The false narrative about money

Many people around the world look at money like it’s a means to salvation. We can easily think that if we just made a little more, everything would be alright, or if we found a higher-paying job, then we would finally be happy.

That’s a false narrative. Money cannot and will not buy happiness. Don’t misunderstand: money itself is not bad or wrong. But our relationship with money can quickly become that and much more.

That’s why the Bible teaches that we shouldn’t love money. Love of money, after all, is the root of all kinds of evil. But the Bible doesn’t just have negative teachings. It also tells us many things we should love, seek and prioritize instead of money.

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Proverbs talks about the importance of wisdom and 1 Corinthians emphasizes love. But over and over, the Bible holds out one thing that is more crucial, more lasting, and more effectual than money.

That’s faith.

Perhaps no story in the Gospels demonstrates this truth better than the woman with the blood issue found in Mark 5:25-34. Many modern English translations of the Bible simply call this woman “sick.” But there’s more to her story.

She’s bleeding. She has been suffering. And she’s tried everything to find healing and wholeness. Mark says that this woman had “suffered under the care of many doctors.” Think about that. The very people who were supposed to bring relief to this woman caused additional suffering.

This has to be incredibly discouraging. With each appointment, each visit to the physicians, fresh hope rises only to be dashed again and again. This has been her reality for 12 years. Years of searching for a cure and praying that something would change.

But despite medical help and spending all she had, nothing is changing. In fact, her condition has got worse.

A lot of us can relate to this woman. All too often, we spend our time and effort searching for healing and salvation in things of this world. We foolishly think that relationships, or money, or technology, or politics can fill the longing inside of us. But just like the sick woman, our hopeless condition only gets worse.

Notice that the woman in Mark 5 doesn’t give up. She hears about Jesus and decides to take one more leap of faith. But this time, she isn’t putting her faith in something. She’s placing it in someone. The only one who can bring real healing.

All it takes is one touch for Jesus to see a breakthrough. And for this woman, it was immediate. Her bleeding stopped completely. She was fully and finally healed.

This story is instructive. We live in a time with more money and advanced technology than ever before. While this has brought an incredible amount of good, these realities can tempt us to put our ultimate hope in the wrong place.

We can start to think that we don’t need Christ to find healing and meaning. Look around. That’s what the world wants you to believe. Every product and politician promises that it can deliver what we’re really searching for. But those are empty promises and if that’s where we put our faith, we’ll be empty too.

That’s why this story is so instructive. Jesus tells this suffering woman that her faith in Him did what all doctors and money couldn’t. And then he tells her something even more wonderful: “Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

This woman isn’t just given healing. She was given peace and freedom. She’s given a fresh start.

That’s what Jesus wants to do for us today. But he’s waiting for us to realize that the things of this world cannot ever do what He can. He’s waiting for us to put our faith in the right place — Him. That’s when we’ll see a breakthrough. That’s when we too can find peace and freedom.