In this article, I reveal a significant insight drawn from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, where He states that it is impossible to serve both God and money. This teaching is found in Matthew 6:24:
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
These impactful words came after a series of statements, which will be discussed in this article to provide proper context.
1. You Cannot Serve God and Money
In the opening verse, Jesus suggests that God and money represent two distinct masters. Each person is faced with a choice—serving one or the other—because it is impossible to serve both God and money at the same time.
If both God and money are described as “masters,” then let us explore their respective domains to better understand the influence and power each one holds.
1.1 Money The Master
Today, money rules the world; accomplishing anything without it is nearly impossible. We all need money for essential needs like food, shelter, and education. It holds the power to solve many personal challenges, offering influence, comfort, and even a luxurious lifestyle.
Jesus pointed out that money operates as a master only within this physical realm. Beyond this realm, it holds no power or influence. This connects to the statement made just before the opening verse:
Matthew 6:19-21 NLT
“Don’t store up for treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroy them, and where thieves break in and steal.“
Whenever you possess money, you’ll notice it attracts numerous individuals and organizations eager to claim a share. These are much like thieves trying to break in and take what belongs to you.
Thieves promote products you might not need, lure you in with the latest trends, and label them as deals or sales. All these tactics serve as legitimate methods for those thieves to reach in and take from you.
We are all familiar with phrases like “Money rules the world” and “Cash is king,” and both of these statements hold true. However the influence of money is confined solely to the physical realm.
1.2 God The MASTER
God holds supreme authority over the spiritual realm, which transcends our physical world. In essence, Jesus was illustrating the two masters that govern both the physical and spiritual domains.
People born of this world serve money. But believers who have been born again—that is, those who have experienced a new spiritual birth—serve God, who is Spirit.
When one is born again, it means their physical desires have been crucified on the cross, so that nothing of this physical world can enslave them, as they are now a slave of Christ (1 Corinthians 7:22).
We live on earth, a physical realm where money is a master, but we are born of the Spirit, where God is our Master. Therefore, we are spiritual beings living on earth and led by the Spirit—not by the physical elements of this world, like money
Read more on God’s design on man: mind, body and spirit.
3. What God and Money Can Do For You
Since Jesus inferred that both God and money are masters, let’s explore what each of these masters can and cannot do.
Money’s influence is confined to the physical realm—it can only provide material and tangible items. But God’s sphere of control is far greater; it transcends the limitations of this world and reaches into the eternal.
God’s Kingdom contains all things that pertain to life and godliness—not just what fades or breaks down with time, but what endures forever. In contrast, the kingdom of this world offers temporary treasures that rust, rot, and eventually lose their value.
The diagram below demonstrates the sphere of influence for both God and money.
The Kingdom of God entail all things we could ever think or imagine (Ephesians 3:20), and this illustration can never capture the fullness of what we have in the Kingdom of God.
4. The Temptation Of Jesus: God or Money
During Jesus’ final temptation, Satan took Him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of this world and their splendor. “I will give it all to you,” Satan said, “if you kneel down and worship me.” (Matthew 4:8–9)
Notice something significant: Satan took Jesus to a high mountain—a symbol of elevation and perspective—because this world is his only sphere of influence. Beyond this earthly realm, Satan holds no power.
But Jesus responded with divine authority and truth in Luke 4:8:
“For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the LORD your God and serve him only.’”
Jesus was given the option to serve one of the two masters, God or money, the physical master or the Spiritual Master. He chose the Master of masters, the King of kings – God who sits high above the heavenly places.
5. God and Money: Spiritual vs. Physical
Dear reader, understand we are spiritual beings, living in a physical realm. Our physical bodies houses the spiritual element of our being. God is Spirit, and we worship God in spirit.
We, as spiritual beings, cannot serve what is physical, because that which is spiritual is greater than what is physical.
We were created to worship God who is Spirit, just as we are spirit (John 3:6). The world tries to attain spiritual realities using the physical means.
To exemplify this, the world thinks joy and peace can be attained by wealth. However, joy and peace is a spiritual reality that reside in the spiritual realm and can only be attained spiritually in the presence of God.
You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:11)
6. The Limitations of Serving Money.
In The Parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:21), Jesus said:
“Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.“
Foolishness is a lack of knowledge, and Jesus meant that storing up earthly possessions reflects a lack of understanding of what lies beyond the physical realm.
Money cannot transcend this earthly world because it is purely physical—just like our bodies. When we die, our bodies remain here and decompose, but our spirit passes on to the spiritual realm.
Money is temporary but God is eternal, therefore, a rich relationship with God leads to an eternal spiritual life. But this spiritual life begins here on earth when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
Judas despite being Jesus’ disciple was not a servant to God but to money. He witnessed the miraculous signs and wonders that Jesus performed, yet his heart was filled with the love for money.
“But the 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.”- 1 Timothy 6:9
Judas acted out the betrayal on Jesus because He was a servant to money and not to God. His love for money led him to temptation and ended in the ruining and destruction of his life.
7. What Happens When You Serve God Only
Serving God comes with many benefits, though the road is a single and narrow one. Jesus is the way to the Father, who brings spiritual truths that lead to a spiritual life (John 14:6).
7.1 Life
This spiritual life is marked by dying to the self so that we become living sacrifices committed to serving and worshiping God alone.
Jesus said in John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” The life He refers to is the life of God, and He desires that we experience it abundantly. This aligns with Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:19:
“May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.“
7.2 Money Becomes a Servant
Serving God dethrones money over your life, it ceases being something to chase. Jesus said in Matthew 6:33, “Seek first the Kingdom of God.”
When we put the Kingdom of God first, money becomes merely a tool to advance and serve His Kingdom. When we seek the spiritual, the physical is taken care of automatically.
“Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things [including money] will be added to you.” This is one of the greatest mysteries of the Kingdom. When we put God first, everything in our lives begins to align according to His perfect will.
7.3 Money Loses Power Over You
When you serve God, money loses its power and influence over your life. As a result, you become more generous, more willing to give, and more inclined to use money to meet the needs of others.
Money then becomes a tool to advance the purposes of God’s Kingdom. Luke 8:3 illustrates this beautifully:
Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s business manager; Susanna; and many others who were contributing from their own resources to support Jesus and his disciples.
Another example is the rich chief tax collector, Zacchaeus. He had amassed great wealth through corruption, but when he encountered Jesus, money immediately became insignificant to him. He declared in Luke 19:8,
“I will give half of my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will pay them back four times as much.”
What once had a grip over Zacchaeus’ life was transformed to become a tool to advance God’s Kingdom simply by making Jesus Lord over his life.
7.4 The Power Of God Works In You
2 Peter 1:3 reads,
His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness.
This verse means that God’s power has given us everything we need for both our physical and spiritual well-being.
God’s divine power provides all things that pertain to this life and to a godly, spiritual life. Money cannot grant these things—only God’s power can.
This was demonstrated in the healing of the crippled beggar at the Gate Beautiful. He was asking for money, the master of this world, but Peter and John gave him something far superior: the Kingdom of God, through the power of the name of Jesus (Acts 3:6).
His life transformed instantly. Money was dethroned from his life, received healing in the name of Jesus, and began to praise God.
The power of money is very limited, but the divine power of God is eternally greater, Ephesians 3:20 confirms this as follows:
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.“
7.5 All Thing Are Added To You
When God asked Solomon what he wanted in a dream, Solomon’s response was to have an understanding heart. 1 Kings 3:10 reads, “The Lord was pleased that Solomon asked for wisdom.”
Solomon asked for the principal thing, as the Scripture says in Proverbs 4:7:
“Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore, get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.”
Jesus Christ had not yet come on earth, however, Solomon’s request for wisdom was symbolic of seeking Jesus Christ. For 1 Corinthians 1:24 reads, “Christ is the power and the wisdom of God.”
By asking for wisdom, God gave him riches, honor, and more. Likewise, when we seek the Kingdom of God, all things are added to our lives.
8. Final Remarks On God And Money
Dear reader, which master are you serving today? There are only two choices—one is a master, and the other is the MASTER.
Understand this: Jesus paid the highest price so we could be freed from the enslavement of money. God wants us to have a deep, intimate relationship with Him—a relationship no amount of money can ever buy.
God desires for all the riches we have in the spiritual realm to manifest physically in our lives. It is our responsibility to make Him LORD over our lives by seeking first His Kingdom.
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