Overflow - Greed
How do we COUNTERACT greed and the desire for more?
Luke 12:13-21 [ESV]
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
The man in the crowd was focused on his GREED.
This is what GREED does to you. You will JUSTIFY to yourself things that you would never try to justify to someone else.
Ecclesiastes 5:18 [ESV]
18 Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment[a] in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot.
Possessions have power and GREED blinds us to the potential of our possessions.
Jesus ends the story with this thought: The man who stores up treasure for HIMSELF is not rich toward God.
Luke 12:30-31 [ESV]
30 For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 Instead, seek his[a] kingdom, and these things will be added to you.
The opposite of rapacious greed is GENEROSITY.
Ecclesiastes 5:10 [ESV]
10 He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity.
Luke 12:33-34 [ESV]
33 Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
The deceit of greed is it will make us Happy, Satisfied, and Secure from ANXIETY/FEAR.
Jesus was focused on building a KINGDOM, not wealth.
If GREED destroys GENEROSITY, then the only way to battle against GREED is to be
GENEROUS.
Proverbs 1:19 ESV
Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain;
it takes away the life of its possessors.
How do we COUNTERACT greed and the desire for more?
Luke 12:13-21 [ESV]
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
The man in the crowd was focused on his GREED.
This is what GREED does to you. You will JUSTIFY to yourself things that you would never try to justify to someone else.
Ecclesiastes 5:18 [ESV]
18 Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment[a] in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot.
Possessions have power and GREED blinds us to the potential of our possessions.
Jesus ends the story with this thought: The man who stores up treasure for HIMSELF is not rich toward God.
Luke 12:30-31 [ESV]
30 For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 Instead, seek his[a] kingdom, and these things will be added to you.
The opposite of rapacious greed is GENEROSITY.
Ecclesiastes 5:10 [ESV]
10 He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity.
Luke 12:33-34 [ESV]
33 Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
The deceit of greed is it will make us Happy, Satisfied, and Secure from ANXIETY/FEAR.
Jesus was focused on building a KINGDOM, not wealth.
If GREED destroys GENEROSITY, then the only way to battle against GREED is to be
GENEROUS.
Proverbs 1:19 ESV
Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain;
it takes away the life of its possessors.