Love of Money is the Root of All Evil

[moonrambler]

I was inspired to write this after reading another posting here from this morning. A few years ago I went to a big-time rock concert and fell madly in love with the lead guitarist. This was a rather bizarre experience and one that seems very junior high. It was fun, though, and walking around in love all the time was a kick, so I ran with it. I bought a ton of cd's and bootleg concert videos and made friends on-line who are fans of this band (and discovered lots of women have similar experiences so I wasn't necessarily in need of therapy ), etc.

One specific thing I wanted was to NOT meet this rock star. A lot of people I got to know on-line had met members of the band through meet & greets, and I specifically did not want to meet them because I didn't want to take any chances on having the Big Crush dissipate.

Long story short, a couple years and a few more concerts later, some of these friends and I were going to still another show and we had sprung for VIP tickets because it was the only way we could get great seats. The organization running the VIP deal showed up and announced there would be a surprise meet & greet with the band. So the next thing I knew, this musician had his arm around me and I was having my picture taken with him, and by the way, it didn't dissipate the Big Crush at all.

Afterward, the entire experience had a feeling of inevitability about it. I mean, really, how can a person walk around in love like that all the time without eventually the universe making something happen?

It did not involve affirmations, IM, PD, or any 'work.' It just involved living it, and being in love with the whole experience.

I started posting on this board because I have been having a bunch of financial issues and am working with IM and PD and LoA to turn that situation around. It's weird to think about falling in love with money and walking around being in love with money . . . but it does seem like being in love with something attracts it.

Yet we are taught, very early on, that the love of money is the root of all evil? It was explained to me that money was fine, but loving it is not. The conflict there seems like an obvious psychological conundrum.

[RT Wolf]

I've been thinking about this lately. I love money. Its a great tool. If I was to amend that saying, it would be, "The love of money for its own sake is the root of all evil."

I've been thinking abuot the concept of having "extra" money and why I don't really want extra money. That has two implications, one, I will always only make just above my expenses, and secondly, if I make too much extra money, then my expenses will rise to meet my income. Hmmz.

[moonrambler]

I feel like I'm having an epiphany this morning!

It may be that the love of money is the root of all evil. Or that the love of money for its own sake is the root of all evil. But does that necessarily mean that loving money is evil?

Isn't it like stating that Christianity is the cause of horrible atrocities, murders, witch-hunts, prejudice, and so on? That's a fact. But does that necessarily mean that Christianity is evil?

Now, about loving money for its own sake. Why is that bad? What if I just love money? What if I love having it around, looking at it, the way it smells, having big piles of it to play with and spend, etc.? Seeing big numbers in my checking account getting bigger every day, getting five-star hotel rooms, and five-star rock concert tickets.

If I love ice cream for its own sake, that's not a bad thing, is it?

[mintyway]

Well I guess the love of money is evil if it becomes an obssession. If this obssession enables you to do bad things to others, being selfish or treading on them just to get money, well that's evil.

Other then that, money is the tool to freedom. That's the way I see it anyway. I live quite frugally and save every buck I earn at the moment to allow myself accessing freedom later in life. Even if I earned a million dollar, I don't think my expenses would increase much. I'd just use it sparsely and travel around the world.

Hating money seems actually more evil to me than loving it. Because it condemns one to earn just the strict minimal amount of it, thus working crappy jobs and not looking for a better position in life. I have known a few bitter laborers that lived this way. They will never get anything out of life. What a pity.

[yakito]

For me it all simplifies itself to "obsessions are always bad", the problem is not the money, its the obsession with it, as with any other thing

[Sam988]

Originally Posted by moonrambler

Yet we are taught, very early on, that the love of money is the root of all evil? It was explained to me that money was fine, but loving it is not. The conflict there seems like an obvious psychological conundrum.

I don't love money by itself, i love the possibilities that money gives us, therefore i do love money in some way. I think there's nothing wrong with it.

The saying "mooney is the root of all evil" is a poor and unaware mindset. We are the ones who cause evil or good, not money.

[moonrambler]

Originally Posted by mintyway

Well I guess the love of money is evil if it becomes an obssession. If this obssession enables you to do bad things to others, being selfish or treading on them just to get money, well that's evil.

But here's the thing. Does an obsession with money have to be evil? Or is it just that obsession with money has been known to result in evil . . . but often, obsession with money has also been known to result in good! Hasn't it? An obsession with money can enable a person to do wonderful things.

[moonrambler]

Originally Posted by yakito

For me it all simplifies itself to "obsessions are always bad", the problem is not the money, its the obsession with it, as with any other thing

But are obsessions always bad? I don't think so.

For instance, I got totally obsessed with a rock star, and because of that I have made some great friends, have done some traveling, heard wonderful music I had not heard before, learned a lot more about music than I did before, and have had a lot of fun in the whole process!

Obsessions can have a negative impact if they take us away from positive important aspects of our lives -- like when people talk about spending all their free time playing games on-line, to the detriment of their relationships, their health, and so on. But obsessions also can have a positive impact.

[Lola]

Or maybe "the love of money is the root of all evil" is a societal self-limiting belief that's been programmed into everyone for centuries. Maybe you get to decide for yourself if it's a truth or not.

[Dan.Linehan]

Money is not the problem. Its causing harm to get money.

(Rather than providing genuine, love based service.)

[torilink]

I think it all depends on how you define LOVE & what you believe love is, doesn't it?

I love money unconditionally & accept it fully without hesitation.

[Stephen]

Lack of money is the root of all evil. (George Bernard Shaw)

[Old Soul]

Love of Money is the Root of All Evil

yeah if we are going to make something the object of our effection, why money?

[moonrambler]

Originally Posted by Old Soul

yeah if we are going to make something the object of our effection, why money?

A lot of us started Sunday School at five years old and were taught that everything in the Bible is truth. What I've been thinking now is a) perhaps it's not true, b) perhaps it's true but does not mean that everyone who loves money is going to cause evil, but nevertheless some people who love money will do so, or c) the statement is pulled out of context and doesn't mean what we think it does when it stands by itself.

I do think this religious aspect about money, such as the statement from Jesus about how it's easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into Heaven, program children to have very contradictory feelings about money which start at a very early age and are hard to dispense with. Look at how uncomfortable many people get just at the idea of saying it's ok to simply love money, the way we might say we love music or blue jays or chocolate. And yet money is a great thing. It gives us freedom and fun and stuff we like to have, and lets us help other people out and do things that make them happy.

[Ree]

Having been brought up in a very fundamentalist church and now having left that behind, I can see that being taught that money is evil or money is the root of all evil simply makes poor folks feel more righteous. Teaching that by being poor, you're more likely to get into heaven. It's my opinion that it is self-serving on the part of individual ministers and the church as a whole to have their members believing this, since it's more likely that no matter how little they have, they will give their money away to the church. Thus the church can go on. And poor folks go on being poor, believing that their "reward is in heaven."

So I've thrown off the old beliefs I had about money. They weren't really my chosen beliefs anyway. I was brainwashed since early childhood into having those beliefs. Now, I think money is good and I have the intention to do good with the money that I have.

[Old Soul]

the way we might say we love music or blue jays or chocolate. And yet money is a great thing. It gives us freedom and fun and stuff we like to have, and lets us help other people out and do things that make them happy.

I think the one common ground that we all have is that we are all slaves of money, the whole world operates on and from money... so the rich and poor alike are both in the same boat

i have a love hater relationship with money... but not because of my fundemental upbringing in church, but because i see as i get older how so much of our lives are run by money...

maybe the rich man was making his own heaven entirely external things forgoing the inner man so to speak

[jrettig]

During the early years of our lives we are given allot of mis-coceptions about money. These misconception lead to beleifs. Money is only a measurement tool. We use money to purchase things. We place the value of an item by the money we will send to obtain that item. Useing the phrase I love Money, Money loves me. Is an affirmation to assist in change our imbedded beliefs about Money.

Law of Attraction Outlined

[Old Soul]

We use money to purchase things

yes, we are a slave of it , all of us, it is just that some don't want to admit to it or see that

[RT Wolf]

You make a compelling argument. I am a slave of breathing, food and water, as well as shelter, love and those other things I need to live. Come to think of it, I'm a slave of life itself.

[Rockchick26]

First,i want to comment on your obsession with the rock star! That describes me to a T. I have ALWAYS been this way,since i was like 12 years old,obsessed with musicians. Because i was also obsessed with music,this made sense,because obviously a girl who loves music more than anything would want to be with a man who made music,or at least loved it as much as she did. So thats why i become obsessed with musicians. And currently as a matter of fact i am in the process of using the LOA to bring one into my life,you might have read my post about this. But i didnt think it would work with a specific person,but the more i read on this site,the more i am proven it DOES work! Although,my intention is to marry this guy,and have a real loving relationship,not just meet him and then be on my way. So,we'll see if i'll have a success story to post on here soon!
As for the second part of your post,about money...i heard something interesting recently,it was called the Curse of the Lottery. It is almost like a law,in a way,because all these people that won the lottery had horrible things happen to them afterwards. And i know of a situation in my life where this happened,this guy i worked with won the lottery,he and his wife, (a few million,not sure how much exactly) but everyone in their life hounded them for money so bad they had to move! And not tell anyone where they were moving! So they basically had to pick up and move and start their lives over where nobody knew they had this money. It's a shame that when someone wins the lottery it has to become NEWS. THAT is where money does become the root of evil,but the money itself isn't,i dont think. If people use their head and spend it wisely,and give some away,then it's awesome.

[moonrambler]

It was indeed your posting about the musician that got me deciding to start this thread. I was opposite of you though in not wanting to meet him. It was fascinating to me the way it all came about without any effort, IM'ing, affirmations, and what have you. It was just all about love. And I'm interested in the "feeling of inevitability" I got about it afterwards. That seems important to me. It's like when somebody says they played the lottery or went to the casino and wraps up with "and of course I didn't win." How do we get to a point where we say, "and of course I won!" because afterward we know it just had to happen?

About the lottery winners that you know who got harassed about how they should fork over money to people. This is the sort of thing that makes me believe it might be true that the love of money is the root of all evil. But it doesn't mean that the love of money HAS to result in evil. It's kind of like how drinking alcohol is the way people become alcoholics. But most people who drink, don't become addicted. So loving money can result in evil, but most people who love money do not become evil.

The statement in the Bible, I think, is actually, "the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil." It wouldn't be ALL evil, because that would not explain people who get their kicks from torturing animals, for instance.

I'm going to have to look into that curse of the lottery aspect. That's interesting. It is one thing I have thought of too -- how does one deal with the instant barrage of requests/demands for money? I have always assumed I would give a bunch of it away to everybody I care for. But obviously that's not going to stop the requests/demands. This is going to come from people you barely know, and people you don't know at all.