We second-guess that God, the one who sustains the universe, can sufficiently cater to our needs. We figure that He has no qualms feeding the ravens and tending to the lilies. But not us, the pinnacle of His creation. Jesus’ response is “Oh, you of little faith”. (Luke 12:28). This appalling unbelief drives us to “secure” our future by piling up more stuff than necessary. In the process, our priorities get jumbled up. Divine order goes out the window, and we join the world in chasing warped priorities.

“The point is, ladies and gentlemen, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.” — Gordon Gekko (Wall Street, 1987)

Webster defines greed as “a selfish and excessive desire for more of something than is needed.” The world suggests that greed is the engine of progress. It tells us, as Dostoyevsky wrote in The Brothers Karamazov: “You have needs—satisfy them… expand your needs and demand more.” But Dostoyevsky warned that the end result of this philosophy for the rich is “isolation and suicide,” and for the poor, “envy and murder.”

Why Do We Build Bigger Barns When Our Souls Are Starving?

I hope this devotional finds you well—perhaps over a morning coffee or a quiet moment in your day. Today’s topic hits closer to home for me than I’d like to admit: Greed. In the Bible, the warnings of greed speak of something to guard against. Of course, we all like to think we are not susceptible to greedy living. Today we will dive into the topic and a parable on it.

Is Your Barn Too Big?

In Luke 12, Jesus is surrounded by a crowd numbering in the thousands—so many people that they were literally trampling one another. He was teaching on hypocrisy, the Holy Spirit, and the courage to stand for God. Suddenly, a voice cuts through the crowd. It isn’t a question about salvation or the Kingdom of Heaven. Instead, someone shouts: “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

Amidst a sea of people seeking life-changing wisdom, this individual stands out for his singular focus on his own wallet. Instead of asking a question that could benefit the collective soul of the crowd, he reveals a heart consumed by his own interests. He didn’t want a Savior; he wanted a small-claims judge.

Luke 12:13–21 (The Parable of the Rich Fool)

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” 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.”

And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

A Personal Confession: The Payday “Shift”

I’ll be honest with you—I struggle with this. My wife has pointed out that my spirit changes at times on payday. She’s right and I don’t really like that part of me. When the bank account has a surplus, I feel a physical sense of relief and peace; when it’s low, I feel an underlying, low-grade anxiety.

I’ve realized that I am often tempted to worship the provision rather than the Provider. I find myself needing to align my daily heart posture with the wisdom of Proverbs 30:

“Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is my portion, that I not be full and deny You and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or that I not be in want and steal, and profane the name of my God.” (Proverbs 30:7–9)

Guarding the Heart: The Believer’s Defense

How do we, as followers of Christ, practically guard against this “evolutionary spirit” of greed? The Bible doesn’t just tell us to stop wanting things; it tells us to change our focus.

The author of Hebrews gives us a defensive strategy:

“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’” (Hebrews 13:5)

Guarding against greed begins with contentment, and contentment is built on the promise of God’s presence. We often chase “more” because we are afraid of “not enough.”

The Heart of the Matter

Jesus knew that greed isn’t just a financial habit; it’s a spiritual heart condition.

Greed is often a “mask” we wear to cover our insecurities (1st Thessalonians 2:5). The antidote isn’t a larger bank account; it is finding light and joy in God rather than in “stuff.” A quote I once heard in Bible Study Fellowship was, “If it’s not breathing, it’s not that important”.

Guest Contributor Perspectives:

Ted Atchley from South Carolina: One of my earliest convictions about money came from an unexpected source: Roman soldiers asking John the Baptist for guidance. In Luke 3:14, John’s response to them was direct: “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”

Be content with your wages. Those words leaped off the page during my early working years, and I made a decision that shaped the next decades of my life. No matter what raise I received at performance review time, I would be content with it. I never complained. I never lobbied for more. I simply thanked my supervisor and continued doing my job to the best of my ability.

God honored that commitment in ways I couldn’t have imagined. Eventually, my income grew to where we could bring my wife home to homeschool our children. Today, through faithful mentoring and discipleship, we’re debt-free except for our mortgage, with six months of emergency savings set aside.

Here’s what strikes me about contentment: we often quote Philippians 4:13—”I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”—as a rallying cry for achievement. But Paul wrote those words in the context of learning contentment in every circumstance, whether in plenty or in want. The supernatural strength he’s describing isn’t for conquering mountains; it’s for finding peace regardless of our external conditions.

Greed whispers that we need more to be secure, more to be happy, more to be fulfilled. Contentment rooted in trust that God provides what we need has been my antidote. It’s transformed not just my finances, but my heart.

Timothy Horne from Nova Scotia/Canada: Stewardship will always please God when it starts with the conviction that everything that we have, including our bodies, belongs to Him and he is a generous giver. Stewardship should never be an excuse for lack of compassion and meanness when we understand Paul’s teaching in Philippians 4:19– “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” (NIV)

Believing this will allow the Spirit to lead us into moments of extreme generosity when God will be glorified and His work advanced. A story: my wife and I lived as missionaries in Guayaquil, Ecuador for more than a decade, and one of our ministries was a Christian school for children living in one of the most notorious slums of the city. We wanted to provide an education at no cost to the families who sent their children to us.

Within the first year, we understood many of our students were arriving at school without having had breakfast because their families had no money for food. One couple heard about this and started sending financial gifts each month and provided breakfast to all our students for over 10 years. We are talking about around 200 kids by that time. Their faith in a God who provides allowed them to be free to give beyond what could have been expected.

We often think of stewardship as meaning separating 10% or even more of our income for God and His work. It isn’t.

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