Matthew 6:20 tells you to store up treasure in heaven rather than on earth, because earthly wealth can be destroyed or stolen while heavenly treasure is safe from both. Jesus is contrasting two places where a person can invest their life, and he invites his listeners to choose the one that lasts. The words come from the Sermon on the Mount, which Matthew records as Jesus speaking 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 a command: “lay up for yourselves.” Jesus is not telling people to stop caring about money or possessions. He is telling them to decide where their deepest investment goes. The word “treasures” points to anything a person values and gathers around them, whether goods, reputation, security, or comfort. The verse then sets two destinations side by side, earth and heaven, and names the threats that operate on earth: moths that eat cloth, rust that corrodes metal, and thieves who break in to steal.
What the verse does not promise is a life free of loss or hardship. Believers in every century have lost homes, savings, and health. The promise is that the treasure stored with God cannot be taken by the forces that take earthly goods. It is a statement about where lasting value resides, not a guarantee that God will shield your bank account.
The Context of Matthew 6:20
Matthew, traditionally identified as the tax collector called in Matthew 9, wrote this Gospel mainly for a community of Jewish believers. The Sermon on the Mount is his longest collection of Jesus’ teaching, and chapter 6 deals with the practices of giving, prayer, and fasting done in view of the Father rather than for human applause. Just before verse 20, Jesus warns against showing off in religious acts, and the surrounding verses shift from that concern into a discussion of the eye as the lamp of the body.
Read in this setting, the treasure verse is about motive. The heart follows what it values, so the question of where to store treasure is really a question about where a person’s loyalty and trust rest. Jesus links the verse to the statement in verse 21 that where your treasure is, there your heart will be also, which shows that the call to heavenly treasure is a call to reorient the whole inner life.
Key Phrases in Matthew 6:20
Luke 12:33
Sell that which you have, and give gifts to the needy. Make for yourselves purses which don’t grow old, a treasure in the heavens that doesn’t fail, where no thief approaches, neither moth destroys.
(WEB)
Luke records a parallel teaching in which Jesus tells his followers to sell possessions and give to the poor, making purses for themselves that do not wear out. The passage reinforces the same contrast between earthly and heavenly treasure and adds a concrete action of generosity that stores up lasting value.
1 Timothy 6:17-19
17 Charge those who are rich in this present world that they not be haughty, nor have their hope set on the uncertainty of riches, but on the living God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy; 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.
(WEB)
Paul instructs wealthy believers not to trust in uncertain riches but to do good, be rich in good works, and be generous. He describes this as laying up a good foundation for the future, which echoes Jesus’ call to store treasure in heaven and shows how the principle applies to ordinary Christians with resources.
A Short Prayer From Matthew 6:20
Father, you see what I have gathered and what I have been guarding out of fear. Loosen my grip on the things that moth and rust will eat and that thieves can take. Teach me to give, to serve, and to love people in ways that store up something that lasts with you. Shape my heart to follow the treasure I am investing in, and give me trust in your faithfulness as I learn to live this way. Amen.
