have to be rich for this to be a problem. You can be poor and still be obsessed by money. It can make you jealous and depress you, because you are always thinking, "If only I had more".

But always wanting more money for the sake of having more money is where the problems start.

If you look at verse 12 of Ecclesiastes 5, always wanting more money just leads you to more and more stress. You can never have enough.

The problem with money is no matter how much you have, there is always a risk it can go. All of a sudden it disappears when hard times hit. If money is your everything, then you lose the love of your life.