• The Idol of Wealth
• Introduction: What Is a Person Worth?
• Mastery, Not Morality
• When Wealth Becomes the Magnum Opus of Life
• How Idolized Wealth Shapes the Inner Life
• What Money Promises—and What It Demands
• Redemption Rewrites Value
• When Redemption Becomes the Story, Money Loses Its Voice
• Reflection
• Dethroning the Idol
• Closing Emphasis

The Idol of Wealth

Introduction: What Is a Person Worth?

We have invented a thousand ways to ask the same question: How much are you worth? Some measure worth by money, others by status, connections, or influence, but all these measurements share one thing in common: they locate one’s value in what one possesses rather than in who they are.

Scripture begins the conversation about human worth in a completely different place.

Then God said, “Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the livestock and over all the earth, and over every crawling thing that crawls on the earth.” So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Genesis 1: 26-27

Before we owned anything, before we achieved anything, before we proved anything, we bore the image of the Creator. Our worth was bestowed, not earned. It came as a gift before we could grasp for it. This is the truth we were made to live by. But when we forget this foundational reality, something rushes in to fill the vacuum. Money steps forward and offers itself as a substitute source of worth. And because we are desperate to know we matter, we accept the offer.

Mastery, Not Morality

Money itself is morally neutral. It's a tool, a resource, a means of exchange. The Bible doesn't condemn wealth, we’ve had men who followed God in the bible who where wealthy. The issue is never the money itself. The issue is mastery and Jesus puts it plainly:

Too long, please open your Bible Matthew 6:19–24 Too long, please open your Bible Luke 16:13-15

In both Narratives, Jesus says clearly that we can not serve two masters who make competing claims on our ultimate allegiance, and we must choose. Money becomes dangerous not when we have it, but when it has us. It becomes an idol when it competes with God for our worship, our trust, our affection, our obedience. Economic identity forms when our peace, our sense of worth, and our hope for the future become tethered to our income rather than to God.

• It's when you can't sleep at night because the numbers aren't adding up.
• It's when your mood rises and falls with your bank balance.
• It's when you feel like less of a person because you're not earning what your neighbor or friend earns.

That's not financial planning. That's worship. And the god is money.

When Wealth Becomes the Magnum Opus of Life

Wealth becomes a master quietly, gradually, almost invisibly. Life reorganizes itself around money, and we barely notice the shift.

- A young man gets his first real job. The salary is good. He tells himself he'll work hard for five years, save aggressively, then slow down and focus on other things. But five years pass, and the goalpost moves. Now he needs a house. Then a car. Then school fees for children. Then a better house in a better neighborhood. The finish line keeps moving, and he keeps running.

- A woman starts a business. At first it's about using her gifts and contributing to her family. But slowly the business expands, demands more hours, requires more attention. Family dinners are missed. Church becomes irregular. Rest disappears. She tells herself it's just for a season, but the season never ends. The business has become the center around which everything else orbits.

- A young professional sees his colleagues buying land, building houses, driving new cars. He feels the pressure mounting. His parents drop hints about when he'll settle down, buy property, start looking successful. Every visit home comes with questions about his progress. The weight of expectation becomes unbearable. So he cuts corners. He takes the bribe. He partners in the shady deal. He compromises what he said he would never compromise. Because the alternative feels like failure. Decisions are no longer framed by the question, "What is faithful?" but by the question, "What is profitable?" Money absorbs your imagination and justifies your sacrifices. The things you said you'd never do, you now do. The things you said would never change, you change. And all of it feels reasonable, even necessary, because you've accepted money's claim to mastery.

How Idolized Wealth Shapes the Inner Life

It breeds pride: Money makes us feel superior. It makes us believe we deserve honor, deference, preferential treatment. We begin to measure other people by the same economic scale we've used to measure ourselves. The poor become invisible or inconvenient. We surround ourselves with people who reinforce our sense of importance. Our worth inflates with our account balance.

Too long, please open your Bible James 2:1-6 (NLT)

It produces fear: This is the cruel irony. The more you have, the more you have to lose. Every naira earned must be protected, invested wisely, shielded from loss. You check the markets. You worry about inflation. You obsess over security. Money promises peace but delivers anxiety.

It creates blindness: Greed hides behind reasonable language. Greed is subtle. It doesn't feel like greed. It feels like taking care of your family, securing your future, being smart. But underneath, there's a quiet conviction that more will finally be enough. That the next level of income will bring the peace you're looking for. You can't see it as an idol because it's dressed up as virtue.

What Money Promises—and What It Demands

Every idol makes promises. Money promises security, significance, freedom, and respect. It says, "Get me, and you'll be safe. Achieve me, and you'll finally matter. Accumulate me, and you'll be free." But every idol also makes demands.

Too long, please open your Bible Luke 19:1–10

The idol demands sacrifice. It always does. It demands your time. Hours that could have been spent with your children are spent at the office. Evenings thatcould have built your marriage are consumed by side hustles. The idol says this is temporary, but the years pass and the time never comes back.

It demands your integrity. The shortcut that compromises your character. The deal that requires you to look the other way. The lie that's just a small one. You tell yourself it's just this once, just to get ahead, just to break through. But integrity, once compromised, is hard to recover.

It demands your relationships. You begin to see people as transactions. Friendships become networking opportunities. Family members become burdens on your resources. You give money instead of presence, provision instead of love. And you wonder why everyone feels far away.

This is still worship. And it is still costly. The difference is that this worship doesn't save. It only takes.

Redemption Rewrites Value

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 1 Peter 1:18-19 (NIV)

Your worth has already been established. And it wasn't established by what you earned or achieved or accumulated. It was established by what Christ paid. God looked at you—broken, sinful, empty-handed—and declared you worth the life of His Son. Not silver. Not gold. Not the currency that rusts and fades. But blood. Precious, irreplaceable, holy blood. You were bought at a price. And that price reveals your value. Money can no longer define your worth because redemption already has. You don't have to prove yourself. You don't have to perform. You don't have to climb the ladder of economic respectability to know that you matter. You were worth dying for. That's your value.

When Redemption Becomes the Story, Money Loses Its Voice

But Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I am giving to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone, I am giving back four times as much.” Luke 19:8

Zacchaeus gives freely—lavishly, even recklessly by worldly standards. Why? Because his identity is no longer at stake. He's been seen by Jesus. He's been called by name. He's been welcomed into the Kingdom. His worth isn't tied to his wealth anymore. He's secure in something greater. This is what redemption does. It liberates you from the tyranny of economic identity. You can hold money loosely because you're holding something better. You can be generous because you're not afraid of running out. You can rest because your life doesn't depend on the next deal, the next raise, the next opportunity. The redeemed life rests secure because it is already bought.

Reflection

Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.” Luke 12: 15

What does your life consist of? When you lie awake at night, what occupies your mind? When you feel anxious, what are you anxious about?

When you imagine the future, what do you imagine will make you safe, significant, successful? Is it God? Or is it money? Where does your heart rest? Where do you turn for peace?

Dethroning the Idol

The Idol of wealth can't dethroned by wishing it away, It is replaced by the worship of the true God, and can be intentionally practiced in concrete ways: Contentment: It doesn't mean you stop working or planning. It means you stop believing that more will finally be enough. It means you learn to say, "I have enough. God has provided. I can rest here." This is countercultural in a society that always wants more. But it's also deeply freeing.

Too long, please open your Bible 1 Timothy 6:6-10

Simplicity: This might look like resisting the pressure to accumulate, to upgrade, to keep up. It might mean using the older phone a little longer. Living in a smaller house. Wearing clothes that aren't brand new. Simplicity creates space for generosity and frees you from the exhausting work of maintenance and comparison.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth… Matthew 6:19

Sabbath: In a culture where rest feels like laziness, Sabbath is defiance. It dethrones the idol by proving that your life doesn't depend on your effort to amass wealth alone.

Integrity: Refuse the shortcut. Turn down the shady deal. Speak the truth even when it costs you. Integrity might mean you earn less, at least in the short term. But it keeps your soul intact. And in the long run, a clear conscience is worth more than a full account.

Generosity: Give. Not out of guilt or obligation, but out of freedom. Give to the church, to the poor, to those in need. Give in ways that feel risky, even unreasonable. Generosity breaks the grip of fear. It declares that you trust God more than you trust money. And it aligns you with the character of God, who gave His Son freely for you.

These practices retrain the heart. They teach you, slowly and steadily, to trust God rather than money.

Closing Emphasis

Economic identity says, "I am what I have.” But redeemed identity says, "I am who Christ bought." It measures your worth by the blood of Jesus. And that measurement never changes. It doesn't fluctuate with the economy. It doesn't depend on your performance. It is settled, finished, secure.