How does greed affect our relationship with God? With others?

Jeremiah 6:13“From the least to the greatest, their lives are ruled by greed. From prophets to priests, they are all frauds.”

Greed can rule our lives. Instead, we should be ruled by God. Putting money and possessions in God’s place is idolatry.

Luke 18:22-25When Jesus heard his answer, he said, “There is still one thing you haven’t done. Sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” But when the man heard this he became sad, for he was very rich. When Jesus saw this, he said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God! In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!”

Greed can come between us and God. This man turned away from following Jesus, the Savior, because he could not give up is possessions. That decision kept him from receiving the gift of eternal life.

Matthew 6:24“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

We can only serve one master at a time; thus, greed will always destroy a person’s relationship with God.

1 John 2:15-17Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.

Loving what the world has to offer instead of living God’s way is a waste of our lives because all those things will fade away.

Proverbs 28:25Greed causes fighting; trusting the Lord leads to prosperity.

Greed can cause people to steal from others or fight with them over money and possessions, especially when two or more greedy people want the same things.

Ecclesiastes 5:10-11Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness! The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it. So what good is wealth—except perhaps to watch it slip through your fingers!

Greed is never satisfied. If we are constantly worried about having enough, we will miss healthy relationships and lasting happiness.