Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” Luke 12:15
“Take if from someone who has had a lifetime of experience of trying to help Christians understand their relationship to their finances, money has a very powerful and profound effect upon the human soul. I have watched hundreds of Christians in my time become financially blessed and then develop an acquisitive streak that in turn makes their souls as metallic as the coins they seek.
Someone has said that “having a good deal of money does not change a person, it merely unmasks them.” If a person is naturally selfish or greedy, money will simply show up those tendencies in a greater and clearer light. “An offering,” said one writer, “is minted personality.” We can tell a lot about the kind of person we are by what and how we give.”
Selwyn Hughes in Divine Mathematics: A Biblical Perspective on Investing in God’s Kingdom (Surrey, UK: CWR, 2004) 19.
This is a great little devotional book I like to read when I travel. Today’s reading reminds me that as God blesses us, we need to “be on guard” (in the words of Jesus) that an “acquisitive streak” (in the words of Selwyn Hughes) does not appear in our lives.
The Greek word for “greed” in this sentence can also be translated “covetousness or acquisitiveness”. Jesus is basically saying, “Beware of all the messages that bombard you that life is found in acquiring money and lots of things. It’s not found there!
What’s the best way to avoid an “acquisitive streak?” Focus on giving rather than getting! As God blesses us financially, we have learned to increase our level of giving not our level of living. I hope you will join us. Let’s mint our personalities as unselfish and generous!