This is one of the few passages of scripture which says that the pursuit of riches is okay. The D & C records:
’And if ye seek the riches which it is the will of the Father to give unto you, ye shall be the richest of all people, for ye shall have the riches of eternity; and it must needs be that the riches of the earth are mine to give; but beware of pride, lest ye become as the Nephites of old.’ (DC 38:39)
The pursuit of wealth must be done with qualifications, 1) one must first seek the kingdom of God, 2) one must have obtained a hope in Christ, and 3) the riches are to be sought for the benefit of others. If a rich individual meets these qualifications and is not lifted up in pride, he or she is justified before the Lord. Otherwise, wealth, or more accurately, the love of money, is a vice which destroys the soul. As the Savior said, a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven (Matt 19:24).
Gordon B. Hinckley
“Continuing with the words of Paul, ‘For the love of money is the root of all evil’ (1 Tim 6:10). It is the love of money and the love of those things which money can buy which destroys us. We all need money to supply our needs. But it is the love of it which hurts us, which warps our values, which leads us away from spiritual things and fosters selfishness and greed.” (Ensign, May 1997, p. 49 as taken from Latter-day Commentary on the Book of Mormon compiled by K. Douglas Bassett, p. 175)
George F. Richards
“The Lord expects us when he blesses us with the good things of this earth to remember those who are not so fortunate. We are to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick, comfort those who mourn, and minister unto those who are poor and needy, and thus become of that class to whom the Lord, when he shall come, shall say: ’Come, ye blessed of the Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’” (Conference Reports, Oct. 1939, p. 109)
John Taylor
“I will promise the Latter-day Saints that if they will go into these things allowing God to dictate in the interests of Israel and the building up of his Zion on the earth, and take themselves and their individual interests out of the question, feeling they are acting for him and his kingdom, they will become the wealthiest of all people, and God will bless them and pour out wealth and intelligence and all the blessings that earth can afford.” (Journal of Discourses, vol. 20, p. 164)