No. 2 Can Money Buy Happiness?

"Money is the root of all evil."  You've all heard it.  You've been told since you were a tricycle motor.  You listened at campfire chats with dad and while fishing with grandpa, at bedside talks with mom and while baking apple pie with grandma.  Your friends told you, your pastor told you, even the bible seems to say, "Stay away!"

"Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.  He who brings trouble on his family will inherit only wind, and the fool will be servant to the wise."  -Proverbs 11:28-29

But wait, look closer.  God doesn't say that "money" is evil.  Rather, if you look at the more than 2,000 verses in the bible about money, He is saying that the love of money is evil.  I would heartily agree with that conclusion.  One doesn't have to look far to see the devastation that the love of money can visit on our lives.  We see celebrities gone mad, athletes' careers ruined, government leaders corrupted, pastors fall, money crimes...the news is full of the result of the love of money.

But you see, I believe money has no power, in and of itself.  We give it power.  It's what we do with money that counts.  If we choose to do good things with it, then we gain power over it.  Or, if we choose to do stupid things with it, then it gains power over us and can defeat even our strongest of sensibilities.  Money is just an inanimate object, but it's also a potent multiplier of character.  In other words, money makes good people better and bad people worse.

I heard a quote recently that really illustrates how I feel about money.

"If you think money can't buy you happiness, you're not using it right."  -source unknown

I've known people who should never have money.  I've also known people who should definitely have more.  I know folks who drill wells, build houses and churches in developing nations.  People who start charter schools and give to feed the poor.  I know people who can give 90% of their income to help others.  The world is bursting with opportunity to make a difference for good.   I know I would like to help much, much more than I do.  Money can do that...if you give it the power to.

Click here for a short video illustrating the point...


Thanks for reading.

In my next installment I'll start a series on why most people don't use money right.