QFD | Treasured: What Money Reveals About the Heart - Series Introduction
- Herbert Berkley
- Dec 5
- 6 min read
Money is one of the clearest places where what we say about God and what we actually believe about God either come together—or fall apart.
You can tell a lot about a person by what makes them angry or afraid. You can tell just as much by what their money does when no one is looking.
We live in a world where money moves more quietly than ever. Auto-drafts, tapped cards, subscriptions, instant payments that renew without asking, one-click checkouts, in-app upgrades, digital wallets. Our hands barely feel the transfer anymore. But Scripture hasn’t changed:
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”—Matthew 6:19–21 (ESV)
Jesus does not say, “Where your beliefs are, there your heart will be. ”He says, “Where your treasure is.”
That is uncomfortable on purpose.
This series—Treasured: What Money Reveals About the Heart—is not about accounting, budgeting methods, or financial tips. Those may have value, but they are not the main issue. The issue is much deeper:
Who really rules your life?
Where do you look for comfort and safety?
What are you quietly building with your time, money, and attention?
Money is one of the loudest answers to all three.
Why Talk About Money This Way?
Most of us would rather talk about anything else. We’ll talk about faith, prayer, worship, even suffering—but money feels invasive. Personal. Private.
Yet Jesus spoke about money often because He wasn’t after our accounts. He was after our allegiance.
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”—Matthew 6:24 (ESV)
He didn’t say money is evil. He said money is a master if we let it be. It competes. It commands. It shapes decisions, schedules, and priorities. It is not neutral—it is formative.
Paul echoes this when he warns:
“But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”—1 Timothy 6:9–10 (ESV)
Notice again: not money itself, but the love of it—the craving, the attachment, the way it becomes a root system feeding other sins.
This series is about that root system.
We are not simply asking, “What should Christians do with money?” but, “What does our handling of money reveal about who we really trust and what we really want?”
Plain Talk: What This Series Will and Won’t Do
What this series won’t do:
It will not tell you to be reckless or careless with your finances.
It will not lay out a step-by-step financial plan.
It will not shame you for being poor, for working hard, or for providing for your family. Scripture honors wise work and provision (1 Thessalonians 4:11–12, ESV).
What this series will do:
It will hold up Scripture as the mirror.
It will ask honest questions about patterns—where your money moves most easily and where it feels heavy to move at all.
It will name the gap between what we confess and what we actually fund.
It will show how giving, spending, saving, and “self-care” all reveal what we treasure.
It will call you, gently but clearly, back to an undivided heart before God.
The tone will be direct but not harsh; searching but not hopeless. If you belong to Christ, this is family conversation. The Shepherd is not trying to embarrass you; He is trying to free you.
How the Series Is Shaped
Each entry takes one key facet of the money–heart relationship and looks at it through Scripture, through real life, and through the world we actually live in—subscriptions, digital marketplaces, self-care culture, the pressure to appear “put together,” and the quiet fear of not having enough.
Here is the path we will walk:
When Money Moves, the Heart Speaks We start with Matthew 6:21 and the simple truth: money tells the truth about us when it moves. Not how much we have, but where it flows, how quickly, and with what kind of resistance.
The Two Masters Problem We face Jesus’ line in Matthew 6:24: “You cannot serve God and money.” This entry shows why money cannot remain “just a tool” if our heart clings to it as master.
The Poverty of Rich Escape: When Self-Care Replaces Seeking God We examine how modern self-care can become a way to manage life without submitting it to God—how money used for constant comfort can slowly replace seeking the Lord, even while we talk about “health” and “balance.”
The Widow’s Might: How Small Offerings Reveal Large Trust We sit with the widow in Mark 12 and Mary of Bethany in John 12. Their giving looks small or wasteful to others, but Jesus calls it beautiful and complete. We ask what our “two coins” look like.
The Lure of Lustrous Things: Idols That Come in Disguised Forms We connect Psalm 115’s teaching on idols with our modern purchases—status items, upgrades, aesthetics, and comforts that slowly capture the heart. We ask: what do I defend hardest when God starts to press?
The Anxiety Economy: When Fear Governs Financial Decisions Anchored in Matthew 6:25–34, we explore how fear of lack drives hoarding, overworking, and constant financial anxiety—and how Jesus calls us to trust the Father who feeds the birds and clothes the lilies.
The Secret Ledger: What We Give When No One Sees We listen to Jesus’ teaching about giving in secret (Matthew 6:1–4). We ask what we’re willing to do for the kingdom when no one will ever know and no story can be told about it later.
The Marketplace of the Soul: How Spending Forms Desire We realize that what we repeatedly buy doesn’t just reflect what we want—it trains what we want. We talk about feeds, subscriptions, and habits that shape our loves.
When Wealth Becomes Weight: The Rich Young Ruler and the Cost of Following Jesus We watch a sincere, moral, religious man walk away from Jesus because he wouldn’t loosen his grip. We consider where we might be doing the same (Mark 10:17–22).
Generosity as Warfare: How Giving Pushes Back Darkness We see giving as spiritual warfare—a way to strike against greed, pride, and isolation. We look at how generosity breaks strongholds in us and blesses others.
The Steward’s Joy: How Eternal Perspective Makes Money Light In 2 Corinthians 8–9 we meet believers who gave with joy even in affliction. We explore why open hands are lighter, not heavier.
The Eternal Ledger: Treasure That Outlives the World We end where Jesus directs our gaze—treasure in heaven. We consider what actually lasts when the market crashes, the accounts close, and the world burns away.
Each entry will be anchored in Scripture, written in clear, everyday language, and aimed at the heart as much as the mind.
Why This Matters Right Now
You do not have to be wealthy for money to be a spiritual problem. You just have to believe it can give you what only God can.
For some, that looks like endless striving—more hours, more side work, more hustle, because safety and worth feel like things you can finally purchase if you just push a little harder.
For others, it looks like soft escape—self-care as constant reward, upgrades as therapy, experiences as identity, streaming and scrolling as emotional anesthesia.
Underneath both patterns is the same quiet confession:
“If I do not manage my life this way, I will not be okay.”
But Jesus says something different:
“Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”—Matthew 6:32–33 (ESV)
This is not a promise of luxury. It is a promise of care. It is a call to reorder the center of our lives around God’s kingdom and let money take its rightful place as a servant, not a king.
If we ignore this, money will quietly disciple us .It will teach us to fear the wrong things and trust the wrong things. It will shape who we are becoming.
If we submit this area to Christ, money becomes lighter. It becomes a way to love, to build, to bless, to point beyond ourselves. Our hearts begin to match our confession.
How to Walk Through This Series
A few simple suggestions:
Read with open hands. Ask the Lord before each entry: “Show me where I am clinging, and help me let go.”
Take notes on patterns, not just ideas. Where does your money move easily? Where does it drag? That contrast is often the real story.
Bring Scripture into direct contact with your habits. Don’t just nod at verses—lay them next to your statements, your bank history, your calendar. Let them speak.
Talk to someone you trust. Confess where money has become too loud in your decisions. Ask a mature believer to walk with you as you make changes.
If you are in Christ, you are already loved. The point of this series is not to earn that love; it is to let that love reshape how you handle what God has placed in your hands.
Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. It’s time to let Jesus realign both.
