Why I Hate Religion: 10 Reasons to Break Free from the Bondage of Religious Tradition (2 page)

I want you to look at 1 Timothy 6:10 and read it more closely this time: “For the love of money is the root of all evil.” Nowhere in this Scripture does it say that money in and of itself is the root of all evil. Many have taught this Scripture to mean something entirely different from what God said. The
love
of money, or having a wrong relationship with it, is the root of all evil. That one word—love—makes a huge difference.

Let’s say that I placed a one-hundred-dollar bill on a table. Is that money good or bad? Neither. What makes money good or bad depends on who holds it. If the money belongs to someone who tithes and sows money to advance the kingdom of God, then it is good. On the other hand, if you put the same money into the hands of a terrorist, who uses the money to kill people, then it becomes bad. Is the money bad in and of itself? No. Whoever has the money determines the outcome of that money.

Having a wrong relationship with money means that you trust money and material possessions more than you trust God. Using things to try to answer spiritual problems is an indication of having a wrong relationship with money. I’m sure you know someone who shops when he or she is depressed. Instead of turning to God as his or her Source, this person tries to find comfort in things. God is the answer to any adversity, not possessions. God doesn’t have a problem with your having money; He just doesn’t want money to have you.

Having a right relationship with money means we see it for what it is—a tool. God sends it our way in generous proportions when we seek Him first, and it’s one of the ways He can bless us so much that it overflows into someone else’s life. One of the ways we can gauge if we have the right attitude about money is if we give to express our gratitude for what Jesus did for us, and if it’s done out of love. If it’s not, no preacher in the world can make it right. “And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing” (1 Cor. 13:3
NASB
).

Money is an amplifier. There are several lottery winners who have spent their entire fortune in a few short years. They’ve gone from poor to rich to poor again. Instead of using their money wisely, they have used it foolishly to satisfy their desires. They continued
to live the same hellish lifestyle they lived before they became wealthy. They just had a lot more money at their disposal. Money didn’t cause their misfortune; they did it to themselves.

Proverbs 1:32 says, “The prosperity of fools shall destroy them.” If you put a million dollars in the hands of a fool, he will spend it frivolously. Because this person lacks knowledge and a relationship with God, money only amplifies his destructive lifestyle. Just think of the rock stars or movie stars who rose from obscurity only to die young from a drug overdose. You are the one who determines what kind of relationship you will have with money—good or bad.

If your heart and your spirit aren’t right, no amount of money will make them right. Trying to chase down money and snatch up some of it for yourself is trusting in your own abilities, instead of having faith that God wants to be your financial Source. It’s a great example of living according to the Law instead of by faith in His favor.

“For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, ‘Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.’ But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, the just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith: but, the man that doeth them shall live in them” (Gal. 3:10–12). It’s about whether you put your faith in what God’s own Son did for us more than two thousand years ago, or in a pile of money.

The right type of relationship with money is one that honors
God. Proverbs 3:9–10 says, “Honour the L
ORD
with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.” You honor God by trusting Him as your Source, not money! Your trust will cause your account to overflow with more than enough.

God wants His people to prosper. Psalm 35:27 says, “Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the Lord be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.” When a Christian says that having money is not of God, this person is not walking in the Spirit because that kind of thinking does not line up with the Scriptures.

We know that
walking in the Spirit
is defined as “being in agreement with God’s Word.” That means that whatever God says is right, you say is right, and whatever He says is wrong, you say is wrong. Sounds simple enough, right? Yet many people have a problem agreeing with God when it comes to money. They believe they can be healed because of Isaiah 53:5, but these same people have trouble saying, “I’m prosperous,” even though prosperity is also in the Bible. When believers say they are rich, they aren’t being arrogant; they’re simply agreeing with the Word of God.

God has
already
blessed you with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places (see Eph. 1:3). All of the promises of God are available to you if you line yourself up with the Word. It’s your job to find out what the Word says, and then to live by it, including the area of financial stewardship.

One way to gain access to the financial blessings that are found in the Bible is to begin tithing, or giving 10 percent of your
gross
income to the Lord as well as giving offerings. Malachi 3:10 says, “Bring all the tithes (the whole tenth of your income) into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and prove Me now by it, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (
AMP
).

If we trust in God for our prosperity, He promises to deliver in a big way. In the Old Testament, after Abram slew all his enemies, he gave his tithe to God to praise and thank Him for the victory. He refused to take any wealth from the king, lest anyone should say the king was his source and not God (see Gen. 14:20, 23). God honored Abram’s offering by declaring He was Abram’s reward, and then blessing him with the son he had always wanted (see Gen. 15:1–4).

The principle of seedtime and harvest will work for anyone who gets involved with it. When our giving is based on our love for God and our desire to honor Him with our increase, He will honor us. Tithing and financial giving are acts of love that flow from an appreciation for what God has done in our lives. God will always respond when we do things from a position of love and obedience. When God says that He will “pour out a blessing” on you, He’s not talking about a car or a house.
Blessing
means “empowered to prosper; empowered to have success.” God promises to give you the ability to obtain wealth. He wants to empower you to do things that you couldn’t do before. He does
this by putting His “super” abilities on your natural abilities to produce supernatural results in
every
area of your life, including your finances.

I have discovered that tithing allows you to hear from God more clearly about what you need to do to prosper in your specific situation. God knows a million ways to get you out of debt and into abundant living, but all you need is one. He will give you business ideas, witty inventions, wisdom, and step-by-step instructions on how to prosper, as well as insight, concepts, and ideas that will bring you into wealth. The key is that you obey Him and follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance. God wants to help you and be there to meet your needs. He says, “Call to Me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things, fenced in and hidden, which you do not know (do not distinguish and recognize, have knowledge of and understand)” (Jer. 33:3
AMP
).

Another way to gain access to financial blessings is to realize that by grace you are blessed financially through faith and trust in the finished works of Jesus Christ. Financial blessings should not be your goal. Seeking God should be your goal. Then, the financial blessing becomes a by-product of seeking God. Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His
righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” It would be an act of perversion for you to seek things when the system was designed for things to seek you! When God is your Source, you have access to all of His resources. Who wants the golden eggs when you can have the golden goose?

I remember when the Lord first told me to minister on prosperity. I knew that religious demons would fight me tooth and nail to try to stop me from bringing understanding on this subject to the Body of Christ. I’ve been branded for this assignment. What preacher in his right mind, with a last name like Dollar, would preach about money unless God called him to do it?

I know that what God says about prosperity is true. I live it daily. I tithe and give offerings because I love God and want to bless others. Not surprisingly, money finds its way to me. God has prospered me greatly for trusting Him as my Source. Some people have criticized me because of the prosperity God has blessed me with, but I refuse to be a preacher who knows about prosperity and doesn’t teach others how to obtain it from a biblical perspective. God is not a broke God, so why would He want His children to be broke? He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and He owns the hills as well (see Ps. 50:10). He has prospered me, and He wants to prosper you.

Prosperity is a message that Satan doesn’t want you to hear, and he uses religion to try to discourage believers from even having faith in God to prosper them. Now that you know the truth, the devil will try to get you to doubt God’s Word (see Mark 4:15). His most powerful weapon is suggestion. He will try to get you to step
out of agreement with God, because he knows it can stop your blessings from manifesting.

No doubt many of you have heard the “hellfire and damnation” speech a lot of religious leaders feed their congregation about being cursed for not giving enough money in the offering plate. They quote a Scripture out of context, twist it around, and try to use it to pressure people to give out of guilt. A favorite one is from the book of Malachi: “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, ‘Wherein have we robbed thee?’ In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation” (Mal. 3:8–9).

What they conveniently leave out is the heart of the matter. Reading on, we learn that God promises to bless us, not curse us, when we believe Him enough to give as He instructs us to (see Mal. 3:10–12). When religion deceives us and pulls this trick on us, it’s no wonder we have trouble trusting!

When somebody tells you that it’s God’s will for you to be poor, don’t align yourself with these words or this way of thinking. If you do, you’ll once again lean on the arm of the flesh and open yourself up to an attack from the enemy. Jeremiah 17:5 says, “Thus saith the Lord; ‘Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.’” A curse is “an empowerment to fail,” and you don’t want failure to manifest in any area of your life.

The sad thing is that a lot of these people actually believe it’s God’s intent for them to be busted and broke! This line of reasoning is of the flesh, not of the Spirit (see 1 Cor. 2:14). A check of the Scriptures shows that not only is this untrue, but God’s plan is for over-the-top abundance for us (see 2 Cor. 9:8).

One other thing: When we give from the heart and in the right spirit, to bless others, we won’t have to be anxious or worried about whether the money will vanish and never reappear. We won’t need to concern ourselves with working extra hard to make up for the money that left our checking account. God’s got this, and He’ll return it to us greatly multiplied (see Luke 6:38).

Learn to stick with what the Word says. Everything you need—all blessings, healing, deliverance, abundance, and protection—begins with trusting God as the Source for everything. But when you ignore the Word, or refuse to find out what it says, you are guaranteed to remain in your problems. However, when you agree with God’s Word on prosperity and trust Him more than you trust money as your source, look out. Supernatural abundance and profit are sure to come your way! Money is
not
the root of all evil. It’s what you do with it that counts.