“Money is the root of all evil.”
“I don’t want to be rich if it means I can’t spend time with my family and friends.”
“Money will change you.”
How many of us have grown up hearing exactly those phrases repeated over and over? It’s almost like money is – well – something to be avoided. Seriously, if something is the root of all evil, keeps you from being with family and friends, and will change you, well that’s something I want to seriously avoid.
Money Makes you more of what you are
Luckily, I didn’t hear any of these things growing up, and I don’t believe any of them. On the contrary, I believe that money – like power – often makes people a more extreme version of what they already are, and the reason is related to that very first quote, which, by the way, is incomplete.
The actual quote is, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” And if you want to check that for yourself, just go to 1 Timothy 6:20 in the Bible.
Now that might seem like quibbling over a few little words, but those words change the entire meaning of the quote. It’s not money that is evil, it’s loving money.
My absolute favorite money quote of all time is “Love people and use money, never the other way around.”
In other words, as long as money is a TOOL, not a goal in and of itself, money is a really great thing. Money can do all sorts of good. It can help people who are starving or sick to get life-saving nutrition and medical care. It can allow a family to make life-long memories together. It can provide safe and secure housing. It can provide help for elderly parents who can’t do it all on their own anymore. Shoot, it can even buy you a really cute outfit that makes you feel like you can take on the world!
How to use money and love people
As long as we LOVE people and USE money to benefit people (especially those who are vulnerable), money can be a truly great thing. It’s when we start to LOVE money and USE people to amass more of it, without regard for their human dignity that money becomes a curse.
I’m looking at you, sweatshop owners. I’m looking at you, internet scammers. I’m looking at you, business owners who maximize profits by refusing to pay a living wage. I’m looking at you, billionaires who think it’s more important to send rich tourists to space than to ensure that every child is nourished.
But when we love people and use money, amazing things happen. It can happen when we donate to charity. Children in Guatemala who are trapped in a cycle of poverty can get an education. People without permanent shelter can regain their human dignity with a fixed residence. Families can be healed from the scourge of domestic violence. The earth can be healed from environmental damage.
But money can also make a difference in our own lives, and it’s not evil to have enough money to make our own lives better. Why? So we can pay for counseling to heal past trauma. So we can quit an unfulfilling 2nd job to spend quality time with our kids. So we can travel and be transformed by the wonders of this earth. So we can sleep at night without worrying. Shoot, so we can do something good for ourselves, just because.
Money is freedom to choose your life
In 2019, my partner and I packed up our 3 kids, the family dog, and a significant portion of our worldly possessions, and moved to Norway. Waiting for us was a small basement apartment, some of the highest prices in the world, and no income. Absolutely none.
Almost 3 years in, we agree it is one of the best decisions we could have made for our family. More freedom for the kids. A healthier lifestyle. Better work/life balance. The list goes on.
But we would never have been able to make the move if we hadn’t had the money to pay for a fairly expensive relocation and to cover our expenses until we found jobs.
And that’s why my mission today is to help other teachers become Money Masters. Because although money can’t buy happiness, it can buy options and freedom. And those two things go a long way toward preventing misery.
But I get it. Deeply rooted beliefs don’t just go away because you want them to. We can’t really “logic” away mindsets that we’ve held for years, perhaps without even realizing it. So this is what I’m going to do. Over the next few months, I’m going to create a series about all the reasons teachers SHOULD be money masters, in other words why they should have control of their money, have lots of money, and use it for good.
Stay tuned!
All the best,
Jill