How do you tell if you are a lover of money?

Christian ought not to be lovers of money (1 Timothy 6:10).  But this challenge is harder than most think.

Then there is this prediction by Paul: “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,” (2 Timothy 3:1-2).  Given the times that we are living in how much do we need to be discerning to see if we are lovers of money!

Of course people can often deceive themselves.  So how do you know if you are a lover of money?  The following are four diagnostic questions.  I tried to make it flow with the acronym “SNAP:”

1. You scoff at those who point out you shouldn’t love money more than God: “Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and were scoffing at Him.” (Luke 16:14)
   1. This verse follows right after Jesus saying: “You cannot serve God and wealth.”
   2. Thus the Pharisees’ reaction is one of being a cynic and a scoffer of the truth.
   3. Like the case with other sins, when someone point out a pet sin we like, we get defensive…or even go on the offense!  So when you start attacking, ask yourself before God if the issue at hand is your love of money.
2. You need to commit more sins as a means to satisfy your love for money: “For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil….” (1 Timothy 6:10a)
   1. Notice the verse did not say money is the root of evil; rather it says it is “the love of money” that “is a root of all sorts of evil”
   2. How do you tell you are a lover of money? The love of money is a sin that doesn’t come alone; ask yourself if there are other sins that are a symptom of the love of money.
   3. Put another way: When you sin, what is the motivation for you to sin? Does money play a part in your motivation to commit those sins?
3. You apostate as a consequence of your love for money: “For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (1 Timothy 6:10b)
   1. Notice that some go so far in their sins of loving money that they “have wandered away from the faith!”
   2. They worship money so much that money and material possessions has become their functional gods that gives them satisfaction and their identity rather than God or Christ!
   3. See this as a serious sign you are in dangerous waters: The things of God suddenly becomes not interesting to you.
4. You pierce yourself with grief as a consequence of your love for money: “For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil…and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (1 Timothy 6:10c)
   1. It is not a happy apostasy; rather we see it comes with the consequences of “many griefs”
   2. Yet it was self-inflicted since they “pierced themselves”
   3. It’s true when Proverbs 13:15b tells us “But the way of the treacherous is hard.“

Next Sunday’s post I want to cover part one to the question “How do you combat the love of money?”