1 Timothy 6:10

For the love of money is the root of all evil; which, while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

At the opening of this paragraph, Paul arranges to obviate a misunderstanding, as though Christianity were under no circumstances a source of gain: But a great gain indeed is godliness with contentment, with the feeling of possessing all that one needs. Piety does indeed result in a gain, and one that is far more excellent than that which the errorists had in mind. It is a characteristic of godliness that this virtue offers a real gain only in connection with such an attitude of satisfaction with one's lot as places its hope and confidence in the Lord and His providence, Psalms 37:5; Proverbs 30:8; Matthew 6:33.

The first reason adduced by the apostle in support of his statement is that taken from the transitory character of this world's goods: For nothing it was that we brought into this world; that we also can bring nothing away (who will doubt?). That is the common, the general human experience. Not only without money and goods, but in absolute nakedness man is born into the world, Job 1:21. And no matter how much he may earn and gain during this short life, no matter how greedily he may seek the things of this world, he can take nothing along with him into eternity, Psalms 49:17; Luke 12:15. All the money and goods of this present life are thus transitory in character; they can be our property at best for only a short time, take them along with us we cannot: why, then, strive after that which cannot bring lasting satisfaction?

The second reason of the apostle in support of his statement warning against dissatisfaction and avarice: But having food and raiment, with these let us be content. The actual needs of a man are really much smaller than he himself usually is willing to believe. If he is in possession of that which keeps him alive from day to day; if he has the simplest foods to eat and water to drink; if he can cover his nakedness against heat and cold; if he has some form of shelter against the inclemencies of the weather, then he is in possession of those factors which he needs for the sustaining of his life. Christians that realize the truth of these facts will therefore gladly heed the admonition to be content with this measure of God's goodness and bounty, especially since they have the promise that they will always have what they need for the support and wants of the body, Matthew 6:33.

The apostle furthermore refers to the danger connected with the possession of many goods of this world: They, however, that desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and many senseless and pernicious lusts, which drown the people in ruin and destruction. Note that Paul does not condemn riches in themselves, not the fact that a person is rich, his having received an unusual amount of God's blessings, although it remains true that such people are exposed to very great temptations. He is speaking of such as make it their object and goal to be rich at all costs, that have no other interest in the world than to heap up riches to themselves. People of this kind deliberately court temptation and therefore find little difficulty in finding it; in fact, they readily fall into temptation, they find cause and inspiration for many sins, they find many sins beckoning them on to which they, in their former less prosperous state, never gave a second thought. Following the lure of riches, they fall into the snares of sins, of intemperance, of dissipation, of voluptuousness, and many other vices. Every new day provides further food for the lust of their heart and eyes; with ever greater eagerness they strive after the flimsy hollowness of this world's gifts. Foolish the apostle calls these desires, since they take away all decent reasoning, all moral common sense, causing people to be drowned, to be dragged down into ruin and destruction, into moral and spiritual bankruptcy. So immeasurably deep is this perdition that it includes bodily ruin as well as intellectual, spiritual, and eternal condemnation. At present all the nations of the world seem to have been caught in the vortex of a wild whirlpool, as the mania for amusements and luxuries indicates all too plainly.

In conclusion, the apostle characterizes this insane desire for money: For a root of all evils is the eagerness for money, which some coveting after have erred from the faith and have transfixed themselves with many sorrows. So dangerous is avarice, the love of money, the desire for riches, that St. Paul expressly says there is no evil in the world which cannot grow and receive its nourishment from this terrible vice. Every sin in the Decalogue may directly or indirectly be traced back to avarice. Those are the fruits which a person harvests if he permits this root to obtain a firm hold in his heart. From his experience of many years, gained in many countries, the apostle is able to add that such people as did covet after money, as did desire it with all the eagerness of their foolish mind, lost the spiritual life given to them by faith with this gift itself. They have gone aside, they have erred from the right way. They may not have felt the danger of the situation at first, but the more their love for money grew, the more their love for their neighbor, for Christ, was stifled. They made Mammon their god, and that god made them unhappy. They are plagued with many sorrows and restless thoughts, not only thoughts of remorse, but also internal torments of various kinds: worry for the future, apprehension for the safety of all the money and goods that they have accumulated, fear on account of the uncertainty of investments. Thus Paul characterizes the foolishness, the sinfulness, the damnableness of the love of money. All the more should Christians be found willing to heed his warning and to flee the vice of covetousness.