Money Is Not the Root of All Evil and It Certainly Won’t Make You Happy

Now Discover What it is Meant To Do

I would find it funny that the phrase ‘money is the root of all evil,’ is actually a misquote from the Bible, if the misquote weren’t continuously causing us such irreparable harm.

The actual quote (from Timothy 6/10) is that the love of money is the root of all evil, not money itself. Loving money, coveting it, treating it not as a means to an end, but as an end itself, is considered a form of idolatry, which tends to lead a person down a very bad path.

Whether it be robbery or murder, or just generally screwing people over in the name of greed, the love of money is far from harmless. However, it is where we misquote the Bible that we create something very problematic.

‘Money can’t buy happiness’ is another phrase well-steeped in our cultural lexicon. But it’s been my experience that those who use the phrase, or worse, combine it with ‘money is the root of all evil,’ tend to misunderstand what money is for.

Now, these quotes are right about money in a certain respect. In the love of money, we see why so many of the world’s billionaires made their fortunes by exploiting their workers. And in the quote about money and happiness, we understand that money also can’t buy certain intangible things, like love or friends or even self-respect. But by only construing money in these terms, it leaves us with a very narrow definition. It tells us what money is not, but gives us no indication as to what it’s actually for.

The real, true purpose of money is not to leave us fulfilled like Scrooge McDuck doing the backstroke through a pile of gold coins. It is meant to act as a sort of life-preserver by keeping us from dying young.

For the average poor to middle-class American, having money doesn’t mean, ‘Oh hey, I can finally buy a Lexus and vacation in Majorca.’

It means, ‘I can finally afford to get my kid’s teeth fixed.’

‘I can finally buy healthy foods without sweating over the grocery bill.’

‘I can finally stop killing myself by working two jobs.’

Money might not buy happiness, but it does buy things that are equally important, like health and wellness, opportunity, certainty, security, and time. Having money affords us the opportunity to find what makes us truly happy. It grants us time to spend with our kids and spouses. It buys us the security of knowing that when unexpected expenses crop up, we can pay them down.

As a culture we tend to have a love affair with the myth of the self-made man. The millionaire or billionaire who started from nothing and built an empire. But when we go digging into these American success stories, we unfortunately find that very few actually started from nothing.

Jeff Bezos was far from the first to start a business around shipping. He wasn’t even the only one to try it in the time before Amazon became the behemoth it is today. He also wasn’t the only one working eighty-hour weeks, giving up nights and weekends, and pouring his heart and soul into his business. But he was the only one capable of sinking almost a quarter of a million dollars of his family’s money into the business, which not only gave him a huge jumpstart ahead of the competition, but it also gave him an even more important advantage.

The power to fail. The ability to make mistakes and get back up again.

Having money provides the sort of enrichment that the poor and even the middle class will never know. And it is a sad fact that a poor man will spend more for basic necessities over the course of his life than will a rich man. (I am a big believer in the Vimes Boot Theory.) But before anyone can argue that love and friendship, class and acceptance can be found without the benefit of money, let me ask just one question.

If we had the means to live longer, healthier lives, to take advantage of opportunities regardless of cost, if we had the time to pursue meaning and purpose…how much richer would we all our lives be?