Seven Deadly Sins – Greed Part 1

One of the audiobooks I listened to last year was the book
Affluenza How overconsumption
is killing us and how to fight back.
Here is how one reviewer summarizes the problem being
addressed in this book, ‘When was the last time you bought something? Probably today, or
at least in the last couple of days. But here’s a better question: when was the last time you
bought something you didn’t
really
need? Let’s face it, most of us buy non-essential items
fairly regularly. In fact, the average American spends about $18,000 a year on
nonessentials. Ouch. Why do we spend so much on stuff that doesn’t really matter?
Probably because we have a false notion that it will make us happier. But in truth, our
addiction to consumption is ruining our relationships and sending us into debt. And it’s
ruining our planet.’
1
The book has strengths and weaknesses. It is good in that it is
correctly highlighting our over consumption. It is weak in that its highest goals are to
improve our relationships, get better control over ourselves, and have a cleaner planet. No
doubt these are good goals but they do not get at the heart of what we are wanting to
touch on—Greed as a deadly sin. In typical fashion it outlines personal techniques not
conversion to bring about personal change, and promotes left wing political solutions and
systemic changes as the hope for the future not Christ building His kingdom. Today we
want to look at what the Bible says about greed. Our two headings are the sin of greed,
and the cure for greed

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