What is Greed (greed)?
Greed is a negative emotion that is difficult to resist. The essence of greed is an unwillingness to give or an uncontrolled aggressive desire to take possession of something or someone at any cost. From Wikipedia:
- “ Greed is an immoderate desire for possession or consumption.” Not a complete definition.
- “Greed
,
greed
,
acquisitiveness
,
hoarding
,
love of money
,
greed ,
avarice
(Greek φιλαργυρία, Lat. avaritia) - an immoderate tendency to obtain material wealth.”
Greed is generated by two other emotions: the desire to own (regardless of whether it is yours or someone else’s) and the fear of losing (giving away, being deprived of something). Greed is formed by the wrong meager worldview, wrong values, false beliefs:
- “There is a limited amount of everything in the world, there won’t be enough for everyone” - so you need to grab, take everything that you can take and not give it away.
- “I want to receive undeservedly, at any cost” - justification for crimes, theft, appropriation of someone else’s property, taking possession of some benefits or values undeservedly.
- “Money, gold, material wealth - this is the most important thing...” - such beliefs are a justification for the corresponding crimes.
- “This is mine and I will never give it up” - the inability to let go of what doesn’t belong to you anyway.
The one who does not have Honor, Conscience and Moral foundations, which are the basis for making all decisions in life, is greedy. A greedy, greedy person will sell his own mother for money, because money is more valuable to him than his own mother, than a person in principle. Greedy people, most often, put material things first and spiritual things second. Greedy people with a materialistic worldview do not understand that nothing belongs to them in this world, that you will not take anything with you in the next world. After all, everything that is given to a person in life is given to him for a while to complete his tasks, for learning, development and happiness. And everything belongs to the Creator, God, everything that exists was created by Him, from His energy and according to His Will.
Eradication of stinginess
Manifestations of this defect in children. Teach your children to work and thrift and instill generosity in them. Examples of God's severe punishments for stinginess and theft.
There is hardly a vice that would be as widespread in our days and the sinfulness of which is as little recognized as covetousness or greed and stinginess; Meanwhile, this vice especially needs to be fought when raising children.
The passion of greed (covetousness) is greed for all kinds of acquisitiveness, an insatiable desire to acquire wealth, property, money and all kinds of “earthly possessions.” This passion usually comes from selfishness and carnality, from disbelief in the good Providence of God and lack of love for God and people. In children, this vice most often manifests itself in stinginess, miserliness, greed, the love of money, “consumer psychology,” other types of selfishness and self-interest. The vice of greed usually results in deceit, theft, anger, envy, murder, enmity, hard-heartedness, ingratitude, idleness, laziness, luxury, revelry, debauchery and much more.
The wise Sirach says about excessive love of money: he who loves gold will not be right, and he who chases corruption will be filled with it.
(Sir.31:5). According to Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk, a lover of money is “an enemy of God, an enemy of man, an enemy of himself” 545.
The Holy Apostle Paul says that the love of money is the root of all evil
(1 Tim. 6:10), and about those who want to be rich - who
fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and harmful lusts that plunge people into disaster and destruction
(1 Tim. 6:9).
Many, having given themselves over to this vice, have wandered away from the faith (1 Tim. 6:10). The Apostle ranks covetousness (covetousness) among the sins that deprive a person of the Kingdom of Heaven: fornication and all uncleanness and covetousness should not even be named among you
(Christians),
as is fitting for saints... For know that no fornicator, or unclean person, or covetous person who is an idolater, has no inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God.
Let no one deceive you with empty words, for for this reason the wrath of God comes on the sons of disobedience (Eph. 5:3-6).
Do not be deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters... nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God
(1 Cor. 6:9-10).
Look
, says the Lord, “
beware of covetousness, for a person’s life does not depend on the abundance of his possessions
(Luke 12:15).
Have a non-money-loving disposition, being content with what you have.
For God Himself said: I will never leave you nor forsake you (Heb. 13:5).
The Holy Scriptures and the Holy Fathers of the Church say a lot about how destructive the passion of greed (covetousness) is. Christian parents must invariably and constantly remember this and in every possible way protect both themselves and their children from this vice.
Many parents, consciously or unconsciously, themselves develop covetousness and stinginess in their children. In most families, children hear almost nothing except talk about profitable work, high earnings, property, money and wealth. People speak with envy about well-to-do, prosperous, wealthy people who live for their own pleasure. Children hear these conversations in the family, observe the lives of the predominant number of people around them, immersed in concerns only about material things. Hence, they naturally develop the belief that a person exists in the world only to work and earn money, that money and material wealth are the most important thing in the world. After this, what is surprising if greed, covetousness and stinginess take deep root in the youngest and most tender children’s hearts?
Christian parents should, of course, encourage and teach their children to work and diligence. At the same time, we must always teach them to work not for money and profit, but because hard work pleases God, and a person with his labor not only feeds himself (2 Thess. 3:10), but also his neighbors; He can use his labors to help those in need, the weak and the sick. The Lord Himself commanded man to work (Gen. 2:15); a person is born for labor and useful work, just as a bird is born in order to fly (cf. Job 5:7). It is necessary to teach children to avoid idleness, because idleness is a sin before God, because an idle person is a thief who steals the days of his life, given by the Lord God for useful work; finally, we must show children that idleness teaches many bad things
(Sir.33:28) and is the beginning and mother of all vices.
In the same way, it is necessary to teach children to be prudently thrifty, for whoever does not take care of little things will gradually decline (Sir. 19:1). And the Savior Himself taught us an example of frugality when He ordered to collect in baskets those pieces of bread that remained after He had fed five thousand people (John 6:12). However, frugality should not turn into stinginess and greed. Thrift should be combined with generosity and responsiveness, which children should be taught too.
Stinginess and greed can be found in a child in various forms. For the most part, greed manifests itself in the fact that children want to take possession of everything that is given to them, and do not want to give anything of it to their brothers and sisters, their peers. To prevent children from falling into this passion, it is necessary to instill in them the opposite virtue, namely generosity. This is easily achieved when they are taught to share with others everything that is given to them, to give alms with their own hands, to participate with elders in helping the sick and infirm, to compassionately help the old and sick. But it is not enough to teach children to be generous out of compassion alone; at the same time, it is necessary to point out religious motives, instilling in them that the Savior looks at everything that is given to the poor as if it were given to Himself (Matthew 25:40). The Lord commanded us to respond to every real need and request of our neighbors: give to those who ask you, and do not turn away from those who want to borrow from you.
(Matt. 5:42).
And as you would have people do to you, do so to them
(Luke 6:31).
Further, greed is often found in children in the form of discontent. To protect a child from such manifestations of covetousness and greed, one must teach him to be content with what he has. Children should be satisfied with food, clothing, their games and entertainment, and satisfied with their entire existence. Here, in relation to children, the following rules should always be observed: whoever is dissatisfied with what he was given will not receive anything in the future. If a child is dissatisfied with the bread that was given to him, the food that was offered to him, the clothes or toys that were bought for him, if all this is not good enough for him, not beautiful enough, then let all this be taken away from him. This will serve him as a lesson for the future.
It often happens that children decide to steal out of covetousness. In this regard, parents need to be strict, because nowhere is the proverb more applicable here: “They start small and end big.” When parents notice that their children have any items, such as anything edible, toys, school supplies, etc., that they were not given, they should definitely ask where they got them from, and if it turns out that these things were taken secretly and without asking, then we must persistently demand that they be returned. Children usually say: “I didn’t steal, I took it like that,” to which they should be taught: “He took it without asking, but didn’t say it, so (that means) he stole it” (proverb). From time to time you need to inspect their personal and school things to see if there are other people’s pens, pencils, notebooks, books, etc. among them. If children bring home any found thing, then they need to ask at school if anyone has lost this thing . Parents must strictly ensure that their children do not pick fruits from other people's trees. You should not accustom your child to treats from early childhood, because this contributes to the acquisition of a tendency to steal. For the same reasons, children should not be allowed to trade and engage in profiteering among themselves, because in this case they too easily learn to lie.
The Prologue (September 13) tells the story of one monk, Philagria, who lived in Jerusalem and fed himself by selling his handicrafts. One day, at the market, where he came to sell what he had made, he saw a bag lying on the ground, which contained a thousand gold coins. Philagrius picked up this bag, which contained gold, and said to himself: “I should not leave here, for he who has lost gold must certainly come here.” And the elder monk’s assumption was justified. The man who had lost the money soon came to the place where Philagrios had picked it up and wept over his loss. Philagry stopped him and immediately returned the thousand gold coins to him intact. The one who received the loss restrained Philagrius and began to offer him a monetary reward, but the elder did not want to hear about it. Then this man began to shout loudly to the people: “Come quickly and look at this man! Come and see what kind of people God has!” Philagry, not wanting to hear praise for himself, not wanting to be recognized and not tolerating human glory in general, immediately hid among the people and then left the city.
As often as possible, it is necessary to instill in the family that only what is acquired in a pure and righteous way is durable and useful, and to cultivate a deep aversion to all types of dishonesty. We must teach children to despise theft and any dishonesty on religious grounds, drawing their attention to God, to God’s commandments. The Word of God very strictly condemns theft and points to it as a grave mortal sin: neither thieves, nor covetous... nor predators will inherit the Kingdom of God
(1 Cor. 6:10). Among the Russian people, the harmfulness of theft is expressed by the proverb: “A thief steals not for profit, but for his own destruction.”
How grave the sin of theft and lies is is shown by the following incident from the life of St. Jonah, Metropolitan of Moscow. Saint Jonah once gave one of his novices a lot of money to distribute to the poor, but soon after that he distributed part of the money and kept part of it. It happened that a poor widow soon came to the Saint with a complaint about the novice:
- Saint of God! Your novice did not give me anything from the money you bequeathed.
The Metropolitan, having called the novice, asked him:
“Why did you insult this widow and give her nothing?”
He answered:
“I gave her a lot, but she shamelessly asks for more.”
The widow denied this and insisted that she had received nothing from him.
The novice exclaimed with anger:
- Go away, you will die because you are lying!
Then Saint Jonah said:
“It won’t be like this, this widow is telling the truth, but you are stealing and lying; she will live, and you will die!
The novice fell ill that same day and died.
Here is a story from the life of St. Isaac the Syrian (April 12). One pious man sent the saint two baskets of food. The servant hid one basket on the way and brought another on behalf of his master. Taking the basket, Saint Isaac said to the servant:
“I accept gifts, but be careful not to touch the basket you left on the road.” There is a snake in it, and if you reach out your hand, it will bite you.
The servant was embarrassed and repented of his sin. Shame and fear took possession of him, along with joy that he had escaped from real danger. And the danger was not only from a live snake. There was also another snake in the basket. Stolen goods would poison the servant's soul. Perhaps for the first time he appropriated someone else's property, and if the saint had not stopped him, the rust of the vice of theft would have penetrated into his soul and would have corrupted it forever.
When the thought of stealing tempts, both small and large Christians must beware: lest the snake bites greed and theft.
In our time, new concepts of property have appeared in people's minds, formed as a result of fundamental social changes. The attitude of many people towards the property of their neighbors can be expressed in the words: yours is mine. This weakening of rights and respect for other people's property contributes to the spread of theft. Parents need to ensure that their children know the difference between “mine” and “yours” from a very early age. Therefore, having several children, one should not allow them to take clothes or any things belonging to the other without asking; at the same time, everyone must be taught to be ready to help others and to share their things when necessary.
If you, Christian parents, want to protect your children from all these types of greed and covetousness, if you do not want to make them slaves of mammon, then teach them in word, deed, and by your own example to learn the true price of earthly goods. Teach with your word, instilling in them that money and property are not the most important thing on earth, that there are the highest spiritual goods, namely virtues, which alone have value before God, and that there is no benefit to a person if he acquires all peace, but will harm your soul
(Matthew 16:26).
Teach your children to be generous and charitable. “Teach them by your example, directing all your activities towards the acquisition of the Kingdom of God and its righteousness
(Matthew 6:33), not skipping out of covetousness his religious duties, such as prayer, divine services, Communion of the Holy Mysteries - in a word, showing with his whole way of life that the most important thing and “the only thing needed” for a person is absolutely not money and possessions, but the eternal bliss of the soul" 546.
Remember that your actions speak louder than your words.
What is Greed replaced with?
Greed/Avarice is replaced by generosity - the ability to easily give what is given to you by God, if it needs to be given. Generosity is an indicator that love lives in a person’s heart, that for him the spiritual comes first, and the material comes second. After all, material things should never become the meaning of life, but should play a supporting role in achieving more significant spiritual goals. Greed / Avarice - is replaced by self-control (control of emotions) and justice (accept only what is deservedly honest, give easily what should be given, what no longer belongs to you).
- The uncontrollable desire to possess something or someone must be tamed and subordinated to the will of a person, his heart and mind.
- The fear of losing, letting go, giving away must be completely removed. The task is to learn to easily accept any blessings into your life and just as easily give them away, without getting nervous or trying to argue with fate and God.
I wish you to free yourself from greed and become a truly generous Soul! Best regards, author
