Be aware of when greed controls your heart. When you realise that many of your conversations turn to the subject of money or house prices, or that much of what you dream of revolves around new things, confess to God that you have a problem. Greed is far worse for us than we often think. Don’t walk away from it; run.
We live in a time where greed is perfectly acceptable to most people. We use words like “ambitious” and “upwardly mobile” and “aspirational” which sound so much more positive. Using all of our efforts towards a better life and nicer things is just the norm. We need to realise that this desire for more is a great danger for us. The Bible is full of warnings that greed can be a big problem for our faith.
For example, look at these famous verses from 1 Timothy:
10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. 11 But as for you, O man of God, flee these things.
(1 Tim. 6:10-11a ESV)
The danger being warned against here is the love of money, not whether you are rich or poor. Whatever your current financial status, it is the desire for more than can lead to people wandering from the faith. It is a craving, a relentless wanting, that leads only to disaster in terms of our faith. It is so easy to substitute our love and service of God with a love and service for money.
Paul’s advice to Timothy is simple: flee these things. Notice how strong that word is. Paul doesn’t calmly say that greed can be a bit of a problem, so be careful. No, Paul says FLEE!
