Jesus. Jesus and you!

The sin of Greed

The sin of greed can be defined as being the obssesive desire for material wealth and possessions. Greed is fueled by desire and the more that you have, the more that you want. Enough is never enough. Greed is often accompanied by a miserly spirit, where those who have and are controlled by greed, fear having to give out even the smallest amount.

Greed often relates to money, and hence it can be seen that many of the rich who are filled with greed, form an obsession with their money. They fear having to spend even the slightest amount and will go to great lengths to save even a few cents, not worrying about how many people they may rob and cheat in order to save those few cents.

Greed is not limited to money, but mostly exists in the area of finances. Greed can also include a greed for material possesions or even such things as food and wine, and especially free food and wine. A greedy person will become a total glutton where something is available for free.

When one is greedy, money becomes an idol and a God. They serve the God of money. My god is a jealous God and will allow no other "God's" before Him. Money is not evil and without it we can not exist today, but it is the love of money that is the root of all evil. Jesus said that it is harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God than it is for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle (Matthew 19:23). This was not hitting out at the rich, for it is possible to be rich and to be godly. This was a direct hit at those who are controlled by their finances and at those who are greedy.

A rich young man asked Jesus what he needed to do in order to eternal life. Jesus answered that he had to go and sell his possesions and give to the poor.  Matthew 19:22 "But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions." This man was filled with the greed for his possessions and could not bear the thought of losing them. He turned away from Jesus, knowing that in order for him to be saved, he would have to give up the "God" of his possesions.

Greed is cleverly marketed to us bu the devil through the media. We are taught that if we do not have the best car, the best house, the best cellphone etc, then we are not worthy. Soon we get maybe the best cellphone and we start to become the envy of others. Soon we are greedy to build up these material things in life, in order that we may become the envy of others. Money teaches us that we can buy anything that we desire, possessions and even the souls of some.  Money gives you power. However we can never buy the most important thing, and that is the love of Jesus Christ, or eternal life in heaven with the Father.

James 5:1" Come now you rich, weep and howl for your miseries are coming upon you." Verse 3 "Your gold and your silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire." Verse 4 "Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out." I can just imagine those that are rich, who have built empires and who have lived off the power of their money, in this final day, trying to buy their eternal life, trying to use their earthly power to influence Jesus, and Jesus just turning his face away from them.

I do not condemn the rich, but condemn those who are powered by greed. Job was a rich man, highly blessed by God, but God always came first in his life. The sin of greed will lead to eternal death and hence greed is one of the seven deadly sins.

Be Sociable, Share!

•