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Money is one of those subjects we can’t escape. It shapes our choices, fuels our worries, and often defines how we see ourselves. Some feel the crushing weight of not having enough. Others lie awake at night wondering if they’ll lose what they’ve worked so hard to gain. The numbers tell the story: nearly half of Americans say the last year has been the most financially stressful of their lives, and millions are living with what’s now called “financial fatigue.”

It’s no surprise, then, that the Bible speaks about money so often. In fact, Jesus talked more about money than about heaven or hell. Not because money itself is evil, but because money tests the heart. It can lead us closer to God—or pull us farther away.

The New Testament book of James gives us a striking perspective. In the opening chapter, James points to two groups of people: those who are poor and those who are rich. He calls both of their situations a trial. Poverty can tempt us to despair. Wealth can tempt us to pride. Both come with their dangers.

That would have shocked James’ readers. In the Roman world, everything revolved around an honor–shame system. The wealthy were honored. The poor were despised. Your worth was measured by your possessions, your family name, or your status in society. But James flips that upside down. He tells the poor to boast in their exaltation—not because they’ll suddenly get rich, but because in Christ they already have honor that no society can give and no hardship can take away. And he tells the rich to boast in their humiliation—to remember that wealth cannot buy eternal life, and that in the end, rich and poor alike stand on level ground before God.

James then drives the point home with a picture every villager in Palestine would have known. After a rain, wildflowers could cover the fields in brilliant color almost overnight. But when the scorching desert winds blew, those same flowers withered in a matter of hours. Life, James says, is like that. So are riches. They seem strong, beautiful, lasting—but in reality, they are fleeting.

That may sound discouraging at first, but it’s actually good news. If everything fades, then only eternity matters. That means you don’t have to measure yourself by your paycheck or your possessions. You don’t have to despair if you have little or cling to pride if you have much. Your worth is not in what you own. It’s in Christ, who offers an inheritance that never fades.

The missionary Jim Elliot once wrote: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” That line still rings true. Money, success, beauty, even life itself—none of these can last. But knowing Christ, and living in light of eternity, is something you can never lose.

So maybe the question is this: when the winds of time blow over your life, what will remain?