God’s generosity and our human discontentment
We can be thankful when we focus on the blessings we have. But when we fall into the trap of comparison, envy and dissatisfaction often creep in! Join the discussion…
Topic > Life Struggles > Greed >
Discover how Jesus helps us with the question, What’s in it for me?
If we’re completely honest with ourselves, most of us have wondered "What’s in it for me?", even when contemplating following Jesus Christ. We don’t like to admit it, but it’s…
Let’s look at the life of a wealthy man who turned his back on riches for a greater calling
Whether God calls you to a distant mission field, or right next door, you can be sure the reward is great for those who relinquish everything to follow Him!
Finding True Contentment And The Cure For Covetousness
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything…
I Didn’t Care About Starving Kids in Africa
It was Christmas morning. The whole family was together, even though most of the children were married and starting their own families. We were about to open presents.
Where Desire Takes Us
A pair of 5-year-old boys with a fascination for luxury cars decided to try to buy one—a real one. First, they used small sand spades to dig under the playground fence at the school they attended—burrowing each day until they made their escape. Once free, they walked more than a mile to a car showroom. There, the boys met a woman and told her they wanted to buy a Jaguar—with no money. She took them to the police, who promptly returned them to their parents.
Why We Never Get What We Want
As a child, I was a huge fan of the Donald Duck series. I enjoyed watching the silly antics of the main characters, like the greedy miser Uncle Scrooge, his rival Flintheart Glomgold, the lazy Donald Duck, and his three clever nephews.
Are contentment and ambition enemies?
The word “ambition” often is used with suspicion in Christian circles. Perhaps because the word “selfish” is often associated with it! Don’t miss this important discussion.
if only i had . . .
Even as a child, I can remember coveting things that other people possessed. One day I was playing at my cousin’s house when one of his toys caught my eye. I begged to take it home, and when my parents refused me the pleasure, I cried and created quite a scene.
stealing vs. working
When my twin sister and I were 5 years old, we began counting the money we had in our piggybanks. It turned out that one of us had more than the other. To our young minds, this just wasn’t right. So, we decided to balance our accounts by helping ourselves to our mother’s money!
Me and Dresses
I did it again. I bought a dress. I couldn’t help it. It was so cheap. I didn’t need it. Me and dresses, we have this dalliance going on for quite some time. They are not to disturb me and steal my attention. They are to look bland and […]
craving cashmere
While I was helping to organize donations of clothing for a church event, I paused to touch a cashmere sweater’s soft grey cloth. When I realized it would fit me, I considered the possibility of owning it—for free! Volunteers were allowed first dibs on the donations. Cashmere is an expensive fabric, and although I have enough sweaters, this one was calling my name. After some inner turmoil, I finally offered the item to a fellow worker, who joyfully accepted it.
Instant Gratification
When the Polaroid SX-70 camera was introduced in 1972, it revolutionized photography. An article by Owen Edward in Smithsonian magazine described the camera as “a miracle of physics, optics and electronics.” When a photo was snapped, “a blank square would emerge from the front of the camera and develop before our eyes.” People were sold on speedy, immediate results.
More, More, More
Some people love to shop. They have a perpetual desire to buy, buy, buy. The craze to find the latest deal is worldwide. There are huge shopping malls in China, Saudi Arabia, Canada, the Philippines, the United States, and around the world. A rise in store purchases and online buying show that buying is a global phenomenon.
Greedy Birds
Every year when I put out the hummingbird feeder, the busy little birds start battling for position. Even though there are four places at the “table,” the birds fight for whatever place one of their neighbors is using. The source of food at each place is the same—
Money Talk
Marilyn and Steven had been married just a few years, and money was tight. But as she looked at their threadbare bedspread, she wanted to replace it. So she decided she would buy a new one with a credit card—hoping to somehow find the money to pay it off.
Riches Of The Soul
With the hope of winning a record jackpot of $640 million, Americans spent an estimated $1.5 billion on tickets in a multistate lottery in early 2012. The odds of winning were a staggering 1 in 176 million, but people stood in lines at grocery stores, gas stations, and cafes to buy a chance to become rich. Something inside us makes us think more money will solve our problems and improve our lives.
The Challenge Of Riches
While our family was living in Kenya in the 1980s, we drove a young woman from Nairobi to visit her parents who lived near Lake Victoria. On the way, we stopped in the city of Kisumu to leave our luggage at a hotel where we would stay after taking her home.
God’s generosity and our human discontentment
“But many who are first will be last, and the last first. For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ And they went. Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.’ So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, ‘Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.’ And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius. But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius. And when they had received it, they murmured against the landlord, saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and yo
