GREED

The silent sin that kills.  In a dog-eat-dog world, wherein we all strive to succeed, greed an act that is pretty much undetected because it cloaks itself  as a normal human factor to survive.  We work hard to gain worldly possessions, have the best of the best in life, or even finance some of our lavish habits.  It all boils down to what can we do to gain more and more. 

We all have the fundamental sin of greed.  It is undetected because it feels like everyone is doing it so we do not feel the need to ask God to forgive us for it.  That’s where the danger lies.  In every listing of the seven deadly sins, greed is present and the evidence of greed in our everyday lives is very real.

What most people don’t understand is that you can be a greedy rich person, or you can be a greedy poor person.  Greed is the monster that saps your strength, your energy and your emotions.  Left unchecked, it will dominate your life.  In the late 1970’s a gallup survey revealed that 50% of college freshmen were just as interested in having a meaningful life as they were in achieving financial security.  In a similar survey conducted in 1987, 81% of college freshmen were more interested in financial security than they were in building a meaningful life.  This means the numbers don’t lie.  As years progress, having a meaningful life is overshadowed by financial gain.  The sin of greed has made inroads through the years.

For a culture that is bent on getting and choked with greed there is a way out.  It is called giving.  Greed is killed by giving.  If you own something you cannot give away, then you don’t own it, instead, it owns you.  If you are not satisfied with what you have and instead driven by a desire to have more “just a little bit more,” then you can slay that greed dragon by the virtue of giving.  Give until it hurts!  Then keep giving until it begins to feel better.  You’ll be surprised at the liberating feeling giving brings.

In Luke 12:15 (NLT) he said, “Beware!  Guard against every kind of greed.  Life is not measured by how much you own.” 

Do you have a lot of giving to do?  Until my next rant…. LOVE ONE ANOTHER!!!