BibleProject Guide
Wealth and Worry
About
Jesus of Nazareth is a 1st century Jewish man whose teaching and way of life began to reunite God's domain with our domain. He calls this reunion the arrival of the Kingdom of the skies. And Jesus invites people to follow him so that they can enter into that heavenly realm here on Earth in their day-to-day lives.
As humans, we desire divine experiences like love, peace, safety and security, but we face obstacles on the path to these rewards. In fact, Jesus says the biggest obstacle to experiencing God’s heavenly life and presence is our stuff! Possessions and wealth may make us feel more stable and secure, but Jesus has a different perspective on material things.
In this guide, discover Jesus’ teaching about wealth and possessions, including the worry they often produce in our lives. You can also explore related videos, podcast episodes, and more.
Storing Up Stuff
Jesus starts this section of teaching by saying:
We all know that stuff wears out, runs out, or gets lost. So we often work to gather even more and protect what we already own. In doing so, we place more and more of our attention on our stuff. And before we know it, we’re living for that stuff—it owns us. All of this hoarding of resources leads to more stress and fear. Jesus presents an alternative and says we can experience the good life when we direct our attention elsewhere. He says:
But what is this “sky stuff?” Sky stuff is the rich experience of peace and fulfillment we feel when we follow Jesus’ teaching about loving God and each other. This may look like a kind word, an act of generosity, offering forgiveness, or showing compassion. Jesus encourages us to store up that kind of stuff because the loving relationships we cultivate now will last into the new creation.
We receive and store up sky stuff when we trust God and live according to his instruction. Jesus describes this as inheriting eternal life. We can experience the sky stuff right now, and it will be waiting for us in the renewed creation, making it more valuable and secure than anything we could store up on the land.
But why can’t we store up both land stuff and sky stuff at the same time? Jesus warns us to be careful because our stuff has a way of slowly shaping us in its image and consuming our hearts. Or as Jesus puts it:
In other words, we ought to focus our hopes and desires on what matters most. When we do this, we will become more free, generous, and alive.
- The human tendency to trust in wealth and possessions
- How generosity leads to life and greed leads to death
- The inability to live for God and wealth at the same time
- Worrying about money and resources
- Average life versus live in God’s Kingdom
The Lamp of the Body
In his next teaching, Jesus uses a vivid image to describe this kind of focus.
This phrase, “good eye,” is a figure of speech in the Hebrew Bible for being generous, while a “bad eye” is a metaphor for being stingy, hoarding your stuff. Jesus warns that a bad eye is the quickest way to ruin yourself.
Does Jesus mean we should give all our stuff away? Well, Jesus does tell one wealthy man to do just that (see Matthew 19:16-30). But ultimately, this teaching is about our priorities and how we relate to others. When we love only ourselves, we see our stuff as something to hoard and protect. But when we love others, we can see our possessions and resources as blessings for everyone around us.
No One Is Able to Serve Two Masters
Jesus continues to emphasize how important generosity is with another parable.
The stakes are high here, and Jesus is pretty blunt. Our love for money and stuff can prevent us from experiencing the union of Heaven and Earth. According to Jesus, wealth can demand our loyalty, like a tyrant. We might think we own our stuff, but before long, it can end up owning us. We can shift our focus away from our stuff and stop storing up more than what we need. This will bring freedom and allow us to use the stuff we do have to bless others and foster the lasting rewards of the Kingdom of the skies.
Consider the Birds and Flowers
At the end of the day, we all do need stuff to survive. We need food, clothing, and shelter. This section closes with another teaching about physical resources, bringing all of these ideas together.
What does Jesus mean here? The word Jesus uses for “worry” here is the Greek word “merimnao,” which means to have concern for something. Sometimes concern is good, like showing concern for a friend. But often, our tendency to be concerned can get out of hand—choosing to focus on potential problems or dwelling on disasters that might happen.
When we obsess over things beyond our control, like rain for our crops or what’s going to happen tomorrow, we may experience a gnawing ache in our gut. And that ache won’t help us live longer or bring us peace or security. Rather it steals the joy out of the present moment. Jesus wants to free us from that ache of worry by redirecting our attention to God’s trustworthy character.
With these words, Jesus draws on biblical poems like Psalm 104, which describe how God holds the universe in a delicate balance and lavishly cares for his creation.
Jesus goes on:
As humans, we are made in God’s image and filled with his breath—his Spirit. Since God designed our world with plenty of life-giving resources for everyone, we don’t need to worry about having enough. And we don’t need to hoard or violently defend our resources. We can live generously and give without fear, and even become God’s means of providing for others.
To clarify, in this teaching, Jesus isn’t talking about anxiety that you cannot control—that sense of dread or anxiety that results from trauma, a chemical imbalance, or other mental health issues. It takes discernment to know the difference, and God often provides healing through the wisdom and expertise of others. But if we’re wrestling with the choice to worry over scarce resources or potential problems, Jesus invites us to take a deep breath and trust that God’s provision is more than enough for everyone. And there’s a lot of evidence for this. Like Jesus says, watch the birds, gaze at the lilies, and see God’s generous care for his whole creation.
Videos
Watch the eighth episode of the Sermon on the Mount series and the related Visual Commentary and Insight videos.
Podcasts
Listen to these episodes from our Sermon on the Mount podcast series.
Articles
Find BibleProject articles as well as books recommended by our scholar team.
