“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” – Matthew 6:21 (NIV)
Back in 1987, the film Wall Street came out with the catchphrase “Greed is good”. It tried to justify that greed in whatever form it takes benefits society. In reality, it benefits no-one.
One of the things the film failed to tell us was that greed is purely selfish in both motivation and action. When a person wants something so much it can manifest into greed and then they will do whatever they feel in order to satisfy what they perceive as a need. Thoughts about helping or doing good for their fellow man go out the window as they solely concentrate on the things, they want the most.
Unfortunately, when someone chooses the pathway of greed, they fall victim to their own selfish desires. It soon encompasses their whole life and, in some ways, becomes their sole motivation in everything they do. They become so pre-occupied with storing up or getting things for themselves that they leave everyone they touch with a feeling of bitterness.
A greedy person eventually becomes so intent on storing things, especially money and assets here on earth that they either fail to remember or ignore the old saying – “you can’t take it with you”. For proof of this, you just have to look at all of the other people who chose the pathway of greed and have now passed away. What good was their greed then?
Wanting things for ourselves is okay but when it manifests into greed, then it becomes a problem. Satisfying our greed and the feelings we get when we do only last for a short time. Once greed takes a hold you become caught in an endless cycle and you must continue to satisfy your desires in order to keep that euphoric feeling that comes with getting what you want.
The Bible tells us that we shouldn’t be looking to store things here on earth as everything here is temporary. It also tells us that where we store our treasure, that is where our heart will be. If our heart is focussed on satisfying our own desires, then we will suffer the consequences. No amount of money, assets, or anything else we have will get us into heaven.
The sort of treasure we should be storing and maybe in a way be greedy for is the type that we can store in heaven. We should not be focussed on gaining material wealth but instead using our wealth and anything else we have to help others. It is better to invest our lives and time to serving God and others.
When you begin to serve God and others, thoughts of gaining things for ourselves begin to disappear. As we focus more on others, we focus less on our selfish desires. Greed is replaced by love and the desire to help others. We are no longer motivated about what we can get from the world but what we can give to the world.
Greed is definitely not good because once it takes a foothold, it controls your motivations and even your soul. You become greed itself. You become the type of person that most people will want to avoid. Your treasure will be stored here on earth but thankfully you can change that as you put your hope in God. All you have to do is turn away from your selfish desires and let God show you the better path to be on. Then you will begin to store treasures in heaven and your heart will be in it as well.
Originally published at Inspirational Christian Blogs in August 2016