March 23, 2025

THE DANGERS OF GREED (PART 2)

Apst. Emmanuel Osezele

KEY TEXT: JAMES 4:1-2 KJV: “From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.”

Not only does greed harm individuals, but it also destroys relationships. It fosters envy, strife, and selfish ambition, turning friends and family against one another. True love and unity cannot thrive in a heart consumed by greed. Greediness has destroyed so many relationships, even the relationship between so many believers and the Holy Spirit has gone broken as a result of selfish ambition. "He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house; but he that hateth gifts shall live” (PROVERBS 15:27).

The desire for wealth often causes people to forsake God, placing their trust in material possessions rather than in Him. They become enslaved to money, making it their master instead of serving the Lord with a pure heart. Beloved, can you still say that your heart is right with God? Are you not serving multiple masters as a result of greed? Trace your way back to God now before it is too late. "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (MATTHEW 6:24).

The Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, taught us the value of generosity and warned against accumulating riches for selfish purposes. True treasures are not found in earthly wealth, but in the riches of God's kingdom. Remember what Paul the apostle taught the brethren in Colosse in Colossians 3:1-3 about seeking the things that have eternal value and not temporary pleasure. “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal” (MATTHEW 6:19-20).

PRAYER:

Father, please deliver me from every spirit of selfishness and the pursuit of material possession for selfish reasons, and grant me the grace to seek first your kingdom and its righteousness, so that Heaven will supply my needs by empowering me with wisdom to make godly wealth, in Jesus Christ’s mighty name. Amen.

REFLECTION:

MATTHEW 6:33 KJV: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”