What Does the Bible Say About Money? Wealth, Greed and Giving

Scripture says far more about money than most people expect. Money and possessions come up in Jesus' parables more often than heaven and hell combined. Not because God is interested in money, but because money exposes what a person actually values.

The misquoted verse

People say "money is the root of all evil". That is not what the text says.

1 Timothy 6:10 reads: "the love of money is the root of all evil." One phrase changes everything. Money is a tool; love of it is a direction of the heart. The same chapter tells the wealthy not to "trust in uncertain riches" (6:17) — note that it says trust, not own.

For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith.1 Timothy 6:10 (KJV)

Wealth itself is not condemned

Abraham, Job, David and Solomon were all wealthy, and scripture does not rebuke them for it. Job opens by calling him "the greatest of all the men of the east" and, in the same breath, "perfect and upright".

What is condemned is consistent: wealth got unjustly (Micah 6:11), hoarded and unused (Luke 12:16-21), or put where God should be (Matthew 6:24).

What the camel and the needle means

"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God" (Mark 10:25) is often explained as a narrow Jerusalem gate called "the Needle's Eye". There is no evidence such a gate existed; the explanation appears only in the medieval period.

Jesus meant it literally: impossible. The disciples' reaction proves they heard it that way — they were "astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved?" His answer: "With men it is impossible, but not with God."

Is tithing a rule?

The tithe — a tenth of income — comes from Old Testament law (Malachi 3:10 among others). The New Testament does not restate a fixed percentage. Paul's principle is: "every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver" (2 Cor 9:7).

Many churches still use the tithe as a working benchmark. But the New Testament moves the emphasis from the percentage to the posture.

Four practical principles

1. Live within your means — Proverbs returns to this repeatedly (21:20).
2. Be wary of debt — "the borrower is servant to the lender" (22:7).
3. Be generous — "it is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35).
4. Do not treat it as security — the point of 1 Timothy 6:17.

The hardest case

Jesus told the rich young ruler to "sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor" (Mark 10:21). He did not say that to everyone — Zacchaeus gave half, and Jesus declared salvation had come to his house.

The difference is not the figure. It is whether the thing has taken God's place.

Read the rich fool in Luke 12 beside the rich young ruler in Mark 10 in the BiblePro app. And do look for a local church to read alongside others.