Note 16 at 1 Tim. 6:9: Having money does present problems which poor people don't have. As Jesus taught, the lust to do something is just as bad as the act itself (Mt. 5:21-28). Therefore, many poor people are guilty of the things they desire to do if they only had the money. The solution isn't staying poor, but dealing with the lusts of the heart.

Money also presents opportunities that poor people don't have. It's the LOVE of money that is the root of all evil (see note 21 at v. 10). Money is just a tool. It's neither good nor bad. Money can be an asset in the hands of a person with the right heart.

Note 17 at 1 Tim. 6:9: There are many temptations to which wealth introduces us. Certainly one of the most subtle and most damaging ones is the temptation to minimize our need for God. Wealthy people are often deceived by the power their money wields, into thinking that they can do anything on their own, and don't need God. This certainly was not the case with Abraham, David and many other wealthy men in the Bible, so this doesn't have to happen to us. However, this is without a doubt, one of the pitfalls of wealth that any person of substance has to be on guard against.

Note 18 at 1 Tim. 6:9: A snare is a device for hunting. It uses bait to lure its victim into a trap. It is the fatal attraction for the bait that seduces the prey. The bait is usually something that is good and healthy, but its association with the snare is what is wrong.

In this analogy, the love of money is the bait that Satan uses to traps us. Money in itself isn't bad. We all have to have some of it to live. It is only when we begin to love the power that money can give us, that we enter into the snare of the devil. We can have money as long as it doesn't have us.

Note 19 at 1 Tim. 6:9: Psalms 14:1 and Psalms 53:1 both say, "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. . . ." Therefore, being foolish is denying or forgetting God. Only those who fail to remember the Lord and their accountability to Him for their actions, would use the power of money in an incorrect way.

Note 20 at 1 Tim. 6:9: It is interesting that Paul uses the example of someone drowning to describe what money does to us. We can't live without water-It's a necessity of life. Yet, we have to use it properly. We can drink it, but we can't breathe it. If it gets into our lungs in sufficient quantities, we will drown.

Likewise, money is a necessity-We can't live without it, but usuing it wrongly will kill us. Just like drowning doesn't happen instantly, it takes time for the love of money to kill us. At the first sign of the love of money, we should stop what started it and gasp for a fresh breath of the Holy Spirit, just as a drowning man gasps for air.

Anyone who would be so afraid of drowning that they wouldn't drink water, is a fool. He will die of thirst. Likewise, anyone who is so afraid of the problems that the love of money produces, that he doesn't want to have any, is a fool. He will die without it and will never be able to bless anyone else without money. We can't avoid money. We need to learn to make money our slave instead of being enslaved to it.