Greed by Pastor Ed Young

I jump over or I swing over to a more comfortable emotion—anger.  It makes me feel better to just jump down someone’s throat.

Maybe anger is driving a lot of stuff in your life.  Maybe anger is causing you to pick apart your spouse.  Maybe anger is just causing you to really be too hard on your kids.  Maybe anger is causing you to push that person beyond their limit at work.  Anger.

Greed

How about greed?  That’s another one.  Do you have a read on greed?  What does greed say?  Greed says, “More.  One more deal.  More.  One more play.  More.  One more club.  More.  One more house.  More.  When I get to that position, I won’t want any more.”

But see, the More Monster has a lot of us hung up.  The More Monster is this big old stump that has a lot of people impaled. And some of you right now are saying, “Oh, Ed, just get on those people who have a lot of stuff.  They’re the ones who are greedy.  It’s the rich people.”

Well, you know what?  A lot of rich people are greedy.  Not all of them, but a lot of them are.  That’s why they’re rich, because they’re selfish and greedy.  Not all of them, but a lot of them.  But…

Let’s go over here.  I know a lot of people who don’t have very much who are very, very greedy.  In fact, the Have Nots might have a greater level of greed than the Haves.  There’s this reverse thing going on.  So, don’t say, “Well I don’t have that much, so I can’t be greedy.”  I don’t know.

Here’s what Jesus said about greed in Luke 12:15. Jesus said “Watch out…”  You know what that phrase means in the Greek?  Watch out!  That’s what it means.  “Watch out!  Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”