How To Know If You Struggle With Greed

The Bible commands us to put to death the sin of greed (Col 3:5).  Jesus said to watch out and be on guard against all greed (Lk 12:15). 

The problem is that it is difficult to know if you struggle with greed.  We all know greedy people, but none of us are greedy.  We all know greed when we see it, but we never see it in ourselves. 

The following twenty statements make up a diagnostic tool to help you detect greed in yourself so that you can repent and avoid all of the grief caused by greed.

1) You are embarrassed by what you drive, wear, or live in.  You are embarrassed that you can’t afford to keep up with the latest fashions. 

2) You regularly cut corners, lie, and cheat to get ahead financially.

3) You often feel depressed because of your current financial situation.

4) You often feel upset when someone you know prospers financially.

5) You are nicer and more respectful to people with money than to poorer people.

6) You make most decisions based on the financial impact.  God may want you to take a new job across the country.  But if you uproot your family from their friends, church, and support group, and move them across the country for more money, especially if you don’t need more money, then that’s greed.

7) You tend to put financial opportunity above family and health.  How do you know?  Your body will tell you, or your doctor will tell you, or your family will tell you.

8) You often experience destination disappointment.  This is when you tend to feel that the grass is greener on the other side, and then when you finally get what you want, you regret it, or you still find yourself dissatisfied.

9) You would rather be a liar than poor.  You don’t want to lie, but if you have to lie to get ahead, or to keep from falling behind, you will.  Your heart is revealed by opportunity and crisis.

10) You get angry when the church talks about money.

11) You don’t tithe.  You disobey a direct command from Scripture. 

12) You plan to be generous someday.  Pastor Larry Osborne “If generosity doesn’t start when you have nothing, it will never show up when you have something.”

13) You often use credit to pay for things.  You are addicted to debt.

14) You regularly spend more than you make.  You don’t live within your means. 

15) You often have trouble sleeping because you worry about finances.

16) You are addicted to gambling; or you gamble often.

17) You often fantasize about being wealthy.

18) You make a middle-class income but feel poor.

19) Your family complains that you spend too much time at work and not enough time at home.

20) You have made it your goal to be wealthy.