This is a corruption of the orignal verse "For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil." The Bible did not say that money per see is evil or the root of all kinds of evil but the "love" for it could make it so. The emphasis is on the word "love" and not on "money" itself. In a nutshell, money becomes evil or the root of evil if we put more importance to it than anything else, if we consider it as the primary treasure in life.
The Bible amplifies this in the parallel verses in Matthew 6:19-21: "Do not store up treasure for yourself here on earth, where moth and rust destroy it and where thieves can steal it ... But store up for yourself treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
I cannot find a single verse in the Bible that tells us to shun money or material wealth. But I can find, aside from Matthew 6:19-21, at least two other verses that counsel us not to make it the primary treasure in our lives. One (Luke 4:4) brings us to the scene of Satan trying to temp Jesus who was on a 40-day fast. "If you are the son of God, tell this stone to turn into bread," says the devil, to which Jesus replied: "Scripture says, 'People cannot live on bread alone'."
The other verse is from Matthew 6:33: "Set you heart first on the kingdom and justice of God and all these things will be given to you." It was an advice Jesus gave, after he emerged from his 40-day fast, to his disciples - and by extension to us - not to worry much about worldly concerns - primarily food and clothing - because, as Christianity teaches us, God knows our needs and will provide for them if we trust Him.
The verse "man does not live on bread alone" has been constructed in a variety of phrases, depending on which version of the Bible you use. I took the phrase "people cannot live on bread alone" from the Christian Community Bible being used by the Catholics. The other phrases are "man shall not lilve on bread alone", "man does not live on bread alone" and "man does not live by bread alone", among others.
But however you look at the verses, whether as a statement of fact (man does not live on bread alone/man cannot live on bread alone) or as a counsel (man shall not live on bread alone), the whole idea is true. Indeed, man does not, cannot, must not or should not live on bread alone. We have other needs to satisfy but these needs should not take precedence over the virtue of "righteousness", the word used in the King James' version for the phrase "justice of God" that I used earler.
To wrap it up, there is nothing wrong with money or with getting rich as long as worldly treasures do not become our "idol", as Pope Francis put it in his recent visit to Argentina. This brings us to the second concept of money as a divine gift or blessing not only to provide for our daily needs but as well as to use as a tool to help others in keeping with the Christian concept of charity or grace of giving.
The biblical phrase "man does not live on bread alone" has been expressed aptly and elegantly in the theme song of the James Bond film "You Only Live Twice." To paraphrase the opening line of the song, you and I live not only for ouselves but also for our dreams. What differentiates man from other earthly creatures is that he is endowed with an instinct to pursue lofty dreams.
In a world that has increasingly gravitated toward materialism, the majority of us dream of getting rich, a few pursues a passion for the arts and humanities and fewer stilll pursue a passion for giving. If we come to think of it, all of this revolve around our self-centeredness, our ego that always makes each of us think that he/she is the center of the universe.
Any Christian - or any man of piety - who thinks that he/she is trying to be righteous for his/her love of God is either deluding himself or does not understand what he/she is saying. I'm a Catholic and it always makes me squimish to hear a Tagalog Christian song that extolls the virtue of worshipping God without expecting anything. That's forgetting that most religions, if not all, teach us to do good for our salvation from hellfire.

So, it poses a puzzle that despire our self-centeredness, there are those among us - though few - who find the joy of giving. Even our neo-Darminists have been trying to come up with explanations on man's altruism, which I believe is the most lofty among human virtues. With that in mind, there is nothing wrong with striving to get rich. We cannot give what we don't have.
The Bible amplifies this in the parallel verses in Matthew 6:19-21: "Do not store up treasure for yourself here on earth, where moth and rust destroy it and where thieves can steal it ... But store up for yourself treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

The other verse is from Matthew 6:33: "Set you heart first on the kingdom and justice of God and all these things will be given to you." It was an advice Jesus gave, after he emerged from his 40-day fast, to his disciples - and by extension to us - not to worry much about worldly concerns - primarily food and clothing - because, as Christianity teaches us, God knows our needs and will provide for them if we trust Him.

But however you look at the verses, whether as a statement of fact (man does not live on bread alone/man cannot live on bread alone) or as a counsel (man shall not live on bread alone), the whole idea is true. Indeed, man does not, cannot, must not or should not live on bread alone. We have other needs to satisfy but these needs should not take precedence over the virtue of "righteousness", the word used in the King James' version for the phrase "justice of God" that I used earler.
To wrap it up, there is nothing wrong with money or with getting rich as long as worldly treasures do not become our "idol", as Pope Francis put it in his recent visit to Argentina. This brings us to the second concept of money as a divine gift or blessing not only to provide for our daily needs but as well as to use as a tool to help others in keeping with the Christian concept of charity or grace of giving.

In a world that has increasingly gravitated toward materialism, the majority of us dream of getting rich, a few pursues a passion for the arts and humanities and fewer stilll pursue a passion for giving. If we come to think of it, all of this revolve around our self-centeredness, our ego that always makes each of us think that he/she is the center of the universe.
Any Christian - or any man of piety - who thinks that he/she is trying to be righteous for his/her love of God is either deluding himself or does not understand what he/she is saying. I'm a Catholic and it always makes me squimish to hear a Tagalog Christian song that extolls the virtue of worshipping God without expecting anything. That's forgetting that most religions, if not all, teach us to do good for our salvation from hellfire.

So, it poses a puzzle that despire our self-centeredness, there are those among us - though few - who find the joy of giving. Even our neo-Darminists have been trying to come up with explanations on man's altruism, which I believe is the most lofty among human virtues. With that in mind, there is nothing wrong with striving to get rich. We cannot give what we don't have.
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