I often say that hell is loving things that don’t love you back. And money is certainly something that won’t love you back. When you love money, money will always tell you that if you just love it a bit more, it will finally return your love. If you just get your hands on the next dollar, the next possession, you’ll finally have peace. But as soon as you do, the love of money tells you, “no, I said the next dollar. Now that you have it, it’s no longer the next one. You need one more.”
On the one hand, Paul repeatedly in his epistles calls on Christians to support the preaching of the Gospel. Congregations should be generous enough to keep their pastors from destitution and distraction and anxiety. They should pay their pastors in a way that shows they’re worthy of double honor. But pastors must also recognize that, often, anxiety and distraction come not because they’re starving but because they’ve starved themselves of Christ by loving money more, by refusing to be content with what is more than enough.
And so Paul encourages Timothy as a pastor to lead by example, an example we should follow, shepherd and sheep alike. Be content with what you have. Love Christ, not money. Keep yourself from an idolatrous view of possessions by keeping your eyes fixed on Christ. And keep your eyes fixed on Christ by pursuing righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness. Trust in the righteousness that Jesus poured out for you at Calvary. Trust in the godliness that God gave you in His death and resurrection. Put your faith not in money but in the God who poured out steadfast love upon you through His Son. Rejoice in the gentleness of the Lord who will always love you back because He loved you first.
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