Money is neither bad nor good; it’s just money. Like food, it is necessary and important, and if used properly it can help us to live a wonderful life. But if abused, it can destroy us. In an oft-misquoted passage, the Bible tells us that ‘the love of money is the root of all evil’ (1 Timothy 6:10), and I think this means that an unhealthy grasping for money is likely to ruin us. Money, after all, isn't a real thing - it's not a commodity which is useful in itself. If you were stranded on a desert island and all you had was a suitcase full of money, you'd starve to death.
In our daily life, however, money can buy you things which can and should be enjoyed. There are lots of honest and good ways to make money and we should focus on these and enjoy the fruits of providing our time, energies and services. The most basic way of making honest money is to provide value. When you do this, the whole universe lines up behind you and you receive a reward commensurate with the value you give.
Whether it’s walking dogs, decorating someone’s front room or proving advice to Morgan Stanley (Tony Blair gets $1,000,000 a year for this, by the way - nice work if you can get it), if you provide value, you should get paid. It’s important to do what you love, because then your ‘work’ will be effortless, and you should get paid for the outcome of your time, not just for your time, because then you can use the magical power of leverage.
Whatever you do, find out what you love. The key to real wealth is to find a way of doing this which also gives value to others, to be useful, to serve. When you find this, do it and don’t think of money as being evil or tainted. You can sleep at night, you can be open and honest with people, you have nothing to hide. Now that’s real wealth!
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