Money isn’t just power to acquire what we need, it is also a revealer of our values. I came across the story of a woman who changed her name to that of a supermarket. A supermarket in their city promised to pay anyone ready to legally change their names to the name of the supermarket. It was a promotional exercise. The supermarket offered to give 50,000 RUB (GBP 703) monthly as compensation for the change. It was that offer that informed the name change! The name change enraged the husband so much that he filled the wife’s car with concrete.

To be free from the entrapping of money, we must subscribe to the counsel of God that our life does not consist in the abundance of things that money can buy.

Meanwhile, while I was still working on this entry, an associate of mine sent me Lifeway’s research finding showing six discouraging trends in Global Christianity in 2025. The sixth on the list is financial crimes in the Church. It reports that ecclesiastical financial crime in 2020 amounted to $67 billion, but as today it has climbed to $92 billion. The projection is that it will reach $400 billion by 2050. A 2022 research found that 1 in 13 U. S. Protestant churches have reported having someone embezzle from them. These shocking findings only prove that the Judases are still with us. It also shows how accurate the Bible is, that the love of money is the root of all evil. To be free from the entrapping of money, we must subscribe to the counsel of God that our life does not consist in the abundance of things that money can buy.