Jesus’ Terrible Financial AdviceSample

Wealth and Deception

Because the number one theme related to wealth in the Bible is that it is a blessing from God, it is easy to conclude that we should pursue it. What is wealth, after all? A tool! So why not get the biggest and best tool possible?

But in doing so, we fall prey to the deceitfulness of wealth, the second most common theme related to wealth in the Bible. Jesus warns us that “the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the Word, making it unfruitful.” A blessing turns into a curse whenever we set our hearts on wealth instead of Him. So we are deceived. 

James, the brother of Jesus, explains that we can either deceive ourselves, or be deceived by another. Both end in death. This has gone on since the creation of the world, when Eve chose the forbidden fruit over obedience to God. Yes, the serpent deceived her, but she also deceived herself. She trusted in her senses (the “fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye”), and she trusted in her intellect, or reason (“and also desirable for gaining wisdom”), instead of trusting God. So she was deceived.

At the heart of every deception lies a key principle. This is what I call the “Great Deception”: the belief that we have a better plan for our lives than God does.

Whenever we conclude that the plans we have for our lives are better than the plans He has for us, or that the gifts we have for ourselves are better than His gifts, the false master money steps up.

In a certain sense, money offers you even more than God does. There are certain things you can buy that God just won’t give you, like a mistress, or revenge, or anything else that goes against who He is. Things that aren’t kind, just, or right.

Let me be clear that there is a huge difference between offering more and delivering more. Much like what Satan offered when he tried to tempt Jesus: “All this I will give you if you will bow down and worship me” (Matt. 4:9), Satan offers what he cannot give. In truth, it wasn’t his to give. But he offered it just the same.

Truth is the antidote to deception. Our Father promises that He is the giver of “every good and perfect gift” (James 1:17). When we choose to trust anyone, even ourselves, in place of God, we are deceived. Who will you trust?