Greed

Why do we say, “I have no food” when our cupboards are full? “I have no clothes” when are closets are plastered with clothes? The answer is clear, we have become greedy. We are blinded by the vial of our covetous desires. They may seem harsh; but read the following example; then make your own judgment.GREED by Julian Edney Sign the tab in certain Midtown eateries and your neighbors’ eyes slide over. Is that a $48,000 Michel Perchin pen? What’s on your wrist – a $300,000 Breguet watch?In Palm Springs and Bel Air, $100,000 twin-turbo Porsches and $225,000 Ferraris buzz the warm streets. In New York at an exclusive Morell & Company auction last May, a single magnum of Dom Perignon champagne was sold for $5,750. And there are the paintings, of course. One evening at auction, two Monets sold for $43 million (2). Hotel rooms, anyone, at $10,000 a night? Estate agents in suburbs of Dallas and Palm Beach have advertised baronial homes for sale at over $40 million .These are prices paid by the exceptionally wealthy, the folks who skim the pages of the Robb Report (average annual salary of subscribers: $1.2 million) in whose glossy pages are reviewed the best of everything. In a recent issue a southern plantation is advertised, "everybody's dream," at $8.5 million.

America's Disease is Greed by Andrew Greeley
Greed is responsible for the obscene salaries of CEOs. In the '90s the ratio of CEO compensation to average workers' compensation was 250 to 1, meaning that the boss earned on his first day of work during a year as much as the worker did in a whole year. In European countries the ratio is closer to 100 to 1. Recent estimates put the current ratio at 500 to 1 -- the boss makes as much before lunch as the worker does all year. Greed is the cause of the high wages paid to the bosses even if the company is failing. Greed is defined as: "An excessive desire to acquire or possess more than what one needs or deserves, especially with respect to material wealth."
The Bible is very stern when it comes to this sin of greed. Those who have money are told to be generous (1Tim. 6:17-19). Jesus warns those who are less fortunate not to be covetous (Luke 12:13-21). The earnest is upon the rich and the poor and those who are in between to learn to be content. The contented man is the richest man of all. He cannot be burdened by any material state of being (Phil. 4:10-13; 1Tim 6:6-10). Contentment is the Greek word "autarkeia," and it means to be self-satisfied. The lust for worldly things comes from the need to feel important. That is the deceptive nature of greed. Greed takes the meaning out of life, whereas giving brings meaning to life. James Brown is noted for his hit song, “I Feel Good.” I watched him on "Good Morning America" two days ago and he said these words, “I just want to help somebody. I just want to help somebody.” He came to this realization after he overcame a battle with prostate cancer.
James Brown learned the true meaning of self-satisfaction. Contentment comes from following the words of Jesus, recorded by Luke in the Book of Acts 20:35 (KJV) I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. The world says “get all you can and can all you get.” Jesus said in, Luke 6:38 (KJV) Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

Word for Today
Cupidity - Excessive desire, especially for wealth; covetousness or avarice.
Quote for Today
“Many... attach to competition the stigma of selfish greed” (Henry Fawcett).