Money in the Word Episode 2: 1 Timothy 6:17

In this video, we take a look at 1 Timothy 6:17 with Ben Wacek, CFP®, CKA® of Guide Financial Planning, and how it applies to us today.

Welcome to another episode of Money in the Word. I am Ben Wacek and I am one of the financial planners here at Guide Financial Planning. I am so thankful for you taking a few minutes with me to take a look at a passage of scripture and see what the Bible has to say about the topic of money and how it applies to our lives. The passage that I've picked out for today is one of my favorites in the Bible on the topic of money. With that, I'll go ahead and pull it up. It's found in 1 Timothy 6:17.

Just to give you a little bit of context there, so the book of 1Timothy was written by the Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul was one of the leaders of the early Christian church, and he actually wrote more of the New Testament than anybody else did. So we hear a lot from the Apostle Paul in the Bible and this particular letter 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy actually are both letters that Paul wrote to Timothy. Many of his books are written to a church, this is written to an individual, Timothy. You can kind of think about him as like a mentee. He was a younger leader in the Christian church that Paul was mentoring, and this is one of the two letters that are recorded that that Paul wrote to Timothy.

In this particular one as we're going to see in this first line it says,  "As for the rich in this present age," so Paul is writing this letter to Timothy with instructions for how to basically engage with those who are rich and how to communicate with them. And so he says, "As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty," this word haughty is a word that also means "Pride," or thinking of yourself highly. I also just wanted to point out, too, as for the rich in this present age, the idea of rich many people who are wealthy might not think about themselves as rich. The truth is, if you live in the United States and have even an average income that, that would put you in the top 1% of world income earners. And so I do think that this passage is directed at the rich at that time, but I think it would also apply to many of us  today who might be watching this video. 

So what does he say to the rich? He charges them not to be haughty, and he also says not to put their hopes on the uncertainty of riches. I think this is a really important thing right here. He's not saying that we should just avoid riches at all cost, but he's saying don't put your hope in them because they're uncertain. I don't know about you, but I find that often times with the financial resources that I have, the savings accounts, I do find a sense of security that comes from them. I think it's wise to be setting aside money for things that might come up, you know, just again it's good planning. I think it's good stewardship of those resources, but that said it's just saying don't put your hope in those things because they are uncertain from an eternal standpoint. What should we put our hope hope in, and you can see here, that it's saying we should put our hope in God who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. So don't put your hope in riches, put your hope in God. He is truly the only one who doesn't change who can be counted on at all times. He is certain and so we get to put our hope in him.

It's cool because God is the one who richly provides us everything to enjoy. He's not just providing it to us for no reason at all, he also wants us to enjoy those things. We certainly see in other places in scripture where it warns against wealth, but here we are seeing that one of the reasons he gives to us is for us to enjoy what he's provided. Just one practical example that I love to think about when I think about this is that food is an example that it's not tied to money. God could have created food to be something that we could just eat without any taste or anything like that, but he chooses to provide food to us that tastes good. We get to enjoy that food and hopefully that points us back to him as the Creator. Being a generous God, creating delicious food and I think he does the same thing with our financial resources. He wants us to enjoy those things, as well. Certainly we want to look to the needs of others which we see in other places of scripture, but I think it is a key principle that we see of God, he's a generous God. One of the reasons he gives to us is for us to be able to enjoy.

So yeah, I hope you've enjoyed walking through this passage. I'll go ahead and read through that one more time. It says, "As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy." Lord, I just thank you for your Word, for this passage of scripture that we can read, and just this reminder that you are certain and that you are trustworthy. We can put our hope in you, Lord. Help me and our listeners not to put our hope in wealth, which is uncertain, but to put our hope in you who provides us with us everything to enjoy. Lord, help us to remember those truths. Help us to remember that you are a generous God and that you love us dearly. In your name we pray. Amen.

Well thank you again for joining for another episode of Money in the Word. Would love for you to subscribe to our YouTube channel if you'd like to get these in the future. You can also click the Like button and that helps us out just allowing more people to find this content that we're putting out. These short devotionals are really again intended for you to take a look at a passage of scripture and see how does that apply to the way that we use and view the financial resources that the Lord has entrusted to us. So thank you so much and I hope you have a great day.