Paul wrote, “For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10). Maybe you’ve heard, “Money is the root of all evil.” Is money the root of all evil? Check out this post to find out why the love of money (versus money itself) is the problem.

Table of Contents1. The Love of Money Leads to SinThe Resulting Discontentment2. The Love of Money Hurts Others3. The Love of Money Ruins and DestroysLearning from the Rich Young Ruler4. The Love of Money Requires Repentance5. The Love of Money Chokes Christ Out of Our Lives

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Paul wrote, "For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evils" (1 Timothy 6:10). Read on to learn why loving money so dangerous.

I once watched a fascinating video of a man trapping a monkey. He hollowed out a space on the side of a mound and put food in it. The opening was large enough only for a monkey to insert his hand to get the food. Then the man stood behind a tree a little distance away and waited. A monkey went to the opening, put in his hand, and grabbed the food. The opening wasn’t big enough for the monkey to remove its hand with the food, and because it wouldn’t let go, it was trapped. While the monkey tried to free itself, the man came up from behind and captured it.

While it’s easy to mock the monkey because it was caught by its own foolishness, the same can happen to us. Paul said those who love money “fall…into a snare” (1 Timothy 6:9 ESV). The Greek word translated snare is pagis, and it refers to a trap in which animals are entangled and caught unexpectedly, like the monkey. Let’s consider why the love of money Is the root of all kinds of evil as 1 Timothy 6:10 says, so we can avoid being trapped.

1. The Love of Money Leads to Sin

Murder, adultery, and lying are clearly evil, but it is the desire to be rich really that bad? It is, because of the sin it produces.

We would expect Paul to say desiring to be rich is the temptation, but instead, he said if we “desire to be rich [we] fall into temptation” (ESV). In other words, loving money causes us to be tempted. The Greek word translated desire is boulomai, and it means “to will deliberately.” This speaks of people who have decided they will be rich, versus allowing God to make them rich (assuming that is His will for their lives). The desire to be rich leads to temptation because this leads people to be willing to do almost anything to reach their goal. Nothing—including resisting sin—will stand between them and the money they’re committed to obtaining.

Once the love of money has taken root in people’s hearts, rare is the evil that can’t be perpetrated. Many crimes are motivated by greed, jealousy, covetousness, or all the above. People will lie, cheat, steal, and even murder to become rich. So instead of saying money is the root of all evil, because the problem is actually the love of money, a fitting statement would be that the lack of money is the root of their evil.

The Resulting Discontentment

A few verses earlier, 1 Timothy 6:6 says, “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” People who love money lack contentment. If they were content, they wouldn’t desire to be rich. Instead of being filled with godliness, they’re filled with ungodliness, which leads to their sinful behavior. Here are some examples from Scripture:

Achan was willing to steal and then deceive to get what he wanted (Joshua 7:10-26).

Balaam was willing to go against the expressed will of God to get what he wanted (Numbers 22:4-41).

Gehazi coveted the money Naaman offered, and he was willing to engage in numerous sins to get it (2 Kings 5:15-27).

Judas was willing to betray the Lord for thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 26:14-16).

People who love money have broken the first of the Ten Commandments because they have made money their god, and they have broken the second commandment because they have made money their idol. Then, it is only slightly more compromising to break th...