All our lives most of us have heard and believed this misquote from the Bible “ Money is the root of all evil.” Like all biblical misquotes, this misleading statement is perpetuated by people who will not read the Bible for themselves. The truth is money is not the root of all evil. Money is just a tool. Just like all other tools, money is not a source of evil. Evil comes from the heart of the ones who misuse the tools God has given us.

The actual quote from 1 Timothy is “ the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” Not money, but love of money is a singular root of evil. A study of horticulture reveals that plant life is nurtured by many roots that come from all directions. In the same way, evil has many roots that begin in the hearts of men who lust for things not of God.

Evil grows stronger every day because its roots are sunk deep into hearts of selfish people. The hearts of these people are proud. They know nothing but are obsessed with disputes, and they argue over words that mean nothing. From the depths of these hearts, come hate, disunity and evil suspicions. For our own good God tells us we should stay away from such people.

As a gardener, I have fought with weeds that would destroy my vegetables. I have found it does no good to cut these weeds off at ground level. If I am going to defeat them, I must pull them up, roots and all. It is same with the evil we face in life. It does no good to attack the part we can see. We must dig out and destroy the roots. We must start by weeding out sin in our own hearts.

God wants his people to be like fruitful trees whose roots are sunk deep into His living water. Before that can happen, we must let Him clear from our hearts any roots of bitterness or evil desires. Then we must seek for godliness, faith, love and gentleness. After this, we will find ourselves loving God with all our hearts and loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. This is how we will destroy the roots of evil.

Douglas & Deborah Huff

From Down Where The Pavement Ends