I’M SAVED, NOW WHAT? (part-32)

I’M SAVED, NOW WHAT?

GREED
There is a fine line between selfishness and greed. Selfishness wants
everything to revolve around the person who is selfish. Greed wants
everything everyone else owns – either their possessions or duplicates
of their possessions. The bible has many warnings about greed.
    The greedy bring ruin to their households,
    but the one who hates bribes will live.
    (Proverbs 15:27)

    The greedy stir up conflict,
    but those who trust in the Lord will prosper.
    (Proverbs 28:25)

    By justice a king gives a country stability,
    but those who are greedy for bribes tear it down.
    (Proverbs 29:4)

    I was enraged by their sinful greed; I punished them,
    and hid my face in anger, yet they kept on in their
    willful ways. (Isaiah 57:17)

    My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before
    you to hear your words, but they do not put them into practice.
    Their mouths speak of love, but their hearts are greedy for
    unjust gain. (Ezekiel 33:31)

    Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!
    You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are
    full of greed and self-indulgence. (Matthew 23:25)

    Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against
    all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of
    possessions. (Luke 12:15)

    But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with
    anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually
    immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or
    swindler. Do not even eat with such people.
    (1 Corinthians 5:11)

    Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over
    to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity,
    and they are full of greed. (Ephesians 4:19)

    But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual
    immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed,
    because these are improper for God’s holy people.
    (Ephesians 5:3)

    For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or
    greedy person (such a person is an idolater) has any
    inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
    (Ephesians 5:5)

    Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly
    nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and
    greed, which is idolatry. (Colossians 3:5)

    In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated
    stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them,
    and their destruction has not been sleeping. (2 Peter 2:3)

We know that greed is a sin, but what are some problems that are
byproducts of greed? Greed can create issues such as arguments,
uncontrolled anger, murder, theft, adultery, slander, jealousy,
revenge, and lost relationships.

With this much emphasis on greed, what could possibly be the
root cause? There could be any number of reasons, but according
to God’s Word it appears to originate from covetousness.
    You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet
    but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel
    and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.
    (James 4:2)

Greed and covetousness are good indicators that a person lacks
gratefulness for all the Lord has provided. Covetousness or
greed could be a result of a low self-esteem (because a person
is dissatisfied with how God made him or her).

This can cause them to think and believe, that owning more
things will make them seem more important and as a result,
they will be accepted by others. I’m sure we all know someone
who is proud of the material things they own and how much
they enjoy showing them off to others. That doesn’t necessarily
mean the person is greedy or has a low self-esteem, but it could
be an indicator.

When James says, “You desire but do not have so you kill”,
he could be referring to actual murder, or perhaps an attitude.
We can have an attitude that can ‘murder’ another person’s
reputation, and/or their friendships with others.
    You have heard that it was said to the people long ago,
    ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will
    be subject to judgment. ‘But I tell you that anyone who
    is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment.
    Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is
    answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’
    will be in danger of the fire of hell. (Matthew 5:21-22)

    Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer,
    and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing
    in him. (1 John 3:15)

While growing up, most of us have heard the phrase, “sticks and
stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me”. As
we grow older we discover that slanderous words and gossip
can in fact hurt us by damaging our reputation, and causing us
to lose friendships with others.

However the scriptures indicate that whenever we use words to hurt
someone else, it hurts us even more. We are told that whenever we
call someone a ‘fool’, we are in danger of the ‘fire of hell’. When is
the last time you were angry and called someone an ‘airhead’ or an
‘idiot’? These two words are equivalents of the word ‘fool’.

It is important for believers to give serious consideration to what
words they use and how they use them. How is a believer in
danger of the ‘fire of hell’? It could mean that we lose some
of our protectiveness from Satan’s attacks.

As a result, the evil one can have a greater success in causing problems
for us. We know that profanity hurts the witness of believers, but gossip
and angry name calling can be just as damaging. God warned Cain about
the dangers of unchecked anger.
    Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is
    your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not
    be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is
    crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you
    must rule over it.” Now Cain said to his brother Abel,
    “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field,
    Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
    (Genesis 4:6-8)

Cain was jealous because his brother, Abel, had brought a proper
sacrifice to God and was looked upon with favor as a result. Cain
did not bring the proper sacrifice and therefore he was not looked
upon with favor. Does that mean God showed partiality? No, it
doesn’t, because they both had the same opportunity to bring a
proper sacrifice and be looked upon with favor.

As Cain allowed his jealousy to turn into anger, God tried to explain
to him that rather than being jealous and angry, just “do what is right”.
Cain didn’t listen to God and as we just read, his unchecked anger
led to murder.

James says our selfishness drives us to do all kinds of things to get
what we want. He then implies our problem is in our relationship
with God. He tells us that we may be lacking in some areas because
we don’t pray as we should. Some problems that revolve around our
prayer life:
    – We may not have an active prayer life.
    – Failing to pray causes our life to get out of focus.
    – An inactive prayer life
       causes us to be more susceptible to temptations.
    – If our prayer life is not sincere, then we will
       seek our own selfish desires instead of God’s Will.
    – Failing to pray is more than an oversight,
       it is a sin against God (at least according to scripture).
          As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against
          the LORD by failing to pray for you. And I will teach
          you the way that is good and right. (1 Samuel 12:23)

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