[S]tore up for yourselves treasures in heaven.
—Matthew 6:20
Is it wrong to accumulate treasures on earth to provide for personal and family security, help those in need, and support good works? No.
God led Joseph to advise Pharaoh to store up grain for future survival (Gn 41:33-36). And Paul said if a person doesn’t provide for his family, he is worse than an unbeliever (1 Tm 5:8).
It’s not money, but the love of money, that trips us up and leaves us in the grip of grief (1 Tm 6:10). It’s wise to remember that “we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it” (1 Tm. 6:7).
Heavenly treasures, on the other hand, are moth-proof, rust-proof, and burglar-proof (Mt 6:20)—“an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you” (1 Pt 1:4).
It isn’t wrong to possess things;
it is wrong to let things possess us.