Bible verses about materialism
I would like to start off by saying everyone has material things. When the need for possessions becomes obsessive it is not only sinful, it is dangerous. Materialism is idolatry and it never leads to godliness. Paul Washer made a great statement.
Things are only obstacles that get in the way of an eternal perspective.
Christians should avoid being materialistic because life is not about the newest possessions, jewelry, and money.
How much has your Christianity cost you? Your god can be the newest apple products. What consumes your mind? Who or what is the treasure of your heart? Is it Christ or things?
Why not instead use your wealth to help others? This world is filled with materialism and envy. Malls are killing us. When you seek joy in things you will feel low and dry.
Sometimes we ask God, oh Lord why do I feel so weary and the answer is our mind is not being filled with Christ. It’s being filled with things of the world and it’s wearing you out. It’s all going to burn very soon.
Christians are supposed to be set apart from the world and be content in life. Stop having competition with the world. Material products do not bring happiness and contentment, but happiness and contentment is found in Christ.
Quotes
- “Our God is a consuming fire. He consumes pride, lust, materialism, and other sin.” Leonard Ravenhill
- “The grace that has freed us from bondage to sin is desperately needed to free us from our bondage to materialism.” Randy Alcorn
- The best things in life aren’t things.
What does the Bible say?
1. Luke 12:15 He told the people, “Be careful to guard yourselves from every kind of greed. Life is not about having a lot of material possessions.”
2. 1 John 2:16-17 For everything that is in the world—the desire for fleshly gratification, the desire for possessions, and worldly arrogance—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world and its desires are fading away, but the person who does God’s will remains forever.
3. Proverbs 27:20 Just as Death and Destruction are never satisfied, so human desire is never satisfied.
4. 1 Timothy 6:9-10 But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
5. James 4:2-4 You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure. You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.
6. Ecclesiastes 6:9 Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don’t have. Just dreaming about nice things is meaningless like chasing the wind.
7. Ecclesiastes 5:10-11 Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness! The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it. So what good is wealth—except perhaps to watch it slip through your fingers!
8. Ecclesiastes 2:11 But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless—like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere.
9. Ecclesiastes 4:8 This is the case of a man who is all alone, without a child or a brother, yet who works hard to gain as much wealth as he can. But then he asks himself, “Who am I working for? Why am I giving up so much pleasure now?” It is all so meaningless and depressing.
Loving money
10. Hebrews 13:5 Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.
11. Mark 4:19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.
Sometimes people become materialistic trying to compete with others and by envying the lifestyle of other materialistic people.
12. Psalm 37:7 Be still in the presence of the LORD, and wait patiently for him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes.
13. Psalm 73:3 For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
Seeking satisfaction in things will lead you to despair. Only in Christ will you ever find true satisfaction.
14. Isaiah 55:2 Why do you spend money on what cannot nourish you and your wages on what does not satisfy you?
Listen carefully to me: Eat what is good, and enjoy the best foods.
15. John 4:13-14 Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”
16. Philippians 4:12-13 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.
Compared to people in other countries we are rich. We should be rich in good deeds and give to the needy.
17. 1 Timothy 6:17-18 Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others.
18. Acts 2:45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need.
Set your mind on Christ.
19. Colossians 3:2-3 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
Reminders
20. 2 Peter 1:3 By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.
21. Proverbs 11:28 He that trusteth in his riches shall fall; but the righteous shall flourish as a branch.
Prayer to help you
22. Psalm 119:36-37 Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.
Be Content
23. 1 Timothy 6:6-8 Of course, godliness with contentment does bring a great profit. Nothing to this world we bring; from it take we nothing. With food to eat and clothes to wear; content we are in everything.
Trust God and love him with all your heart.
24. Psalm 37:3-5 Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.
25. Matthew 22:37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
