Vice & Virtue: Greed → Generosity
Matthew 6
Teaching about Money and Possessions
19 “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. 21 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.
22 “Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. 23 But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!
24 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.
25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?
28 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, 29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?
31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’
32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
Vice & Virtue
Greed → Generosity
Matthew 6:19–34
Greed
Greed rarely announces itself.
It usually sounds like:
"Just a little bit more."
Jesus asks a deeper question
"Where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also."
—Matthew 6:21
Greed is not merely about money.
It is about trust.
Greed is the symptom
Sin often promises to solve something real.
Greed may be trying to satisfy:
- Security
- Wholeness
- Completeness
But possessions cannot give what only God can provide.
The Virtue: Contentment
Contentment is not:
- Having everything you want.
- Lowering your expectations.
- Settling for less.
Contentment is resting in the goodness of God regardless of circumstances.
Paul writes,
"I have learned to be content..."
Contentment can be learned.
Confidence in the Father
Jesus points us to:
- The birds.
- The flowers.
- Daily bread.
Your Father already knows what you need.
Contentment grows from confidence in God's care.
Generosity
Generosity is contentment lived out.
A content heart becomes free to:
- Give
- Share
- Serve
- Bless
- Celebrate others
- Open its hands
Greed holds tightly.
Generosity trusts enough to let go.
The Good News
The answer to greed is not guilt.
The answer to greed is not trying harder.
The answer to greed is Jesus.
Contentment is not found in what you possess.
Contentment is found in WHO possesses you.
Vice & Virtue
The Seven Deadly Sins and The Virtues that Heal Them
A Litany for Vice & Virtue
Leader: God of truth and grace, You created all things good.
People: Yet we have twisted Your gifts and trusted our own understanding.
Leader: Where pride has distorted our sight,
People: Teach us humility and help us see as You see.
Leader: Where vice has broken communion with You, with others, and with creation,
People: Restore us through the life of Christ and the power of Your Spirit.
Leader: Take what is disordered within us and put it back into Your good order.
People: Redeem our desires, our thoughts, our habits, and our loves.
Leader: Where we have grasped for control,
People: Teach us trust.
Leader: Where we have withheld love,
People: Teach us virtue.
Leader: Form in us the character of Christ.
People: That Your grace may flow through us into the world.
Leader: Sanctify us wholly—spirit, soul, and body.
People: Until Your love is perfected in us. Amen.
Questions to Consider:
- Where is your treasure today?
- What do you find yourself wanting "just a little bit more" of?
- How has God provided for you recently?
- What can you hold with a more open hand this week?
- What would contentment look like today?
