How Money Can Be Deceiving

Don’t let the appeal of wealth distract you from what you were really made for

What is your true purpose in life? And what part does money play in it? Think carefully about these questions. Because money can be deceiving.

Wealth is a tricky thing: Handle it right, and it can empower you to make a great impact on the world. Handle it wrong, however, and it can rob you of your true purpose.

When we have financial abundance, we can do a lot of good with a generous heart. But wealth has a deceitful side, too. It can steal your soul and rob you of your purpose. Money can be deceiving.

Money plays an important part in life. But there’s much more to life than money. And you have a much higher calling than simply getting rich.

God made your for greatness. But to achieve it, you have to keep the deceitfulness of wealth in check.

Money Can Choke Your Heart

Jesus talked about the deceitfulness of wealth when he explained the Parable of the Sower. You may know this story. A farmer goes into his field to plant seeds, and the seed falls in a number of different places. In some of them, problems prohibit the seed from growing. In the fertile soil, however, the seed reproduces abundantly.

In this story, the seed represents the word of God and the message of the Gospel. And each different type of soil represents a condition of the human heart. In Matthew 13:22-23, Jesus talks about how money can be deceiving and choke out the word of God in our hearts:

²² The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. ²³ But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

Jesus doesn’t mince words. If you let money deceive you, it can choke out the work of God in your life.

Money Can’t Fix Everything

How does this happen? Jesus gives us two answers: “the worries of this life” and “the deceitfulness of wealth.”

Everyone has worries. Many of us worry about providing for ourselves and taking care of our families in the future. Will we have all that we need? Will we be able to get everything done?

When you’re worried about your financial situation, it’s easy to think that having more money would solve all your problems. The more wealth you acquire, the more protected you are against emergencies. So we look to money to save us from the things we worry about.

The problem with this is that money can be deceiving. Wealth may make some things in life easier or more convenient, but it doesn’t really solve our biggest issues and worries. Our most important problems are the ones inside our hearts. And making more money can’t fix them.

Freedom Starts in Your Heart

Money is like a megaphone that amplifies who you are on the inside. If your heart is focused on the purpose God made you for, having more money will help you pursue that more effectively. But if you only focus on how money can improve  your situation, earning more money will only make you more selfish.

Money can be deceiving. It chokes out the only thing that can really solve our biggest problems: the power of the Gospel.

In the parable, Jesus says that getting tangled up in worry and greed will leave you with an empty heart. But keeping our hearts open to God leads to prosperity.

“The seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it,” Jesus said. “This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

Freedom always starts in your heart. God wants to change you from the inside, fill you with purpose and help you overcome the problems standing in your way. So don’t let money choke out His plans for you.