2 Timothy 3:2Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

"For men," he says, "will be lovers of themselves." Whoever loves himself especially does not love himself. But whoever loves the brethren loves himself far more.

From this comes love of money. The infection and narrowness of self-love contracts and diminishes love, which is broad and extends to all.

"Lovers of money." From this comes pride. From pride comes arrogance. From arrogance comes evil speaking. From evil speaking come disobedience and unbelief.

Indeed, those who are puffed up before men will easily be puffed up before God. This is how sins are born. They often rise from below to above.

Whoever is respectful toward men will all the more stand in reverence before God. Whoever is obedient to fellow servants will all the more be subject to the Master.

But whoever despises fellow servants will gradually come even to despise God Himself. Let us therefore not despise one another. This is an evil teaching, which teaches us to despise God.

Even by despising one another, we already show contempt for God, who commanded us to have great care for one another. If you wish, I will explain this in another way, by an example.

Cain despised his brother, and immediately showed contempt for God. How? See how insultingly he answers God: "Am I my brother's keeper?" (Gen 4:9).

So also Esau despised his brother and showed contempt for God. Therefore God said, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated" (Rom 9:13).

For this reason Paul also says, "Let there be no fornicator or profane person among you, like Esau" (Heb 12:16). Joseph's brothers despised him, and showed contempt for God.

The Israelites despised Moses, and showed contempt for God. Likewise the sons of Eli despised the people, and showed contempt for God.

Do you wish to see examples of the opposite? Abraham was forbearing toward his nephew and was obedient to God. This is clear from his obedience concerning his son Isaac and from all his other virtues.

So also Abel, being meek toward his brother, was pious toward God. Let us therefore not despise one another, lest we learn to despise God also. Let us honor one another, that we may learn to honor God also.

The man who is insolent toward men becomes insolent toward God. And when love of money, self-love, and disobedience are joined together, what is still lacking for complete destruction?

Then everything is corrupted, and a vast swamp of sins is formed. "Ungrateful," he says. Indeed, how can the lover of money be grateful?

To whom will he render thanks? To no one. He considers everyone his enemies, wishing to take everything from everyone.

Even if you gave him all your possessions, he would show you no gratitude. He would be annoyed that you did not have greater wealth and did not make him the possessor of more.

Even if you made him master of the universe, he would not show you gratitude. He would think that he had received nothing.

His desire is insatiable, because it is a diseased desire, and diseased desires are always such. As one suffering from fever can never drink enough, but constantly feels thirst and never quenches his desire to drink, so also the man possessed by the passion for wealth.

He can never satisfy his desire. Since he is never satisfied, he will not be grateful to you, however much you give him.

He will be grateful only to the one who gives him as much as he desires. But no one can do this, because his desire is measureless. Consequently he cannot be grateful to anyone.

There is no man so ungrateful as the lover of money. There is none so unfeeling as the lover of gain. He is the enemy of the whole universe.

He is annoyed that other people exist. He wishes that there were wilderness everywhere and that he alone possessed everything. He thinks many such things.

Oh, he says, if only an earthquake would happen in the city, and all were swallowed by the earth, while I alone remained and took, if possible, everyone's possessions.

Oh, if only a plague would come and destroy everyone, without touching the gold. Oh, if only there were a flood, or an inundation of the sea!

He holds a multitude of such thoughts in his mind, and not one good thought. He desires only earthquakes, fires, wars, pestilences, and the like.

But tell me, wretched man, miserable and more pitiable than any slave, if everything became gold, would you not be deprived of gold when you perished from hunger?

If an earthquake occurred, then in the destruction of the universe you too would perish with your destructive passion. If there were no people on the earth, there would be no one to prepare what is necessary even for your life.

Let us suppose, although it is absurd and impossible, that all people in the universe suddenly vanished. Suppose their gold and silver passed of themselves to you, and all their wealth came into your hands.

Gold, silver, silk garments, and golden objects would all be yours. What profit would there be for you? Death would soon overtake you, because there would be neither bakers nor farmers.

Wild beasts would multiply, and demons would take possession of your soul. Even now many demons possess it. Then they would drive you mad and quickly destroy you.

No, you say, I would not want this. Let there be farmers and bakers also. But they too will have to spend something on themselves, will they not?

No, you say, I do not want them to spend anything. So insatiable is this passion. What can be more ridiculous than it?

Do you see the absurdity? He wants to have a multitude of servants, and he grieves that they consume food and thereby diminish his property. Tell me, do you want people to be made of stone?

All this is ridiculous. It is waves, storm, whirlwind, tempest, and great turmoil in a soul that constantly hungers and constantly thirsts.

Tell me, is such a man not worthy of pity and tears? There is a bodily illness like this, and very painful, called by physicians wolfish hunger. A man takes much food and does not cease feeling hunger.

Is not the same disease in the soul worthy of tears? Truly, love of money is the wolfish hunger of the soul. It devours much, but is never satisfied, and is constantly tormented by desire.

If it were necessary to take hellebore or suffer something a thousand times more unpleasant in order to be delivered from this passion, should we not gladly decide to do anything?

There is no abundance of wealth that can fill the insatiable belly. Are we not ashamed after this, when some are so madly attached to wealth, while we do not show even the smallest part of such love toward God?

For us, then, God is less valuable than money. For money people endure sleepless nights, journeys, constant dangers, hatred, insults, and everything else.

But for God we do not even wish to say a word or draw someone's anger upon ourselves. If it is necessary to defend one of the oppressed, then, fearing the anger of authorities and unpleasantness, we betray the one wronged.

Having received from God the power to give help, we lose it because we do not wish to be exposed to someone's hostility or hatred.

Many in this connection cite the proverb that says: let them love you in vain, but not hate you in vain. But here are you exposed to hatred in vain?

What could be better than such hatred? Hatred for God's sake is much better than love for His sake. When we are loved for God's sake, we become debtors to Him for such honor.

But when we are hated, He Himself becomes the debtor, with whom our reward remains. Lovers of money, however much they love wealth, know no measure in love.

But when we have done something small for God, we think that we have already done everything. We do not love God as they love gold, not even to the smallest part of that.

They are worthy of great condemnation for being so madly attached to gold. We too are worthy of great condemnation, because we are not attached to God in the same way.

We do not render to the Master of all the same honor that they render to earth, for the metal gold is the same earth. Let us look at their madness and be ashamed ourselves.

What does it matter that we are not burning with passion for gold, if we also do not pray to God fervently? For gold people forget wife, children, life, and their own salvation.

They do this though they do not know whether they will increase their wealth. Many, after vain labors and in the midst of their very hopes, have breathed their last and died.

But we know that we shall receive what we desire, if we love God as He ought to be loved. Yet we do not love Him, but have grown poor in everything, both in love for neighbor and in love for God.

We have grown poor in love for God because we have grown poor in love for neighbor. Indeed, a man who does not know love cannot, truly cannot, have noble and magnanimous dispositions.

The foundation of every good is nothing other than love. On it, says the Lord, "hang all the Law and the Prophets" (Mt 22:40).

As fire, when it enters a forest, usually cleanses everything, so the heat of love, if it is kindled in someone, cleanses and destroys everything harmful to the divine seed. It makes the earth clean for receiving that seed.

Where love is, every evil is destroyed. There is no love of money, the root of evils, no love of gain, no pride. For how can anyone be proud before a man he loves?

Nothing makes one so humble as love. We serve those whom we love like slaves, and are not ashamed. Instead, we thank them for such servitude.

For their sake we do not spare our money, and sometimes not even our bodily strength. It has happened that people underwent dangers for the beloved.

Where love is, there is neither envy nor slander. We ourselves not only do not slander those we love, but also shut the mouths of others who slander them.

There all is quiet, all is calm. There is no trace of discord and quarrels. Everything is filled with peace. "Love is the fulfillment of the law," says the Apostle (Rom 13:10).

With love there is nothing that produces unpleasantness. Why? Because the very sins, covetousness, plunder, envy, slander, arrogance, perjury, falsehood, all these disappear where love is.

Perjurers break an oath because they wish to take something from another. But no one will take from the beloved. He will give him what is his own, and will be more grateful to him than if he received from him.

You know this, you who have had friends, friends not only in name and by title, but those whom you loved as one ought and to whom you were attached.

But whoever does not know this, let him ask those who know. I will now tell you an example of wondrous friendship from Holy Scripture.

Jonathan, the son of Saul, loved David. "The soul of Jonathan was knit to his soul" (1 Sam 18:1). Thus David, lamenting him, says: your love came upon me like "the love of women". I am wounded unto death (2 Sam 1:25-26).

What then? Did he envy David? No, though he had cause to envy him. What cause? He saw from the circumstances that the kingdom would pass to David.

Yet he felt nothing of the kind. He did not say, he is depriving me of my father's kingdom. Instead, he even helped him to receive power and did not spare his father for his friend.

Do not consider him a parricide. No, he did not insult his father, but restrained him from plots and injustices. He did him more good than harm, by not allowing him to commit an unjust murder.

He often resolved even to die for his friend. Not only did he not slander him, but he restrained his father from slander. Not only did he not envy him, but he helped David.

He not only gave him money, but also saved his life. What am I saying about money? He laid down his own soul for him.

He did not fear his father for the sake of his friend, because his father had resolved on unjust deeds, while he was conscious of nothing of the kind in himself.

Such was his friendship with the righteous man. Such was Jonathan. Now let us look also at David.

He had no time to repay Jonathan, who was taken away by death before David received power. The benefactor perished before the one who had received benefits entered the kingdom.

"For men will be lovers of themselves." He at once points out the cause of all evils. It is concern not for the affairs of one’s neighbor, but only for one’s own.

The self-loving man loves only himself. From this it follows that, in reality, he does not even love himself. In the members of the body, harm done to one member spreads also to the rest. So it is in buildings, and so also in the Church. Whoever despises his brother and cares only for himself harms himself.

"Lovers of money." Having indicated the root, he then lists in particular the shoots that spring from it. The first and greatest of these is love of money. As every good comes from love, so every evil comes from self-love, which is opposed to love.

If anyone insists on proof that the word "love" can also be used in an evil sense, although we have already shown its use in a good sense, let him read the words of Scripture: "men will be lovers of self, lovers of money."

Men will arise who do not give themselves up to death for men, as I do, but are lovers of self. They will not be poor, as I am, who desired neither gold, nor silver, nor costly garments, but lovers of money. They will not be humble and lowly, but proud and arrogant. They will not be believers, but blasphemers. They will be disobedient to their own relatives who admonish them. They will not do good works, nor repay benefactors with gratitude. They will not be distinguished by meekness, but will be ungrateful and unrestrained.

I think the Apostle foretold the present time, for our life is full of these evils. While clothing ourselves in the outward appearance of piety, by our deeds we prepare ourselves as an idol of wickedness. Instead of lovers of God we have become lovers of money, and we love slavery to the passions. In a word, one can find in us the rest of what the divine Apostle foretold. The Apostle commanded those entrusted to Timothy's care to avoid fellowship with such people in the following words. For he says: "And from such turn away." Continuing, he adds this also to the accusation.

Lamenting over us, the Apostle said prophetically: "There is none who does good... There is no fear of God before their eyes" (Rom 3:12-18). Therefore, again foreseeing the future, he writes to Timothy about our evil manner of life: "Know this, that in the last days perilous times will come" (2 Tim 3:1), and so forth. Therefore woe to us, for we have reached the uttermost extremity of evil. ... Have we, who now bear the great name of Christ, not become worse than the Jews?

"For men will be lovers of themselves."

They will love only themselves and not the brethren. They will care exclusively for themselves, without caring at all for their neighbors. In general, they will think only of themselves, without thinking at all of others.

This is the perversion of love and an insult to it, serving as the cause of every other evil.

"Lovers of money."

A self-loving man will necessarily be a lover of money.

"Boasters."

The lover of money will at the same time be arrogant and haughty.

"Proud."

The haughty man will also be contemptuous, holding himself above everyone and presenting himself as higher than he really is.

"Blasphemers."

"My teaching is not Mine," says the Savior, "but the Father's who sent Me" (Jn 7:16). Concerning thieves He says: "He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory" (Jn 7:18). Such are the Greeks. They are lovers of self and arrogant. But when Sacred Scripture calls them wise men, it does not condemn true wise men, but those who merely present themselves as wise.

We see, beloved, that the prophecy of Jesus is being fulfilled to such a degree that now there is no faithfulness, neither in the fear of God, nor in keeping the commandments, nor in love, nor in good works.

Blessed Paul also foretells this, saying that in the last days perilous times will come. "For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection."

Let us consider, dearly beloved, whether almost the whole world is not filled with these vices. And why? Because, we say, no one thinks of the future with fear. No one trembles in the depth of his soul when he thinks of the day of judgment.

No one trembles at the wrath of God, the torments prepared for unbelievers, and the eternal punishments that will overtake the faithless.

Cf. Lk 18:8.

Every righteous man who carefully watches over his life, and diligently considers how much he grows each day in good, or perhaps how much he turns away from good, sets himself before himself. He walks before himself, because he vigilantly observes whether he rises or falls.

But whoever neglects the guard over his life, and either does not wish or does not know how to examine what he does, says, and thinks, does not walk before himself. He does not know what he is in his rights or in his deeds.

Nor is he present to himself who does not take care each day to examine and know himself. But he truly sets himself before himself, and is present to himself, who looks at himself in his deeds as at another.

"But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come. For men will be lovers of themselves ... boasters ... reckless ... traitors ... having a form of piety" (2 Tim 3:1-5), and so forth.

Who are these people whom the holy Apostle describes in such dark colors? Although the Apostle’s prophetic words, in their full scope, refer to the last times of the Christian Church, cf. 2 Thess 2:3 and following, he speaks most immediately of those opponents of the truth.

These are the sowers of corrupting false teaching of whom he has just spoken before this in 2 Tim 2. He urges Timothy to instruct them with meekness, in case God may grant them release from the snare of the devil, who has taken them captive to his will.

This is especially clear from his following words.

Warning Timothy about the times to come, the Apostle calls them grievous. Men’s self-love, pride, arrogance, greed, evil speech, impiety, disobedience, lack of affection, and similar vices will then be revealed most fully.

This will be especially so in those times that are the last in the strict sense, before the second coming of the Lord. Then, making use of this corruption, the Antichrist will appear.

"The Apostle does not condemn the days or the times, but the men who will then exist. He immediately points out the cause. The root and source of all evils is excessive self-love.

To give still greater weight to his exhortations, the Apostle now points to the coming of grievous times in the future, before the second coming of Christ.

By describing what the sins of men will reach, though they now exist only in seed in Timothy’s time, he enables Timothy rightly to assess what is taking place before his eyes.

Without relation to the future, this might have seemed to Timothy unworthy of special attention. The Apostle does not mean that all people without exception will be vicious at that time.

He sketches only the general character of the conduct of the mass of mankind. The people of that time will be marked by every kind of vice.

Self-love is the root of all evil passions. It suppresses love of the brethren and love of God. It establishes in life orders completely opposite to them, from which no one has peace.

Yet what is wondrous is that it is its own punishment. The self-lover guards only his own good. But since he cannot live happily alone without others, by the very fact that he neglects others, the self-lover harms himself or acts wickedly against himself.

Saint Chrysostom explains this side of self-love thus: "The man enslaved by this passion cannot even attend to his own advantage. For when someone does not attend to what concerns the good of his neighbor, how will he attend to his own, while neglecting his neighbor's advantage?