Why does the Bible teach us not to love money?
“He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity.”
—Ecclesiastes 5:10 (ESV)
What role does money play in your life? How often do you think about it? Are you convinced that you need it in order to be happy? These are questions I have often asked myself, and I would encourage you to ponder these questions as well.
There’s a subtle danger in loving money: it promises satisfaction but never delivers. Ecclesiastes 5:10 exposes this lie with piercing clarity—“He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity.”
King Solomon, who wrote these words, was one of the wealthiest and wisest men in history. If anyone could speak from experience about the limitations of wealth, it was him. He had riches beyond imagination, yet came to realize that no amount of money could truly satisfy the deepest needs of the soul.
The reason is simple: money can fill your hands, but it can’t fill your heart. It can buy comfort, but not contentment. It can fund experiences, but it can’t provide peace. When we place our hope in wealth, we end up chasing a moving target. The more we gain, the more we want. Satisfaction always seems just out of reach—one raise, one bonus, one purchase away.
Solomon calls this pursuit “vanity.” In other words, it’s meaningless. Empty. A mist that vanishes as soon as you try to grasp it. The love of money becomes a trap, not because money itself is evil, but because when it takes the place of God in our affections, it can never meet our deepest longings.
The New Testament echoes this truth. Paul writes in 1 Timothy 6:10, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.” Again, the issue isn’t money itself, but our love for it—our belief that it can give us what only God can provide. When we pursue wealth as our ultimate goal, we miss the true riches that come from walking with Christ.
So how do we guard our hearts? First, by cultivating gratitude for what we already have. Contentment isn’t found in having more—it’s found in recognizing that what we have is enough when Christ is our portion. Second, by living generously. Giving breaks the grip of greed. It reminds us that we are stewards, not owners, and that everything we have ultimately belongs to God.
Lastly, we guard our hearts by remembering the gospel. Jesus didn’t cling to the riches of heaven—He laid them aside to save us. He became poor so that through His poverty, we might become spiritually rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). In Him, we have every treasure that matters: forgiveness, peace, purpose, and eternal life.
© John Stange, 2025