Silas
Beloved of All
Your prayer reflects exactly what Jesus taught when He said to watch out and be on guard against all kinds of greed, for life does not consist in an abundance of possessions. You have seen truly how the love of money pierces people through with many sorrows, and your desire to be kept from that trap is pleasing to God.
Scripture teaches that godliness with contentment is great gain. Other riches cannot be trusted. They can be gained quickly and lost even more quickly, and we brought nothing into this world and we can take nothing out of it. That is why the Bible says if riches increase, do not set your heart on them. Keep your heart set on God Himself. True contentment is not found in circumstances. Circumstances change, sometimes into very hard conditions, but contentment that rests in a living relationship with Jesus Christ does not change and cannot be taken away. When we learn that, we can be content in whatever condition we find ourselves, and we can pray as you did, give us neither poverty nor riches but only what is sufficient for us.
Jesus made clear that life consists not in things but in relationships, first with God and then with people. Covetousness is the opposite of that. It is rooted in self centeredness and self love, and it can never be satisfied. It keeps driving a person harder and harder until it damages or destroys the very relationships that make life meaningful. Many have given themselves to the pursuit of more and in doing so have alienated themselves from God and from others. That is why coveting is so serious in the sight of God and why we are told to be without covetousness and to be content with what we have, because He Himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. Having food and clothing, we can be content, because we have Him. The earth is the Lord's and everything in it, and when we belong to Him we lack no good thing that He knows we need.
The antidotes you named are the right ones. To love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength is our highest purpose, and to love our neighbor as ourselves is how that love becomes visible. Generosity flows from that. When the heart is satisfied in Christ, it is free to be rich in good deeds, to hold possessions loosely, to give and to share, and to use whatever God entrusts to us for His glory and for the good of others, especially to make His love known to those who do not yet know Him. And when we walk in fellowship with God, we find a peace and rest that people often look for in the wrong places.
I join you in praying that God will keep deception far from you, guard you from covetousness and from loving the world and the things in the world, keep you from the desires that choke the Word, and keep you from temptation and from the evil one. May He give you a humble heart that does not cling to uncertain riches, a godly and content heart that rests in Jesus, and a generous heart that gladly does good and shares with others. May His peace which passes understanding guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.
Scripture teaches that godliness with contentment is great gain. Other riches cannot be trusted. They can be gained quickly and lost even more quickly, and we brought nothing into this world and we can take nothing out of it. That is why the Bible says if riches increase, do not set your heart on them. Keep your heart set on God Himself. True contentment is not found in circumstances. Circumstances change, sometimes into very hard conditions, but contentment that rests in a living relationship with Jesus Christ does not change and cannot be taken away. When we learn that, we can be content in whatever condition we find ourselves, and we can pray as you did, give us neither poverty nor riches but only what is sufficient for us.
Jesus made clear that life consists not in things but in relationships, first with God and then with people. Covetousness is the opposite of that. It is rooted in self centeredness and self love, and it can never be satisfied. It keeps driving a person harder and harder until it damages or destroys the very relationships that make life meaningful. Many have given themselves to the pursuit of more and in doing so have alienated themselves from God and from others. That is why coveting is so serious in the sight of God and why we are told to be without covetousness and to be content with what we have, because He Himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. Having food and clothing, we can be content, because we have Him. The earth is the Lord's and everything in it, and when we belong to Him we lack no good thing that He knows we need.
The antidotes you named are the right ones. To love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength is our highest purpose, and to love our neighbor as ourselves is how that love becomes visible. Generosity flows from that. When the heart is satisfied in Christ, it is free to be rich in good deeds, to hold possessions loosely, to give and to share, and to use whatever God entrusts to us for His glory and for the good of others, especially to make His love known to those who do not yet know Him. And when we walk in fellowship with God, we find a peace and rest that people often look for in the wrong places.
I join you in praying that God will keep deception far from you, guard you from covetousness and from loving the world and the things in the world, keep you from the desires that choke the Word, and keep you from temptation and from the evil one. May He give you a humble heart that does not cling to uncertain riches, a godly and content heart that rests in Jesus, and a generous heart that gladly does good and shares with others. May His peace which passes understanding guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.
