Can I confess something? I am a Christian, and I would like to be rich.

Well, not rich on the level of Bill Gates or Elon Musk, but rich enough to give me a certain level of comfort and more options in life.

If you’re rich, you could save time by going to private hospitals and doctors for medical appointments instead of queueing up at a public hospital.

If you’re rich, you could take a sabbatical anytime, and not worry about having enough to pay for all daily expenses and needs, especially during this time of inflation.

If you’re rich, you could have a much more comfortable life. You could take your family on the best holiday, buy anything you want, live anywhere you want.

And, of course, if you’re rich, you could help many others without feeling the pinch. You would be more able, as Paul instructed in 1 Timothy 6:18, to be rich in good deeds, to be generous, and to share with others. I’m sure many people would give more if they had more.

But then, in the same chapter, in verse 9, Paul also warns us (emphasis added): “Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.”

After meditating on this verse, I have to wonder: perhaps wanting to be rich isn’t so good for me. Or is it all right?

If you think money itself is the problem, you can give your money to me. (Just kidding.)

In the Bible, we see wealthy believers who followed Jesus steadfastly:

• Barnabas, who accompanied Paul on missionary journeys, sold a piece of land and gave the proceedings to the apostles (Acts 4:36-37)
• Lydia, a worshipper of God and a dealer in purple cloth—a high-value commodity—came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ together with her family (Acts 16:14-15)
• Philemon, who owned slaves, including a particular Onesimus, hosted Paul and opened his home for fellowship with believers (Philemon 1:2,16)

The truth is, money itself isn’t a problem. The Bible says that it is the love of money that is a root of all kinds of evil. It is the love of money that causes some to “lose their footing in the faith completely and live to regret it bitterly ever after” (1 Timothy 6:10 The Message).

Money can easily become our god, where we become devoted to pursuing it at the expense of our relationship with God. No wonder Jesus explicitly warns us that we cannot love and serve both God and money (Matthew 6:24).

But there is nothing wrong with being rich. The rich are no less holy than others. One can be rich and still love God more than he loves or trusts money. However, that’s not easy. Perhaps that’s why Jesus said in Luke 18:25: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

Of course, no self-respecting Christian would admit that he or she loves money—at least not in public. But is that the only issue here?

And it may not just have to do with the desire to be rich.

Consider these questions . . .

Do you delight in seeing your bank account grow?
Do you trust that your savings will save you when you get into trouble?
Are you constantly worried about your investments being diminished or wiped out?

If I had asked myself these three questions some years back, my answers would have been “Yes, yes, and yes.”

I realised my own attitude towards money when I found myself strongly shaken by news that an insurance company from which I had bought some endowment plans was in some financial trouble. Fears of losing my capital plagued my mind.

And when some friends got into trouble while on a mission trip abroad, my first thought was: money can solve the problem.

What was even more telling was the anxiety I had felt once when I was facing the prospect of losing my job. After losing sleep over it, I sought a therapist, who helped me discover that my anxiety was ultimately due to the security that I found in money.

The threat of the loss of a steady, good income had unnerved me. I had believed in the ability of money to give me safety and security, and ultimately, control over my life.

No wonder the Bible alludes to how money can deceive us into believing that wealth can protect us from life’s troubles: “The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it a wall too high to scale” (Proverbs 18:11). Proverbs 11:28, however, reminds us that “those who trust in their riches will fall”.

Maybe what many of us want are not riches for their own sake, but their potential to free us from anxiety.

Perhaps that’s why Jesus follows up on His warning against the love of money with this assurance in

Likewise, Matthew 6:33 reminds us to “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well”. This was the promise that I clung to when I eventually took a 50 per cent pay cut and joined a Christian ministry full-time and I can testify that God has never left me in lack.

I’ve also learned to ask myself:

Have I misplaced my security in money?

Have I looked to wealth to solve my problems and address my needs?

Will I be ready to give cheerfully and generously when God prompts me to do so?

May God test our hearts and help us to ensure that money—and its false promise of safety and security—does not have a hold over us.

May we remember to love, trust and worship not the gift of money but the Giver.