The Bible tells us that money is both wonderful and deadly. It is one way God blesses people, and, perhaps more surprising, it can actually enhance our relationship with God. However, equating prosperity with godliness is a scriptural no-no.

You don't have to go very deep into Scripture to discover that God loves to lavishly provide for his creation. The Garden of Eden was a place of abundance, and it was said, "the gold of that land is good" (Gen. 2:11). And consider the description given at the end of the Bible of our eternal home: "The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass" (Rev. 21:21).

God wants us to trust him in every part of our lives, not just the spiritual parts.

Catherine Marshall writes:

"If we are to believe Jesus, his Father and our Father is the God of all life and his caring and provision include a sheepherder's lost lamb, a falling sparrow, a sick child, the hunger pangs of a crowd of four thousand, the need for wine at a wedding feast, and the ...