Since I was very young I heard over and over the saying: “The Bible says that money is the root of all evil.” What confused me was that everyone I knew, even my dad, talked about and spent a lot of their time discussing money. Since my father was a preacher, it was about tithes, offerings, and mission money.

Then as I grew older I learned that there was a scripture that actually read: “The love of money is the root of all evil.”¹ But it wasn’t until I could do research on the scriptures that I discovered even that was not the most accurate translation. That the word in the original language is best described in English as “avarice.” The dictionary defines “avarice” as: “an insatiable greed for riches; inordinate, miserly desire to gain and hoard wealth.”

To put it in our modern vernacular, it is another way of saying: “Not satisfied with what you already have, but always wanting more than you need.” If you can’t find a copy of 4^th Maccabees, a book that was in the canon of the Old Testament of the Georgian Bible, and included in the 1688 Orthodox and the 18th Century Greek Catholic Romanian Bibles, and read Chapter One, it is an enlightening chapter on how we should handle our emotions. If you can’t find a copy, Google it on the internet.

There are many expressions of this greed for things one does not need that people often use to justify it. For instance, have you ever heard someone say: “If I were rich, I’d give away more of my money.” Don’t count on that happening. Statistics show that’s not the case. But it is amazing what some people would do for money, if they were offered enough.

I heard a story years ago about a rich gentleman who was dining with a beautiful, well-known actress from a very noble family. He asked her, “Would you sleep with me one time for $10,000,000? She at first was shocked at the question, but after a moment or two said, “I guess I would.” Then he asked her if she would do it for $5,000,000? She seemed annoyed at first, but then after some time relented and said, “Yes, but only one time.” Once again he asked her if she would do it for $1,000,000? At this she became very angry, and blurted out, “What do you think I am!” The man replied, “I know what you are, I’m just trying to set the right price.”

It’s another way of saying the most people can be bought if the price is right. But what about being bought if you are a Christian. What would it take for other people to get you to try something that goes against your faith just once? What could the devil offer you that would persuade you to denounce your faith? Or what would you be willing to do in order to get something you’ve always wanted but could never afford, that would compromise your faith in God and His Word?

I’m sure that question was often one that the apostle Paul was asked. But he was not hesitant in giving his answer with sincerity and conviction. Here’s what he said: “I am sure that nothing can separate us from God’s love—not death, life, angels, or ruling spirits. I am sure that nothing now, nothing in the future, no powers, nothing above us or nothing below us—nothing in the whole created world—will ever be able to separate us from the love God has shown us in Christ Jesus our Lord.”²

The key to this statement is not that God is willing or desires to take away His love. John 3:16 proves that nothing can keep God from loving us. But it is what will we allow to come into our lives that will keep us from loving God the way we should. It may be big or it may be small, but for each one of us it is a matter of the price we set. And that price is most often influenced by our greed and desire for those things we really don’t need. – Dr. Robert R. Seyda