Greed and Covetousness

Greed prevents us from resting in God's faithfulness

“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you'” (Hebrews 13:5).

 

Biblical commentator John Ritenbaugh describes greed as a “ruthless self–seeking and an arrogant assumption that others and things exist for one's own benefit.”

Covetousness “is an insatiable desire for worldly gain.” Covetousness is an insatiable desire to find fulfillment, meaning and purpose in things, instead of in God. The spirit of covetousness leads to and is the mother of many other sins. Coveting another man's wife leads to adultery (2 Sam. 11:4,5).

"Desire leads to coveting, and coveting leads to stealing. 

1. Overly self-centered behavior is the first giveaway sign of greedy people. Greedy people are always saying “me, me, me” with very little regard for the needs and feelings of others.

2. Envy and greed are like twins. While greed is a strong desire for more and more possessions (such as wealth and power), envy goes one step further and includes a strong desire by greedy people for the possessions of others.

3. Lack of empathy is another sign of greedy people. Caring – being concerned about the feelings of others – is not part of their character. As such, they have little qualms about causing pain to others. Their inability to empathize, their lack of genuine interest in the ideas and feelings of others, and their unwillingness to take personal responsibility for their behavior and actions make them very difficult people to be with.

4. Greedy people are never satisfied.  They look at the world as a zero-sum-game. Instead of thinking that everyone would benefit as the pie gets larger, they view the pie as a constant and want to have the biggest part. They truly believe that they deserve more, even if it comes at someone else’s expense.

5. Greedy people are experts in manipulation. They are highly talented in taking credit for work done by others. They can be charming, but their principal agenda is to have people around them that feed their ego.

6. Greedy people are into the short run; they are focused on satisfying their immediate needs and leave it to others to cope with the consequences. For example: leaders of companies who are more interested in getting their bonuses, instead of thinking up better working conditions for the ordinary employees, or to fairly sharing with their employees whatever earnings the company has made.

7. In the pursuit of their material needs, they know no limits. Greedy people are not good at maintaining boundaries. They will compromise moral values and ethics to achieve their goals. They look for loopholes or clever ways to outsmart the rules and regulations that have been put into place to moderate this kind of behavior.