Control of the Heart

Money and its use are matters of the soul, because they cannot be separated from the question of where our ultimate commitment lies. What do we love above all else? Where do we place our trust? What or whom do we therefore worship? According to Jesus, money entices to us to idolatry for the simple reason that, under the guise of giving us what we want, it seeks control.
The case of the rich young synagogue official (Luke 18:18-30) is instructive. Jesus did not tell everyone he met, even every rich person, to sell all their possessions and give to the poor. Shortly after his encounter with the rich young man, Jesus visited Zacchaeus the tax collector (Luke 19:1-10). when Zacchaues told Jesus that he was going to make fourfold restitution to those he had defrauded and give half of his possessions to the poor, Jesus did not say, "What about the other half?" Rather, he exclaimed, "Today salvation has come to this house!" But the rich young man is singled out and asked to sell everything. Why? Not because Jesus wanted the man's money, but because he wanted his heart. "Jesus looked at him and loved him," notes the gospel of Mark (Mark 10:21). Jesus perceived that the man was in love with his wealth, that his riches controlled his heart. So Jesus asked him to give up the power that held him captive.
Jesus also needed to breaks the man's shell of confidence in having faithful kept all the commandments from his youth, because in his obedience to the law  he had missed the essence of the law: to love God with all your whole heart, soul, and mind; and to love your neighbor as your self. With one simple invitation, Jesus stripped away the man's righteousness facade and let him see himself as a wayward soul,incapable of doing what God required. Possessions controlled him. Consequently, he went away sorrowful, as in full of sorrow, but empty of heart.
The exchange between this young man and Jesus prompted Jesus to tell his disciples, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for the rich man to enter the kingdom of God" (Luke 18:25). The disciples realized that the statement placed them and every one else in jeopardy; so in astonishment they aske, "Who then can be saved?" (v. 26). ("If it's that difficult, how can any of us make it?") Jesus replied, What is humanly impossible is possible with God."
And there lies our hope.