Matthew 6:20 tells believers to invest their lives in what lasts forever rather than in possessions that can decay, be stolen, or be lost. Jesus is calling people to put their deepest priorities into God’s kingdom, where value is secure. The words come from the Sermon on the Mount, which Jesus preached to his disciples and to the crowds gathered on a hillside in Galilee.
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where thieves don’t break through and steal…
Matthew 6:20 (WEB)
What Matthew 6:20 Means
The verse begins with “lay up for yourselves,” a phrase that describes storing something up for later use, the way a family puts grain in a barn for winter. Jesus is not telling people to stop working or saving. He is telling them where to put what they are already saving and working toward. The word “yourselves” makes it personal: this is a decision each person makes about their own life.
“Treasures in heaven” does not describe a bank account in the sky. It refers to whatever a person values most and what God counts as lasting: faithfulness, love, generosity, obedience, and a relationship with God himself. The contrast with earthly goods is the point. Moths eat cloth, rust eats metal, and thieves take what is unguarded. Heavenly treasure is safe from all of these.
The verse does not promise that a faithful person will never suffer loss in this life. Believers can still lose property, health, or friends. What Jesus promises is that the things stored with God cannot be taken away by the ordinary forces that destroy earthly wealth. The promise concerns the security of what is stored, not the absence of hardship.
The Context of Matthew 6:20
Matthew’s Gospel was written for a largely Jewish audience and presents Jesus as the teacher who gives the true meaning of God’s law. The Sermon on the Mount, which runs through chapters 5 to 7, sets out the character of life in God’s kingdom. Chapter 6 deals with three practices that could be done for show: giving to the needy, praying, and fasting. Jesus warns against doing them to be seen by others.
Verses 19 to 21 form a unit. Jesus first says not to store up earthly treasure, then gives the positive alternative in verse 20, and then adds in verse 21 that “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Read this way, verse 20 is not a standalone financial tip. It is the second half of a teaching about where a person’s heart rests, which is why the verses that follow, about the eye being the lamp of the body, turn to the question of inner clarity.
Key Phrases in Matthew 6:20
Mark 10:21
Jesus looking at him loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack. Go, sell whatever you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me, taking up the cross.”
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In this account, Jesus tells a wealthy man to sell what he has, give to the poor, and follow him, and promises treasure in heaven as the result. It shows the same teaching in a personal encounter, where the call to store up heavenly treasure takes the form of a costly act of trust.
1 Timothy 6:18-19
18 That they do good, that they be rich in good works, that they be ready to distribute, willing to share; 19 laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold of eternal life.
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Paul instructs wealthy believers to do good, be rich in good works, and be generous, storing up a good foundation for the future. The passage echoes Matthew 6:20 and adds that such investment leads to a life that is truly life, grounded in God rather than in uncertain riches.
A Short Prayer From Matthew 6:20
Lord, you know how easily my heart settles on things that fade. Help me to invest my time, my money, and my love in what you value and what will last beyond this life. Show me where I have been storing up treasure that moths and thieves could take, and turn my desires toward your kingdom. Give me trust to let go of what I cannot keep, and joy in what you are building in me. Amen.
