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What Does A Man Need? (Greed)
Brian Mashburn
February 24, 2013
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Wanting Too Much
I've heard it said that greed is the natural result of those who don't have a real belief in life after death. Since for them there is nothing to look forward to, nothing to work towards in eternity, no pleasurable experience in the afterlife, well... we need to spend our time getting as much enjoyment as we can in the here and now.
And what pleasures does the here and now have to offer?
It's limited, but if that's all there is, then finding enjoyment in the limited is all there is.
Greed can be described at wanting too much, with the emphasis on the word "wanting". In other words, you can want too MUCH of something, but you can also spend too much of life WANTING.
Add greed to a few otherwise noble things and they turn into other deadly sins. Greed turns love into lust, leisure into sloth, hunger into gluttony, admiration into envy, the desire for justice into anger.
If it weren't for greed, we would suffer fewer of the other vices.
Dictionary.com lists only one word as an antonym for greed, and it also happens to be the primary, if not only, medicine and spiritual discipline to defeat it in yourself...
Generosity. The good news is that greed cannot coexist in someone when they are expressing generosity.
May we become ever more generous as we grow in Christ.