An Insatiable Hunger

A greedy man stirs up dissension, but he who trusts in the LORD will prosper. Proverbs 28:25 (New International Version)

Does God ever pinpoint an area in your life and when He does you have no trouble knowing what He just pinpointed? It just happened to me while reading a devotional by Mary Southerland entitled “Guarding Greed.” She asked and answered a question that shed light on something for me. It went as such, What happens when we live as if He is not enough and He is not all we want? Greed happens. While most of her devotional centered around material greed, God directed my attention toward that for which I tend to display greed.

Greed is that strong desire to have more of something. To acquire or gain more than is necessary or intended. An inordinate desire to have in excess. It’s twins are jealousy, envy, and covetousness. It is a robber of thankfulness and joy. It imprisons one in a shell of selfishness, pride, and continual hunger. When my goal in life is to fully satisfy my need for more I live frustrated, empty, and in a continual state of want. What God wants me to see is that satisfying the greed is impossible but conquering it is not!

As I read Mary’s question, my area of greed quickly came to mind. Relationships. God uses them but greed desires more from them then what is needed or intended. Greed wants more of what is there and when more is given more is desired. I see this played out when it comes to another person’s time, attention, acceptance, and affirmation. One dose is not enough. As soon as I take in what is offered I crave more! I have known this about myself for quite some time but have never seen as an aspect of greed.

Today’s verse sums it up very well. My greed brings about conflict and disruption yet when I place my expectations, hopes, desires, and trust in God He prospers me in more ways than any human relationship is able to do. The bottom line is that what I am craving from people is actually what I need from Him. People are His representatives but I so easily attempt to make them His replacement. His desire is that I would turn my attention and appetite toward Him and I do that one step at a time.

My steps? Acknowledge the truth about my greed. Confess it to Him and receive the forgiveness He offers. Understand that while I may not be entirely free of this tendency in this life, I can certainly walk in victory over it. Through Christ I can control how it affects me. Depend upon Him to show me each time greed stirs within me and how NOT to feed it but rather turn the desires toward Him. Lastly, realize that greed is okay when what I am greedy for is more of Him!

Father, within this heart of mine lies a voracious appetite that seeks to be fed off sources other than You. Help me to walk in victory with a satisfaction found only in You. Amen.

He's Been Faithful - Damaris Carbaugh
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdO2cRXVHII

Getting into God's Word and letting God's Word get into me one truth at a time.

The Cure for Cupidity

Then he said to them, “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 NIV

Have you ever made the mistake of defining your life by the many things you possess? Thinking you are what you have? A greedy person assumes that is how it works. The more he possesses the more he thinks of himself as important, valuable, successful, and a notch above others. Jesus makes it very clear that possessions do not define us and they should not be what we use to define others.

There are a couple of reasons for this. Possessions are external and temporary. They tell very little of what the person is like on the inside. Possessions cannot satisfy the deepest desires of our heart. Have you ever noticed how something can excite you for a time but all too quickly your attention is drawn toward the next thing you want? Greed causes people to live in a constant state of dissatisfaction, ingratitude, and discontentment. It tells them the answer is found in accumulating more, but the truth of the matter is obtaining more to find satisfaction is like pouring water into a bucket with many holes. God did not create us with the ability to be satisfied or defined by the things we have.

If I am looking to anything or anyone to satisfy me or define me other than God and my relationship with Him, I am in danger and headed for disappointment. How do I know if this is the case? My days will be spent looking at what others have and wanting it for myself. There will be a sense of restlessness. My happiness will be contingent on possessing it for myself. I will live with an overall feeling of dissatisfaction.

So what is the cure for the excessive desire to get more? Cultivating a heart of gratitude for what I presently have. Reviewing the truth that God defines me….not possessions or relationships. Setting my heart on those things which have eternal value. Coming against the spirit of greed with prayer and Scripture. Asking God to show me where I am presently living my life out of greed and repenting of it. In Christ there is a cure for cupidity.

Father, there are many things I long for. Change me! Amen.