Greed
Previously on 7
Sins
We have looked at 6 sins:
Pride
= wanting to be like God, or to be God.
Envy
= wanting the other person not to
have what I don’t have.
Gluttony
= wanting to feed the soul with the
body’s food.
Previously on 7
Sins
We have looked at 6 sins:
Anger
= rage and resentment.
Lust
= thinking other people are objects for
our sexual satisfaction
Sloth
= keeping yourself on the bench of the
game, rather than partnering with God.
Greed
Scripture Reading
Luke 12:13-21
Greed
Story of Banker and his BMW
Rick Ezell, The 7 Sins of Highly Defective People, p.87-88
Greed
Greed=
- “an inordinate desire for more, an
excessive, unsatisfied hunger to
possess.” Rick Ezell, The 7 Sins of Highly Defective People, p.87-88
- Greek [pleonexia]: “the thirst for
having more.”
Greed
Greed is like drinking salt water to
quench a thirst.
It makes you more thirsty.
You drink more and more without
quenching your thirst.
Then you die.
Greed
Examples of Greed:
Edmund in C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the
Witch and the Wardrobe
Gollum in Lord of the Rings
Gehazi in II Kings 5:20-27
Greed
Examples of Greed:
Cutting up the pie at home
When a family divides up the
parent’s belongings after they
have died.
Greed
The fallacy of Greed:
“You are what you own.”
“You will be happy having more
stuff.”
Greed
Jesus said:
"Watch out! Be on your guard against all
kinds of greed; a man's life does not
consist in the abundance of his
possessions." Luke 12:15
Greed
The parable of the greedy fool
Not a bad guy
Didn’t cheat anyone
Focus on himself [8 “I”s; 4 “my”s]
Greed
17He thought to himself, 'What shall I
do? I have no place to store my crops.'
 18"Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I
will tear down my barns and build
bigger ones, and there I will store all
my grain and my goods. 19And I'll say
to myself, "You have plenty of good
things laid up for many years. Take life
easy; eat, drink and be merry."
Greed
-
-
God calls him a fool because:
He does not realize his time is
limited
He thinks that God blessings are
for his own enjoyment only
No where does the man thank God
No where does he seek to help
others
Overcoming Greed
The remedy for greed is not to sit back
and let things just happen.
Then we would be back to the sin of
sloth.
Remember Proverbs 6:6-11
Overcoming Greed
6 Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!
7 It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
8 yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.
9 How long will you lie there, you sluggard?
When will you get up from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest11 and poverty will come on you like a bandit
and scarcity like an armed man.
Overcoming Greed
We find the answer to overcoming greed
in Jesus’ words:
Luke 12:21
"This is how it will be with anyone who
stores up things for himself but is not
rich toward God."
Overcoming Greed
Paul helps us understand
how we can be rich toward God
in I Timothy 6:17-19:
Overcoming Greed
17Command those who are rich in this present
world not to be arrogant nor to put their
hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but
to put their hope in God, who richly
provides us with everything for our
enjoyment. 18Command them to do good,
to be rich in good deeds, and to be
generous and willing to share. 19In this
way they will lay up treasure for
themselves as a firm foundation for the
coming age, so that they may take hold of
the life that is truly life.”
I Timothy 6:17-19
Overcoming Greed
“Command those who are rich in this present
world not to be arrogant nor to put their
hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to
put their hope in God, who richly provides us
with everything for our enjoyment.” Lk 12:17



Live a life of dependence on God.
Put your hope in God not money/things
Thank God for the blessings you enjoy
Overcoming Greed
“Command them to do good, to be rich in
good deeds, and to be generous and willing to
share. 19In this way they will lay up treasure
for themselves as a firm foundation for the
coming age, so that they may take hold of the
life that is truly life.” Luke 12:18-19
4.
Be generous, willing to share
- following Christ’s example
Overcoming Greed
II Corinthians 8:9
“For you know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that though he was rich,
yet for your sakes he became poor, so
that you through his poverty might
become rich.”
Overcoming Greed
“Command them to do good, to be rich in
good deeds, and to be generous and willing to
share. 19In this way they will lay up treasure
for themselves as a firm foundation for the
coming age, so that they may take hold of the
life that is truly life.” Luke 12:18-19
4. Be generous, willing to share
5. Lay up treasures in heaven
6. Live Life that is truly life.
Overcoming Greed
6But godliness with contentment is great
gain. 7For we brought nothing into the
world, and we can take nothing out of it.
8But if we have food and clothing, we will
be content with that. 9People who want to
get rich fall into temptation and a trap and
into many foolish and harmful desires that
plunge men into ruin and destruction.
10For the love of money is a root of all
kinds of evil. Some people, eager for
money, have wandered from the faith and
pierced themselves with many griefs.
Overcoming Greed
Have a spirit of contentment and develop
a life of generosity.
[more on this on GEMS Sunday, April 22]
For this we need God.
Overcoming Greed
Story of European wrestling champion
Yussif the Turk
Rick Ezell, The 7 Sins of Highly Defective People, p.94