No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
Two masters is not a busy schedule. It is a divided love.
Week 2 of 4
You cannot serve both
Money will be a tool in the house or a master over it.
No one can serve two masters. You can’t serve both God and Mammon.
Matthew 6:24
Jesus is blunt. You will hate the one and love the other. A man cannot serve God and Mammon. Paul says godliness with contentment is great gain, and that those who want to be rich fall into a temptation that plunges people into ruin. Luke says the one who is faithful in very little is faithful in much, and that if you have not been faithful with unrighteous wealth, who will trust you with true riches? The house feels this before the man admits it. She can tell who you serve by what you hide, what you chase, and what you call necessary.
Scripture
Formal study reading, written for this series
Formal study reading, written for this series
Godliness with contentment is great gain. If we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. Those who desire to be rich fall into a temptation and a snare. The love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.
Contentment is gain. The craving to be rich is a snare.
One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much. If then you have not been faithful with unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? You cannot serve God and money.
The little account is the test. Your house is that account.
NASB, the Amplified, and the ESV open on Bible Hub. The Legacy Standard Bible opens on its own reader. Close, Expanded, and Easy on this page are original study readings. WEB is the World English Bible, public domain.
Mammon is a master, not a mood
Jesus uses the language of slavery. Mammon gives orders: hide this, chase that, fear their opinion of your provision, keep her out of the books. A man can quote “the borrower is slave to the lender” and still be a slave to the image of having enough to be admired. Contentment is not passivity. Autarkeia is a settled enough. It can work hard. It does not need the next number in order to be a man.
Luke 16 puts the household ledger under the true riches. Faithfulness is not income. It is honesty with what passes through your hands. If she cannot see the money, you are not being protective. You are serving a master who prefers secrecy. God is not threatened by a budget. Mammon is.
In the house
Open the books. Not a speech about how little she understands money. The actual numbers, debts, and habits. Invite her counsel. Faithful in little starts there.
Name one craving: the purchase, the status, the fear of looking poor, the secret account. Contentment this week is a specific no, and a specific thank-you for food and clothing.
Seven days
At the table
- 1Which master do your secrets obey?
- 2What would contentment cost you this month?
- 3Does your wife know the truth of the money, or only the mood around it?
- 4Where have you been unfaithful in little and still asked God for true riches?
Your note
Stays on this device. No account.
A prayer
Father, I cannot serve you and money, and I have tried. Forgive the love of more, the secrecy, and the fear of not looking like enough. Teach me godliness with contentment. Make me faithful in the little ledger of this house. You are the master. I will not kneel to Mammon. Amen.