HE is Watching

Greed

He who is greedy of gain brings ruin on his own house, but he who hates bribes will live.

— Proverbs 15:27

Greed to me is one of the most common and yet most pivotal sins that will determine our fate on judgment day. It is written as both a venial sin as well as a mortal sin. Why both? As with all sins, the degree to which one takes it makes all the difference. As Reverend Rivera mentioned in my interview with him, as well as Reverend Heil, “the punishment fits the crime,” and if we “continue to repeat the same sin over and over with no remorse,” it’s an unforgivable sin.

The tenth commandment states, “You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor.” This describes desiring to the point of seeking to take something that is not yours away from someone. This is a core commandment that leads to all other sins, including theft, murder, lying, and adultery. Covet means to take. It could be a job, a life, money, success, relationships, friendships; coveting causes havoc in people’s lives due to bearing false witness, evil thoughts, and blasphemies under Jesus Christ’s name.

Any thoughts that begin with a negative intention or negative energy will further produce more negative or evil energy. When we give into greed, we will always desire more—we will never be satisfied.

Solomon warned, “He who is greedy for gain troubles his own house” (Proverbs 15:27). And Paul emphasized, “Be content with whatever you have” (Philippians 4:11).

The apostle Paul explained, “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith and their greediness, pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (Timothy 6:9–10). But notice that Paul did not tell us to be lazy and not earn money. The Bible emphasizes that we are not to take what is not ours. Do not be greedy—do not make others suffer because of your greed. That does not mean “don’t be successful.” It does not mean “don’t try to earn money.” It means that we are not to take away from or prey on other people.

Many people do not fully grasp this concept of money in the Bible. Everyone is wealthy in the eyes of God. If you have love, you have wealth. If you have food on your table, you are blessed with riches. Be grateful for what you have. If there is something you want, God said He will give it to you. He will make it available to you not by taking it from someone else but by providing opportunities for you to earn it. Earning is the key. We ultimately work for God. We have His love, but we must earn the rewards of heaven. There is no favoritism in heaven. God does not favor one person over another. The higher levels of heaven or of glory are reserved for those who have earned them—in essence, they are for those who passed the test.

But our citizenship is in Heaven, and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. (Philippians 4:17–21)

Heaven is the ultimate home and destination for all of God’s creatures. Each one of us has our own journey based upon the lessons we still need to learn—we must understand that to appreciate why people lead different lives. We all have our own unique gifts, as we have our own unique lessons and journeys.

Let me clarify deceptive behaviors in society to further elaborate on this message.

CIA agents identify clusters of deceptive behaviors as far more serious than those of general liars. There is a difference. People lie for many reasons—some for very good reasons. Listen to Pamela Meyer’s TED talk on YouTube “How to Spot a Liar.” She talks about lies and the degrees of deception. Some lies are intended to not hurt someone’s feelings—to say “Oh, nice shirt.” But when there are clusters of lies for serious reasons such as fraud, scandals, and theft—this is far different. In some cases, you might notice duper’s delight in someone who is antagonistic, such as a sociopath. You may notice that they display narcissistic behaviors that again can range in severity. FBI agents are trained in lie-spotting techniques that decode body language. There are even specialized eye trackers and infrared brain scans to detect when someone’s lying, although most signs can be caught without equipment if you take note of clusters of these general movements when asking serious questions. Meyer stated, “Yes, we all do generally make gestures that can be dismissed or noted as a sign of anxiety or nervousness for being questioned—but when these signs become clusters and there is an identified number of these signs appearing in short intervals of time it becomes obvious, they are lying.” One motion that Meyer identified as particularly alarming during any interview and seen as a red flag is a smile of contempt—a half-smile with lip movement to one side with a cool demeanor. The evil in these traits becomes more heightened and concerning along with the degree of deception. “This is a blatant sign to run for your life!” says Meyer.

Most people feel uncomfortable, for instance, borrowing a dollar to get a soda. Some would take the dollar but would make a point to pay you back immediately. A few wouldn’t think twice about it—they’d just take it. And yet another group—an even smaller percentage—would think they are entitled to it. Now let’s take this to a larger scale. If people start off in life in one of those groups that would never do it at all, more than likely they have very conscientious minds, were taught ethically and with integrity, and adhere to God’s word. Now, if people in the complete opposite group start off that way, how do you think they’ll be by the end of their lives? My guess is far, far worse. They never had any morals to begin with. They already felt entitled. We know right from wrong as early as age three—that’s embedded into the core of who we are. It’s not always our parents who mold us into the good or bad people we are—we have a choice. This is why some siblings have completely opposite character traits, integrity, and morals.