Do You Hate Money… Or God?

July 24, 2013 by Monica Dennington 4 Comments



From the desert in Phoenix, an idol smashing challenge from God’s Word!

You’ve heard it said that, as a Christian, you can have money as long as you don’t love it. But is that what Jesus said?

Dare to take this quick heart-test that Jesus prescribes in Matthew 6:24 to find out what you really love…and hate.

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4 Responses to “Do You Hate Money… Or God?”

  1. Rick Reply July 24, 2013 at 10:49 am

    This is a hard and simple teaching.
    Thank you for continuing to bring the truth of God’s Word to us and challenging us. 🙂

    Like

    • Monica Dennington Reply August 5, 2013 at 12:46 am

      You are definitely, welcome, Rick. The fact that you say “thank you” when God’s Word says something hard shows the kind of heart that God is looking for. I pray that He will honor your desire to obey, and fill you with every good thing in the Spirit.

      Like

  2. Nmeli Reply August 3, 2013 at 3:42 pm

    It is also important to keep in mind that the word “hate” and “love” is relative. For example, what Jesus is saying there is that compared to the love you have for God, your regard or attitude towards money should be comparable to hatred. You should be willing to give money up in a heart beat when God leads you to because of the tremendous love you have for Him. In Luke 14:26, the same message is passed across about hating father and mother… for His sake. Jesus could not possibly want us to “hate” per se, since in Matthew 22:36-40. He said that the second greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself, and love for others was so emphasized in 1 John 4:7-21, that it calls whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister a liar, So Jesus is not saying love me, hate everybody else, but let the love you have for others be so pale in comparison to the light of the love you have for me that it is like hatred. God wants us to prosper and be in health (3 John 1;2), all through the old testament, Genesis 26:12-14 showed that because of God’s blessing on Isaac,he became so rich, so wealthy that the Philistines envied Him. God doesn’t have a problem blessing financially, matter of fact, He wants to! 🙂 He just doesn’t want anything to take his place in our hearts or even come close, not money, not family… nothing. He promised in Malachi 3:10 to open the windows of Heaven and pour out such a blessing that we cannot contain if we honor Him with our finances by tithing. In Zechariah 1:16, we are told that the kingdom of God through prosperity will be spread abroad. God is a God of abundance and that is why Paul writes about His riches in glory (Philippians 4:19). All silver and gold belongs to God (Haggai 2:8). Would a good parent hoard from his/her child? The children of God need to have money so that we can move the kingdom forward like the women who ministered to Jesus of their substance (money, means) (Luke 8:2-3).
    Other verses that show God wants us blessed and empowered materially: Matthew 6: 31-33, Mark 10: 29-30 (note, He refers to this present age and then eternal life).

    Love,
    God bless and keep you. 🙂

    Like

    • Monica Dennington Reply August 5, 2013 at 12:27 am

      This verse on Mammon is a heart check, Nmeli. Proverbs 30:6 says:

      “Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.”

      Your conclusions are not found in Scripture. Your conclusion serves to nullify Jesus’ statement, which is:

      “6:19 Do not accumulate for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. 6:20 But accumulate for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. 6:21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also… 6:24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” Matthew 6:19-21, 24 (NET)

      You are attempting to use Jesus’ statement about “hating” family in Luke 14:26 to redefine Jesus’ statement about “hating” money in Matthew 6:24.

      This speculation is unnecessary. A few verses later, in that very same passage of Luke, Jesus spells out exactly what it means to “hate” money. He says:

      “In the same way therefore not one of you can be my disciple if he does not renounce all his own possessions.” Luke 14:33 (NET)

      Jesus didn’t have a place to lay his head. Peter said, “I have no silver or gold, but what I do have I give you.” This is the pattern for discipleship, and the only pattern we are given to follow. As it says in 1 John 2:6:

      “The one who says he resides in God ought himself to walk just as Jesus walked.”

      Like

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