Nobody ever thinks money will be their problem.
When you are young, money feels like a solution — the answer to every limitation you currently face. If you just had more of it, you could do what you wanted, go where you wanted, be who you wanted. Money looks like freedom.
But money is not freedom. Money is a test.
It tests what you love. It tests what you trust. It tests what you are willing to do — and what you are willing to become — in order to get it and keep it. Money does not change your character. It reveals it. And it will reveal yours sooner than you think.
Jesus said more about money than He said about almost any other subject. That should tell you something. He did not talk about it because He was interested in your financial planning. He talked about it because He knew what it would do to your heart if you were not careful.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
— Matthew 6:19–21 (NASB)
That last line is the one that matters most. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Jesus is not giving financial advice. He is diagnosing a spiritual condition. What you spend your money on tells the truth about what you love — even when your mouth says something different.
Money does not change who you are. It reveals who you are.
The Love of Money
Paul wrote one of the most misquoted verses in the entire Bible:
“For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
— 1 Timothy 6:10 (NASB)
Notice what the text actually says. It does not say money is the root of all evil. Money is a tool. It is morally neutral. A hammer can build a house or break a window — the hammer does not decide. Money is the same way. It can fund a missionary, feed the hungry, support a church, and provide for a family. Or it can destroy every one of those things.
The problem is not money. The problem is the love of money. It is the longing for it. The craving. The willingness to let it sit on the throne of your heart where only God belongs.
And notice what Paul says happens when someone gives in to that love: they wander away from the faith. They pierce themselves with many griefs. The love of money does not lead to satisfaction. It leads to wandering and grief. It promises fulfillment and delivers emptiness.
You will meet people in your life who have a great deal of money and very little peace. You will meet others who have almost nothing and possess a joy that money cannot explain. The difference is never the amount in the account. The difference is what sits on the throne.
Money is not the problem. Loving it is.
Women Who Used What They Had
Scripture gives us real examples of women who had means and used them well — not for their own comfort, but for the work of the Lord.
We have already met Lydia — the seller of purple fabrics who opened her home to the apostles and to the church at Philippi (Acts 16:14–15, 40). Her business funded her faithfulness. She did not hoard what she had earned. She put it to work for the kingdom.
But Lydia was not the only one.
Luke tells us something remarkable about the women who followed Jesus during His earthly ministry:
“Soon afterwards, He began going around from one city and village to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God. The twelve were with Him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others who were contributing to their support out of their private means.”
— Luke 8:1–3 (NASB)
Read that carefully. Jesus and the twelve were traveling from city to city, preaching the kingdom of God. And the text says there were women — named women — who were contributing to their support out of their private means.
Joanna was the wife of Chuza, who was Herod’s steward. This was not a woman of modest means. Her husband managed the finances of the royal household. She had access to wealth that most people in first-century Palestine could not imagine. And she used it — not to build a more comfortable life for herself, but to support the ministry of Jesus Christ.
Mary Magdalene is named. Susanna is named. And then Luke adds, “and many others.” This was not one generous woman. It was a pattern — women who had resources and chose to pour them into the work of the Lord.
These women understood something that many people never learn: what you have is not really yours. It was given to you. And the best thing you can do with it is give it back.
Joanna had the means of a royal household. She spent them on the kingdom of God.
The Widow’s Two Coins
There is another woman in Scripture whose story about money is even more striking — and she is never named.
“And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, ‘Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.’”
— Mark 12:41–44 (NASB)
Jesus was watching the treasury — not the amounts going in, but how people were giving. The rich put in large sums, and nobody questioned their generosity. But it was the widow — the woman with two small copper coins — who caught His attention.
Why? Because she gave everything. The rich gave out of their surplus. She gave out of her poverty. They gave what they would never miss. She gave what she could not afford to lose.
Jesus did not measure generosity by the amount. He measured it by the cost.
This matters for you right now, even if you do not have much. You do not need to be wealthy to be generous. Generosity is not about the size of the gift. It is about the size of the sacrifice. The question is not “how much did you give?” The question is “what did it cost you?”
God does not measure your generosity by what you gave. He measures it by what you kept.
Contentment: The War You Will Fight
If money is a test, contentment is how you pass it.
The world will spend your entire life trying to convince you that you do not have enough. That is not an accident. It is a business model. Every advertisement, every influencer, every “must-have” product is designed to create a feeling of lack — to make you believe that whatever you have right now is not sufficient.
It is a lie. And if you believe it, you will spend your life chasing something that keeps moving.
Paul understood this. He had lived with abundance and he had lived with nothing, and he said something extraordinary:
“Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”
— Philippians 4:11–13 (NASB)
Notice that contentment was something Paul learned. It did not come naturally to him any more than it comes naturally to you. It was a discipline — a practice — something he had to work at. And notice where his contentment came from: not from having enough money, but from Christ who strengthened him.
That last verse — “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” — is one of the most misused verses in the Bible. People put it on coffee cups and gym shirts as if Paul were talking about winning games or getting promotions. He was not. He was talking about contentment. He was saying: through Christ, I can be content whether I have much or little. That is the “all things” he is talking about.
Contentment is not about having everything you want. It is about wanting what you have — because you trust the God who gave it to you.
The writer of Hebrews puts it plainly:
“Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, ‘I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.’”
— Hebrews 13:5 (NASB)
The cure for the love of money is not poverty. It is the promise of God’s presence. He will never leave you. He will never forsake you. When you believe that — really believe it — the grip that money has on your heart begins to loosen.
Contentment is not having everything you want. It is trusting the God who gives you what you need.
Generosity: The Antidote
If the love of money is a disease, generosity is the cure.
There is something that happens inside you when you give. Not because giving earns you anything with God — it does not. Salvation is a gift, not a transaction. But giving breaks the power that money wants to hold over your heart. When you give freely, you declare that your security is not in the money. It is in God.
Paul encouraged the church at Corinth with this principle:
“Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
— 2 Corinthians 9:6–7 (NASB)
A cheerful giver. Not a reluctant giver. Not someone who gives because they feel guilty or pressured. Someone who gives because they have decided in their heart that this is what they want to do with what God has given them.
Start now. You do not have to wait until you are wealthy to practice generosity. Give to the church. Give to someone in need. Give your time, your resources, your attention to people who cannot repay you. Build the muscle now — because if you do not learn to give when you have little, you will not give when you have much.
If you will not give when you have little, you will not give when you have much.
A Few Practical Words
This chapter would not be complete without some plain talk about how to handle money well while you are young.
Do not spend everything you earn. This sounds obvious, but it is where most people fail. The moment money comes in, they find a way to send it right back out. Learn to set something aside — even if it is small — before you spend anything else.
Avoid debt like it is a trap — because it is. “The borrower is servant to the lender” (Proverbs 22:7). Debt promises freedom and delivers bondage. There may come a time when some borrowing is necessary, but a young woman who learns to live within her means will save herself decades of financial stress.
Give first, save second, spend last. Most people reverse this order. They spend first, save if anything is left over, and give from the scraps. Flip it. When giving comes first, it sets the order of your heart — it reminds you that everything you have belongs to God, and you are managing it on His behalf.
Do not let money determine your worth. You are not more valuable because you have more. You are not less valuable because you have less. Your worth was settled at the cross, and no bank account can add to it or subtract from it.
Give first. Save second. Spend last.
Money will test your character.
It will reveal what you love, what you trust, and who you really are.
Let it find you faithful.
Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
For Further Study
Money is one of the most discussed topics in all of Scripture. These passages are a place to start.
- Matthew 6:19–21 — Where your treasure is
- 1 Timothy 6:6–10 — The love of money
- Luke 8:1–3 — Women who supported Jesus from their private means
- Acts 16:14–15, 40 — Lydia’s generosity and hospitality
- Mark 12:41–44 — The widow’s two coins
- Philippians 4:11–13 — The secret of contentment
- 2 Corinthians 9:6–7 — God loves a cheerful giver
- Hebrews 13:5 — Content with what you have
- Proverbs 22:7 — The borrower is servant to the lender
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
— Matthew 6:19–21 (NASB)