Victory Over Greed

“He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house” (Proverbs 15:27, first part).

What an interesting proverb from God’s word! What does it mean?

Most of us know what greed is. It is the grown-up form of selfishness. Perhaps you have seen a group of children playing, with one or two selfish ones always grabbing what they want. Selfishness is part of human nature, and babies are born with it. Babies are helpless little creatures with many needs. Crying and grabbing are their first ways of trying to get what they want. But as we grow, selfishness is something we should overcome.

Ellen White tells of a practice that she and her sister had when they were children:

“With my sister I learned a trade, and although we would earn only twenty-five cents a day, from this sum we were able to save a little to give to missions. We saved little by little until we had thirty dollars. Then when the message of the Lord’s soon coming came to us, with a call for men and means, we felt it a privilege to hand over the thirty dollars to father, asking him to invest it in tracts and pamphlets to send the message to those who were in darkness. . . .

“With the money that we had earned at our trade, my sister and I provided ourselves with clothes. We would hand our money to mother, saying, ‘Buy so that, after we have paid for our clothing, there will be something left to give for missionary work.’ And she would do this, thus encouraging in us a missionary spirit.”1

Where did these children get such an unselfish spirit? Perhaps it was by learning from Jesus and following His example. In writing about His childhood, Sister White explains: “Jesus worked to relieve every case of suffering that He saw. He had little money to give, but He often denied Himself of food in order to relieve those who appeared more needy than He. . . . When [His brothers] spoke harshly to poor, degraded beings, Jesus sought out these very ones, and spoke to them words of encouragement. To those who were in need He would give a cup of cold water, and would quietly place His own meal in their hands.”2

Dear young reader, do you want to be like these children? Pray to God for His Holy Spirit to help you be unselfish and kind, and always remember His promise, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).—BHM.