Wealth…A rich person was once asked how much money would be enough to satisfy him, his reply was, “just a little bit more.” Greed is commonplace in our society today which is equated with how much wealth we have obtained. Many Christians have misquoted 1 Timothy 6:10 (KJV), by saying “money is the root of all evil,” but it says “the love of money is the root of all evil.” It goes on to say that “which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves with many sorrows.”
Many Christians have been fed a lie regarding how God wants all of His children to be wealthy; there is nothing wrong with Christians having wealth as long as that wealth doesn’t control them. While this is a popular message in some congregations, we need to understand that what is popular does not always have to be Biblical. We all need money to meet our needs; but we should put it in the right perspective. We should not covet it (desire it so much that we would do anything to obtain it). This results in us moving away from faith in God to faith in the almighty Dollar. When we don’t follow God’s instructions on how to handle money we will fall victim to many sorrows. God wants us to trust in Him to supply all of our needs according to His riches in Glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19). Our sorrows can be avoided when our trust in God remains priority number one in our walk of faith. In closing, Proverbs 10:22 tells us “It is the blessing of the Lord that makes rich, and He adds no sorrow to it.” This is what we should understand and realize, when God’s blessings overtake us and decides to grant us riches (not only monetarily, but also rich is good health, and good sense) sorrows will not come near us because God removes it from our lives.
Leaders…Many people trust in our President to ensure that our nation is well protected, aide is given to states who experienced natural disasters, and ensuring that all citizens are fairly treated. This is part of the President’s responsibilities; but he/she is not able to replace God in the area of our total trust. Our duty as Christians are to pray for our president (1 Timothy 2: 1-4). Instead of complaining about our president because we didn’t vote for him, or agree with his positions on issues, we should pray that God surrounds him with godly advisors, and that he listens to them, and that he be blessed with wisdom, knowledge, discernment, and understanding. Psalms 146: 3, tells us that “we should not trust in princes, in mortal man, in whom there is no salvation.” We are to pray for them and respect the office; but God is the only one who provides salvation for all humanity through the death, burial, and resurrection of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ.
Excerpts from my Book, "In God we should Trust"