No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. Matthew 6:24
The word mammon is well attested in Jewish literature, with the meaning, “money, profit, wealth.” As used by the Jews it had no negative connotations, which makes the contrast in the present passage even more striking. Jesus’ words are concerned with property in general, not with possessions obtained by evil means…
“Money” is here personified as a power which enslaves the world…
For some, the main problem is how to speak of serving money, since men can only serve a person or God. Possible solutions are to say, “You cannot love and be devoted to both God and money” or “You cannot give your service to God and to gaining money at the same time.”
Barclay M. Newman and Philip C. Stine in A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew (New York: UBS, 1988) 184.