No One Can Serve Two Masters

Even with such strong exhortations as 1 John 2:15-16, "Do not love the world..." Christians continue to be challenged by MATERIALISM.

1 Timothy 5:8 says, "But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever."
1 Timothy 6:10 says, "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. "

When does 'providing for one's own', cross the line into the 'love of money'?
Some symptoms of that line being crossed are:
1. An obsession with earning--Prov. 23:4
2. Compulsive saving--the parable of the bigger barn farmer
3. Covetousness--Col. 3:5
4. A lack of generosity--James 2:15-16
Materialism grows in the soil of discontent. Hebrews 13:5 says, "Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”