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| My Quiet Place |
Greed
Greed is second in seriousness next to pride itself--Wow! Like the Bible says, “The love of money is the root of all evil”. Greed; however, goes beyond wanting money. It focuses not only on getting what we do not have, but also on keeping what we do. This desire drives the greedy to commit more sins like lying, violence, and fraud. God’s gifts only become a problem when we want them more than God Himself. God does not bless us with good things so we can rely on them, but so we can rely on God more. I have fallen into the lie that greed is the love of material things when, really, greed is the love of possessing. Greed is just as much about getting stuff than it is trying to keep what you already have.
Langdon Gilkey tells a story that reminds me a lot of how we treat God’s gifts. In The Shantung Compound which was based on his journal, Red Cross parcels that were supposed to be a blessing to communities only revealed “aspects of human communal life” that were not so pretty. When only certain groups were receiving the gift, people fought over the wealth dividing the community. The character in the story realized that “wealth is by no means an unmitigated blessing to its community”. His conclusion was not less wealth for people, but more love inside the people’s hearts so that they are willing to share. God may choose to take away a gift in my life and not touch that gift in my friend’s lives. Whatever the case, my response should be peace. Sometimes the removal of something can be a gift in itself. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be His name.
❊The Challenge❊
Examine your own heart. Now that you know what greed is, there may be traces of greed in your heart that you would not expect.
The Girl Next Door
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