The accumulation of wealth and material goods is not condemned in Scripture, but rather the love of them is warned against as a potential hindrance to a relationship with God. Jesus teaches in Matthew 6:19-21 to store up treasures in heaven, rather than on earth, where they can be lost or corrupted. Similarly, in Luke 12:33-34, He instructs His followers to sell their possessions and give to the poor, highlighting the importance of generosity and detachment from worldly goods. The apostle Paul also cautions against trusting in riches in 1 Timothy 6:17-19, while 1 John 2:15 reminds believers not to love the world or the things in it, instead seeking to honor God with their resources.
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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 moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide yourselves with purses that will not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be conceited and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in God, who richly provides all things for us to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, and to be generous and ready to share, treasuring up for themselves a firm foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.
In everything, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus Himself: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. By craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
If anyone with earthly possessions sees his brother in need, but withholds his compassion from him, how can the love of God abide in him?
And He said to them, “Watch out! Guard yourselves against every form of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
Each one should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not out of regret or compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver.
“They will be Mine,” says the LORD of Hosts, “on the day when I prepare My treasured possession. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.