There is a reason why the Bible says that “the love of money is the root of all of evil.”¹  It is one of the things that you can get, and yet never have enough of.  It is one of the things that men kill for, and will make good men bad.

Last night, Sen. McCain said that earmarks and pork barrel spending—spending someone else’s money—is a gateway drug.  It is something that will make people who were once good do things that they said that they were against.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Part of the way to break the hold that money can have on you is to make part of your goal the desire to give it away.  It isn’t only at Christmas time that “It is more blessed to give than receive,” and we can see this by the number of wealthy individuals that choose to use their money for the benefit of others rather than themselves.

One of these people is Ruth Parasol, a billionaire that started the Bonita Trust Charity.  She started a trust to reach the country of Gibraltar to help them grow in the areas of education, culture, health and community projects.  Another is Bill and Melinda Gates, who are dedicating their money towards different projects to aid health care in the world.

But you don’t have to be a billionaire to give money, and to give it wisely.  My family gives a small amount of money to a missionary family that is headed overseas to spread the gospel.  We give money to our local church and support different needs in our community.  My company supports the local United Way.

Don’t let money control you—control it instead.

1. 1 Timothy 6:10 [↩]