By: Waylon Bailey

Being generous and shunning greed must be difficult.

The Bible is written to real needs. Jesus talked about the crucial issues–no straw men here.

Since Jesus spoke so much about money and its effect on the human heart (He spoke more about money than any other subject), God is signaling that our covetousness and greed hurt us deeply and really matter to Him. God cares about our long term good, and He cares for what endures.

No wonder Jesus told us to beware of covetousness and that a person’s life doesn’t consist of the abundance of possessions. No wonder Jesus told us you can’t measure a person’s worth by the things he or she owns.

How can we deal effectively with this very real problem? How can we move from greed to generosity?

We must start with the real problem. The problem is an issue of the heart. Until you get the heart right, you will never get the outward problem corrected. Therefore, the question is how to get the heart right.

First, tell God you want to have your heart right in all things. You can’t fix this problem; God can. Let God do what God does best. He changes hearts and makes new people.

“If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come; the old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Second, let God know you are willing to be made willing. You may not want to be generous. You may now want to be changed, but let God know you are willing to experience change if He will do it for you. Pray in this way and you will see change in your life–a willing change.

Third, thank Him in advance for doing His great work.

Greed is not the only area that must begin with a change of heart. It’s just that it is one of the most stubborn problems we face.

God can help. Trust Him to give you what you need.

I hope you will subscribe to my blog. Doing so means you will get a fresh word like this each morning in your inbox.

Have a great week!