学文网Money is a blessing when it is used rightly. The same is true of all other good things. They bless if used well； they curse1 when abused2. Many people do not seem to know what money is for. They want it above all things. But they want it to spend chiefly on themselves.
Some boys appear to think that money is to buy good clothes and foods, toys and amusements. Some also seem to think that money is to buy leisure with. They consider that the highest happiness is to live without work. But that is not at all what money is for. We should get nearer the truth than that.
Money is our circulating3 medium in trade. Families need it to buy things they must have. In this way society exists, and the world of traffic prospers4. Money means food, clothing, dwelling schools, books, wise recreation, and the means of doing good.
Of course money is not something to hoard. Its value is in its use. And so money that is simply hoarded is of no value. It does not purchase the necessaries of life, nor relieve5 those who are in want. That is not what money is for.
The Bible says that "the love of money is the root of all evil". That is, money sought for its own sake is the cause of all sorts of evil -- lying, stealing, cheating, robbery, and even murder. This is the best reason for avoiding the love of money.
假如能正当地使用金钱，它会是一种幸福。所有美好的事物同样如此。使用得当，它们就赐福于人；滥加使用，它们就降祸于人。许多人似乎并不知道金钱是做什么用的。在万物中他们首要的是钱，但是他们要钱主要是为了花在自己身上。
一些青年似乎认为，金钱就是用来买好衣服、好食品和好玩具，就是用于娱乐的。另一些人似乎认为金钱还可以买来悠闲。他们把活着而不用干活看作是最大的幸福。然而金钱的功用完全不是这样的，我们应当更深入地探求真理。
金钱是我们在贸易中的流通手段。家庭需要钱来购买生活必需品。社会就是以这一方式存在的，商品流通世界就是以这一方式繁荣的。有了钱，就意味着有了食物、衣服、住房、寄宿学校、书籍和明智的消遣，也意味着可以用来做好事。
当然，金钱不是用来贮藏的东西。它的价值就在于使用。同样，仅仅为了收藏金钱便毫无价值可言。金钱收藏着而不用来购买生活必需品，也不用来赈济那些生活贫穷的人，那金钱便没有被正当地利用。
《圣经》说：“爱钱是一切邪恶的根源。”那就是说，追逐金钱本身是一切邪恶――撒谎、偷窃、欺骗、抢劫甚至谋杀的原因。我们不要嗜爱金钱，根本原因就在于此。
注释：
1 cursevt．降祸，使受罪2 abuse v. 滥用
3 circulatev. (使)流通；(使)进行
4 prosper v. 兴隆，茂盛
5 relievevt． '减轻，解除