Money becomes a handy yardstick for comparing the relative values of goods. Money is abstract value. When we say, as the Gardnerian Ardains do, the workman is worthy of his hire, we acknowledge that useful work merits something in return. The same Bible that condemns the love of money also states that if a man doesn't work, then neither shall he eat. Again, work brings money, which can then be exchanged for food and other necessities of life.
Money is frozen work.
Money is a man's proof that he has done work, and in particular, work that someone else has found of value. A dollar is evidence that the person holding it has done work that someone else considered worth paying for. Money is also traded for material goods, but if you think about it, those goods also represent work. Food is grown, which takes work. It's harvested, which takes work.