The Treasure PrincipleSample

What’s Money Got to Do with Our Spiritual Lives?

Did you know that 15 percent of everything Christ said relates to money—more than His teachings on Heaven and Hell combined?

Why did Jesus put such an emphasis on money and possessions? 

Because there’s a fundamental connection between our spiritual lives and how we think about and handle money. We may try to divorce our faith and finances, but God sees them as inseparable. 

I came to this realization years ago while reading Luke 3 on an airplane. Among the crowds that gathered to hear John the Baptist preach, three different groups asked him how they should prove their repentance. John gave three answers: 

1. Everyone should share clothes and food with the poor (v. 11). 

2. Tax collectors shouldn’t pocket extra money (v. 13). 

3. Soldiers should be content with their wages and not extort money (v. 14). 

No one had asked John about finances! They wanted to know how to demonstrate spiritual transformation. So why did John’s response center almost exclusively on money and possessions? 

Sitting on that plane, I realized something John wanted his audience to know: Our approach to money and possessions is central to our spiritual lives. Soon that truth jumped out at me in other passages.

Zacchaeus said to Jesus, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount” (Luke 19:8). 

Jesus responded, “Today salvation has come to this house” (v. 9). Zacchaeus’s new approach to money proved his heart had been transformed. 

Acts tells of Jerusalem converts who eagerly sold their possessions to give to the needy (2:45; 4:32–35). The poor widow steps off the pages of Scripture by giving two small coins. Jesus praised her: “She out of her poverty has put in everything she had” (Mark 12:44). 

When a rich young man pressed Jesus about how to gain eternal life, Jesus told him, “Sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me” (Matthew 19:21). Jesus knew the man couldn’t serve God until he dethroned his money idol. Neither can we. 

When have you found that the love of money came between you and your relationship with God?