How to Fight Against Greed

In last week’s devotional, we learned a little bit about how greed might be keeping us hostage and how our desires might be a bit outside of God’s design for us. It’s not because he is a malicious God who never wants us to enjoy anything fun or nice. Rather, he keeps us from things in order for us to experience the full potential of his goodness in our lives. 

One of the best ways to experience this is by avoiding greed. Greed is like a terrible weed that finds a home in our hearts and grows strong when we do not keep it tame. The fruits of greed are not the kinds of fruit we want to be producing in our lives. 

So how do we fight against this terrible weed that clutches at our souls and keeps us from our full potential of living a God-honoring life?

The first and most basic way to dethrone greed is generosity – giving. 

Most of the ways we use money are designed to deliver some measure of control, comfort, and safety. Think about each purchase you have made recently. What were you trying to achieve when you decided to buy that car, that jacket, that book, that lunch, or that investment? We attempt to control our futures through our investments. We try to buy some comforts in life by purchasing electronics, clothes, and even food. We go overboard when it comes to buying our safety through the types of cars and houses we pick out for ourselves. 

That is why giving is the best way to release the control that greed has on our lives. 

“Giving, by definition, releases control. When you give, you are giving up a store of value that you could have held onto for some other use.” 

• Andy Crouch, Faith Driven Investing

There is a sort of joy and freedom when we give things and money away. And that is exactly what God wants to give us. He wants to free us from the burden of greed by experiencing the pure joy that comes when we put ourselves second. 

Andy Crouch continues by saying, “generous giving is the simplest way to ensure that money doesn’t have undue influence over us.“

The second way in which to fight against greed is to focus on gratitude – be thankful. 

Gratitude means being ready to show appreciation for and to return kindness for something you are deeply thankful for.

As believers, there is one primary thing we are to show gratitude for, and that is Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God which he ushered in through his ministry here on earth. 

Have you ever been given the advice of creating a gratitude list when you are in a bad mood? What did it do for you? Hopefully, it helped to lift your spirits. Why? Because when you focus on all the things that you already have, you realize you have so much to give thanks for. 

When you focus on all that you have in your life and give thanks for it all, you will begin to realize how little it is that you actually need. Those greedy desires that filled your heart will melt away when you practice intentional gratitude. 

Those are the two basic yet extremely effective ways in which you can begin to fight against the greed that often consumes you. Take it from someone who needs to continuously implement these practices in her own life when I say that the do work when you put in the time to do them. 

Katie F Jones