Photo credit: Unsplash/Micheile Henderson What Was Paul’s Point in Telling Timothy This? These foolish and harmful desires then lead to ruin and destruction. Desires can be good or bad, but here the modifiers “foolish” and “harmful” make it clear that this is a bad desire. The result of the temptations and trap is that they will have foolish and harmful desires. The word for “trap” refers to being surprisingly brought under the control of something. Paul says that this desire will cause the offender to fall into temptation and a trap. The consequences of desiring to be rich are very serious (similar to the danger of having a love for money). The very first word in the verse is significant: “for.” This indicates that the contents of verse 10 are explaining what Paul said in verse 9: “But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction” (CSB). While it is true that our affections should primarily be directed toward God, that is not Paul’s point in this verse. The second statement claims that loving money is a sin. The first statement is an absolute declaration that money, in all its forms, is evil in itself. This is very different than the two ways this verse has been cited above. The first part of the verse says, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (CSB). I’ve also heard it cited as “the love of money is evil.” That’s also not what Paul said. I’ve heard 1 Timothy 6:10 cited as saying “money is evil.” That’s not what Paul said. It is of utmost importance to understand clearly what this verse does not say. Why Is Love of Money the Root of All Evil in 1 Timothy 6:10? In fact, Paul’s warning is very serious, for he says in the rest of the verse that by craving after money, some people have left the Christian faith and caused themselves a significant amount of pain. By evil, Paul is referring to morally reprehensible behavior. He is not saying that having a lot of money is evil, but that loving money is going to motivate various kinds of evils in your life. Paul is trying to warn Christians about the danger of having a love for money.
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