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Luke 12:¹⁵ “Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.”

You say, “But I just want my right.” It is your right, but you are being greedy. The husband wants his rights from his wife, be careful of greed. The wife wants her rights from her husband, be careful of greed. It is his father’s inheritance, be careful of greed. Jesus takes it to another level entirely; The New International Version of Luke 12:15 puts it this way, “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.” (emphasis added). This means that there are different kinds of greed. We usually know only one kind of greed and that is the obvious one. Yes, we should be careful of that as well. But there are other kinds of greed. One is the greed embedded in your craving for what is rightfully yours. There is emotional greed, financial greed, and much more.

But there is only one kind of greed that God allows us to have, and that is spiritual greed. We should be spiritual Oliver Twists. When it comes to spiritual greed, God says covets earnestly spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:31). To covet means to be greedy, or desire something. God says it is fine to want more and more spiritual gifts. The only time a Christian is allowed to boast is in the knowledge of God. God says that if you want to boast in anything, boast in this, that you know Him, the spring of living waters. But guess what? The more you know of God, the more you know you don’t know. So, you really cannot boast because when you think you know, you realize that you don’t know what you think you know. That is how it is with God.

So, before you beat your chest, first be sure that it is God. God wants us to covet knowing Him and covet spiritual things. Luke 12:¹⁵ “…life does not consist in an abundance of possessions. Life is not measured by how much you own.” (NIV & NLT). Profound! When you really understand this truth, you are a free man. When you really understand this, in fact, that is when you are actually empowered to be wealthy. When you really understand that the life of a man is not a summation of his net worth, stock portfolio, crypto, real estate, or cash in hand. What God is saying, in other words, is that your net worth is not your life worth. Your life is worth much more than you can ever net and ever earn. There is just so much in this scripture.

Luke 12:¹⁸ “Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods.” This is where he missed it, where he settled.

Prayer:  Father, help me discern all kinds of greed and guard against it. Help me not to view my life’s worth based on what I own, in the Name of Jesus. Amen!