philosophical Thoughts, Life Advice, and Unpopular Opinions

Deadly sin #3-Greed

As with the other posts, I'll start this one by defining greed. Most define greed as an excessive desire for possessions or money, although you can also be greedy with your time, energy, or be greedy for power. It's when someone is too stingy with their time and money, or when businesses try to rip you off, or when someone tries to low-ball you in a business deal, or when people are dishonest and cruel for the sake of money, like the Mafia and drug/human traffickers (those are extreme examples of greed, but you can see why it's considered a deadly sin. Just like people have been known to kill out of envy, people have been known to murder out of greed). 

I'm watching a TV show called Prison Break. It's about a guy who breaks his own brother out of jail because he was sentenced to die for a crime he didn't commit. In the show, a group called the Company is behind this conspiracy to destroy the nation to profit on building it up. They are so greedy for money and power, they kill anyone who is seen as even a small threat. They end up leaving a huge blood bath in their wake. Innocent men, women, and children are murdered for the sake of greed. In fact, in most stories, the villains usually have two things in common; arrogance and greed. Just like gluttony, we become a slave to the thing we are greedy for, and innocent people end up paying for it. So shouldn't we do everything we can to avoid this in every extent? 

Greed and gluttony are a lot alike. Both are an excessive, selfish desire for something, and a form of idolatry. 

What else do I want to say about greed? Well, I suppose that everything we have is a gift from God. In fact, 1 Corinthians 4:7 says " For what gives you the right to make such a judgment? What do you have that God hasn't given you? And if everything you have is from God, why boast as though it were not a gift?" So we should be all the more generous with others with whatever God gives us. We are not given gifts to keep them to ourselves. God gives us what we have to use for his glory in one way or another. Give freely to others, and you will be blessed in return. Whatever you give, God will give you back even more. Solomon says in Proverbs 11:25 that "The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed." And just like with gluttony, your possessions won't make you happy or bring you true fulfillment. You won't even be able to take your possessions with you to the grave or the afterlife anyways, so why hold on so tightly to them? 

The best weapon against greed is generosity. God promises that the more you give, the more you'll get back in some way. So be generous! Give freely! Take care of yourself, but don't so stingy with your money, time, and energy. It's not really yours to keep anyway; just to manage.