Greed: This is a Heart Problem

In our heart of hearts, all of us have a hidden desire to GET and HAVE whatever we desire. We deny this, but this temptation is always there IN THE HEART. Various Biblical speakers and writers address this important attitude. Here are only a few examples. 1. The tenth of the ten commandments is: "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor." Exodus 20:17; Deuteronomy 5:21. Another person's possessions is always more appealing than what we already have. The grass is greener on the other side of the fence. 2. Mark 7:22; Luke 12:15; Romans 1:29; Ephesians 5:3; Colossians 3:5; 1 Thessalonians 2:5; 2 Peter 2:3 denounce the commitment to goods and possessions, and call this idolatry. 3. Jesus denounced the rich young ruler because he was not willing to sell all he had and give the proceeds to the poor. Luke 18:20-22. 4. Paul tells Timothy: "Those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plung people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains." 1 Timothy 6:9-10. 5. Covetousness or greed is the motivation of the heart to want to keep up with the Joneses when he knows that doing so extends him beyond his means and causes him to buy what he really does not need. This motivation drove King Ahab of North Israel to devise a scheme to murder his neighbor Naboth to get his vineyard. 1 Kings 21:1-19. Share YOUR trials and motivations and shortcomings and fears with others. Let me hear from YOU. John Willis