What Money Buys Underneath

Money is rarely the thing we really want. We use it to buy something underneath: control over what happens next, the respect of people we want to impress, comfort when life is hard, the feeling of being safe.

That is why Paul calls covetousness something more serious than a money problem. “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth… and covetousness, which is idolatry.” The idol is often the thing the money is buying.

So cutting up a credit card won’t fix it on its own. If the deep idol is control, it will find another outlet. If it is approval, it will find another way to buy it. The surface idol loosens when the deeper one is dealt with.

Hebrews puts its finger on the cure: “be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Contentment doesn’t come from having enough money. It comes from having him.