The Attitude of Greed

The youth of today are perhaps the most prosperous of all times. They more readily work part-time jobs and get bigger allowances than teens of the past. In fact, the youth control so much wealth that companies study and design products specifically to appeal to them.

Just take a look around. Even tweens have cellular phones with the ability to receive photos, music, send text messages, surf the web and countless other features. The average high school teenager thinks little about spending $200 for a pair of sneakers, and the cost of entertainment is tremendous. To maintain baseline sanity, they need a computer with high-speed access and all the latest entertainment software, a gaming system with a platform to handle sophisticated graphics, MP3 player, automobile, and the list goes on.

I was reading recently where youth are now being given access to credit cards. While I believe that good credit is important, I think that it would be beneficial for this nation in general and youth in particular to consider issue of greed.

You see, greed is an attitude. Whether we have a lot or a little, greed makes us desire more and more. Credit is just an easy way to fuel our greed, and if we are not careful, we can quickly build up a substantial amount of debt, and still want more.

True financial success is not measured by how much money we have, but by how willing we are to be content with what we have. We must exercise discipline and not allow greed to dominate our lives.

The first thing we need to do is to give to God’s work first. When we make a routine of practicing tithing, we will discover that personal finances is not a major problem in our lives. There are many scriptures in the bible that support giving to God’s work (See Leviticus 27: 30-32; Proverbs 3:9; 1 Corinthians 16:2). If we are ever to get our financial priorities straight, we need to start here.

Next we need to save something. The book of Proverbs chapter 6 uses the ant as an example. Ants spend their summer storing up so that in the wintertime, they have plenty to eat. Saving is a discipline that can help cool the flames of greed, and helps us to understand that unnecessary spending is not wise. A big part of managing money is being able to say no to things that we don’t need.

You may feel that you don’t have enough money to save anything. That’s not true. You can start out with a dime or a quarter, and you can sacrifice a happy meal every week. The main thing is to discipline yourself and make a habit of saving.

The last thing is to manage the rest wisely. Don’t allow greed to make you want more than you can afford to buy. Make wise financial choices and you will discover that you can have all you need without the stress and hassles that others deal with.

By: Edmund Brown