The Root Of All Evil

This week saw the warmest days of the year. Spring is definitely here and summer is not too far behind. Yesterday I noticed a lot of yellow flowers in my yard, but they aren't daffodils. The bright little yellow flowers, popping up all over my grass are dandelions!

So I went to the store trying to find a little dandelion tool like I used as a kid. A tool I used to fork out all the dandelions from my parents grass. I couldn't find the digger at the first store I went to, so I went to another store, a local home improvement store, and found both a dandelion digger and some weed b gone spray.

As I set out to remove, one by one, each dandelion cluster from my front lawn, I remembered, as a small boy, trying to get the dandelions out of my parent’s lawn. As a boy I learned, over time, that the weeds were easier to pull out of the ground, if the earth was moist. If I waited until midday when the ground was dry and hot, it was practically impossible to pull out the weeds.

Sometimes I did not pull out the weeds before I mowed the lawn. I would just skip that task. And, when the lawn was freshly cut, no one could tell there had been any weeds at all.

But within only a day or two, the weeds would return, sometimes in greater numbers, and they always grew faster than the grass.

When my mother realized what I had done, she would promptly send me out again to the lawn to pull weeds.

But the second attempt was often as futile as the first. This time, instead of mowing down the weeds, I would just pull off the tops of the weeds.

At first glance, it looked like I had successfully removed the weeds. But in a day or two there would be compelling evidence, all over the lawn: a new crop of weeds would implicate me for my carelessness.

My mother would send me out again, but this time she would follow me, saying things like “If you had done it right the first time you wouldn't be doing it again.” I watched her pull a few weeds, sometimes with a tool, and sometimes with just her bare hands. As she pulled the weeds she would often say. “if you want to get rid of the weed, once and for all, you have got to pull from the roots.”

Over the years I have often thought of my mother’s statement while pulling weeds in my own yard. I would reflect on her words “Pull from the roots” over and over again. Getting to the root of our problems is a very difficult task, without the help of our Heavenly Father. There are so many things we are ignorant of, and if we aren’t careful, they will be to our demise.

Money is one of those obstacles. Another is sexuality.

The scriptures cite that “money is the root of all evil”. Another way of saying this is “the love of money is the root of all evil.” Getting to the root of a money problem is more than just numbers and balance sheets however.

Money can be the means to an end but can never be the end itself. Money or the lust for money cannot bring happiness. We can be deceived by jealousy and greed, selfishly thinking that money and material things will make us happy, but there is another subtle deception: we can also be deceived if we think that money and material things will make others happy. We can throw money at others and at our problems and spend money and buy things for others, thinking that gifts and gold and trips and yachts and massive homes and expensive toys will bring permanent happiness, but trying to please others with what money can buy is a fleeting and fruitless endeavor. For like happiness, money can't buy love either.

Remember not having money or enough money can be just as negative as hoarding wealth. Fear of scarcity of money, jealousy of others and their material possessions, greed in always wanting more are also negative emotional attachments. Even the tightwad and the miser have emotional attachments about not wanting to give up or lose any money. Being stingy is not about the money or possessions, it is an emotional response about not wanting to share. Selfishness is an emotional inversion that steals happiness.

Similar to the endless pursuit of money to use to try and please others is the endless pursuit of money to use to try and impress others. Showing off wealth is a sure sign of weakness. Identity and individual self-worth or self-esteem should never be tied to what we have. This is just another hollow attempt at happiness based on misplaced priorities and pursuits. We are worth so much more than our bank accounts and our real estate

We are of infinite worth to an Eternal God who loves us unconditionally and eternally and blesses us abundantly.

And bargain shopping, while a noble aspiration, can become something akin to hoarding with incessant trips to yards sales, flee markets, and thrift stores. Especially if what is wanted is really something emotional and not something tangible.

What are we shopping for? Something of value or validation?

Like the lust for money, the lust for passion also is a difficult temptation.

The reward centers of the brain drive certain behaviors, and sexual appetites and passions are included. It is the wanting that drives much of these behaviors. In reality desires are simply intense wants. Because we live in such an instant gratification society, sexuality often falls victim to the same immediate and demanding expectations.

Chastity is moral control over ones desires, passions, and appetites. We have more control over our sexuality than we think. Even if there is a fine line or a blurred line between what we were born with and what we develop in this life, our sexual expression can and should be controlled. No matter how tempting sexual sins might be, we have God given agency over our sexuality. Remember to bridle ones passions isn't to repress or eliminate them, but like the bit in the mouth of the horse, we bridle our passions when we direct or redirect them in the proper expression.

There is opposition in all things. The opposing forces of chastity and sexuality can create a positive balance that fosters love instead of lust and self-discipline instead of instant gratification and indulgence.

Restraint is a positive tool in building a loving relationship. As the anticipation for intimacy builds, so too can the power to resist. Like a kite and kite flier holding the string, two great forces of good, in total opposition, are working in tandem to create the greater good.

Not all roots are bad. Righteous roots are good moral anchors in our lives.  If we are rooted and grounded in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, money and sexuality will not be divisive forces in our lives.