The Folly of Envy and Insatiable Greed

THE FOLLY OF ENVY AND INSATIABLE GREED

By Ezekiel Kimosop

The Bible warns us against envy and greed for earthly things. Envy is the desire to outmatch others in material accumulation or success. It does not seek the best for others (Romans 1:29, 13:13; Galatians 5:26; Philippians 2:1-4).

Envy is indeed ungodly and is driven by lack of contentment and ungratefulness for what God has blessed us with. It is powered by an evil eye and jealousy.

We can never be like others no matter how much we struggle to catch up with them. God blesses each of us accordingly to His sovereign grace.  Material prosperity is not an indicator of godliness or self worth in the presence of God for God is not a respecter of persons.

1 Timothy 6:8-12 teaches that we should be contended with material riches and warns against the love of money which is described as one of the root causes of all manner of evil.

Envy and greed are both destructive because they put our unbridled desires at the centre of our focus and inescapably drive us off our submission to Christ's leading in all things (Matthew 6:19-21).

Ungodly people murmur against God out of envy and jealousy, showing their ungodly attitude for material things and their naked envy towards others.

Someone said that before we murmur or habor ungodly envy, we should look back to see how far the Lord has brought us and begin to count our blessings and name them one by one and it will surprise us what the Lord has done. We ought to be grateful to God for what He has bestowed upon us.

Just imagine that you and I could be in perfect health when someone lies in a hospital bed sick or maimed. We may be blessed with children when another faithful person who fears God has none!

There is always someone more disadvantaged  yet they are contended and faithfully serving God.

Earthly riches are not in themselves evil. God expects us to apply our skills and resources to grow ourselves and built investment portfolios through hard work even as Christ tarries.

There is no substitute for hard work, neither are there magic words that bring wealth. The prosperity gospel is utterly false!

Ephesians 4:28 says "Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need."

There are faithful men who are mentioned in the Bible such as Abraham, Job and David who were wealthy yet they served God and obeyed Him. God will surely bless the work of our hands even as we diligently pursue wealth with godly means and motives.

However, the love for earthly pleasures and the inordinate preoccupation with earthly things at the expense of our devotion to Christ has its consequences. 

Today, several billionaires live in misery after wasted living despite making billions of dollars.

Did you know, for instance, that the celebrated American world heavyweight boxer Mike Tyson is a pauper today after living on the first lane for more than two decades?

According to the New York Times, Mike Tyson earned USD 400 million in 20 years of his successful boxing career.

Sadly, Mike Tyson was declared bankrupt in 2003 with a debt of USD 27 million! Tyson rose from rags to riches but being a worldly man without Christ, he fell from riches to oblivion and into grinding debt.

Let me conclude with the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:24 which says "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon."

We cannot serve God and the spirit of Mammon at the same time. We shall invariably prefer one over the other.

That's where the difference lies.

Cited sources - https://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/05/sports/tyson-s-bankruptcy-is-a-lesson-in-ways-to-squander-a-fortune.html

© Ezekiel Kimosop Teaching Series 2019