How Money Pollutes People’s Minds – Tips and Thoughts

Last year, I shared with you a meaningful Valedictory Address which pretty much jogs our understanding about the value of everything, however trivial it may seem. The said blog likewise encompasses the influence of money on people’s decisions, how it poisons people’s minds to do certain things, good or bad, and its profound significance to us, specifically how it would help us to achieve true success in life.

Business Economics (101) taught us, inter alia, that money refers to any good that is used as a medium of exchange for transfer of goods and services from one person to another. In its simplest terms, money is used by people, regardless of status in life, either for their daily consumption and other expenses or for savings. However, the definition of money takes a broader stance when other variables are taken into account such as its usage, the social and spiritual responsibility attached to it and other areas which could have impact on the person’s life.

The greater worth of money is on its real value. I’m not referring to the denomination used to identify a coin or a bill neither the time nor the financial value of money. Rather, what is being pointed out here is its deeper meaning, something beneath the value of money, how we make out of all the money that we have and how people are pushed to their limits because of love of money.

Money is absolutely good for all of us, no doubt about it. With money, we can have food on the table, go to school and earn a degree, buy a house and live comfortably with all other basic necessities in life. As a matter of fact, most of us feel successful if we have so much money in our possession, as we can spend more than whatever we need for our day to day expenditures.

On the other hand, when a person has tons of money, it’s no longer what he or she needs that is being desired, but the luxuries, power and prestige. These realizations actually drive some people to long for more no matter how evil the sources are. What is amazing is that these people are even gaining recognition in the society and full support from those under them, their peers and the weaker ones. It’s easy thing to do, they either intentionally or unintentionally bribe and manipulate others without these people knowing it, to their own advantage.  What is more amazing is that they feel proud and successful about what they're doing  without a tinge of guilt! In such cases, money acted as decoys to entice people to be on their side. As indicated in my previous blog, for some people, success is measured by money, the more money they have, the more successful they are. Sadly, majority of the poor and average people throughout the world view and regard affluent families and individuals as like their lords. Some of them act like puppets and servant robots of their masters, so to speak. I couldn’t blame these people as it’s the unfortunate situation and the environment they’re in which made them behave like one.

As I said, having adequate money in our pockets is good for all of us. But the love for it may be something questionable. In fact, the New Testament (Timothy 1, 6-10) cites that, “For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil…“. This means that if the love of money becomes no longer a means to love God but an end in itself, then that kind of love becomes the root of all evil in any given situation. There are various ways on how the biblical phrase can be interpreted in modern days but the phrase itself is self explanatory. 

Money does not only pollute the minds of the rich and wealthy people. This is also true in all classes of society, even in church settings and related organizations. A lay person was convicted of amassing the church' collections for his personal gain. Probably because of the need to satisfy his addiction to online gaming and lottery, the said man was able to squander the church’s hundreds of thousands of dollars of income for the past 3 years. He got imprisoned making his life more miserable. Similarly, money can also poison the minds of people who are jealous of other people’s minor achievements. This is happening even in smaller organizations. Money becomes an issue because of envy. Even without proof and valid reasons, some people will try to make money as an excuse and take things out of proportion so as to ruin the group or a person‘s reputation. This is a sad reality and definitely a bad example to young generations.

The foregoing observation should not be viewed as a sweeping generalization as there are some wealthy, fortunate and kind people who have wholeheartedly been generous to share what they have from day one, no ifs and buts,  and even how small it is. I recall one very intelligent, humble  and respectable person had said to me, it is all right to become rich and famous but true success is not jus about money nor fame. Success is about unearthing the values that we gain out of the things that we have. If money seems to be keeping us from getting off-track to be closer to God, it is about time for us to examine our conscience and learn to detach ourselves from worldly and material life.

I hope this helps. Feel free to comment.