Luke 16 Lesson

GREED

Today’s lesson discusses one of the favorite tools of the Devil, greed!  

Our focus verse highlights the following words spoken by Jesus:

• “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.  Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you?  And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?  No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” – Luke 16:10-13.

This scripture talks about two masters:

1. God,
2. Money.

We all must make a choice about which one of these masters we are going to serve.

We cannot serve both.  

When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, He said:

• “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” – Mathew 22:37-40.

In this scripture, we are commanded to put God first in our lives.

Ahead of money, and ahead of all other things.

BIBLE VERSES ABOUT GREED

The Bible has a lot to say about greed.

For today’s lesson, we have highlighted the following four verses:

1. “Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.   For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” - 1 Timothy 6:9-10,
2. “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” – Luke 12:15,
3. “Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, ‘I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,’ so that we confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid.   What will man do to me?’” - Hebrews 13:15,
4. “One who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor one who loves abundance with its income. This too is futility.” - Ecclesiastes 5:10.

TEMPTATION

We need to protect ourselves against the many temptations of the Devil!  

If we are not careful, we can get caught up in the desires of the flesh and the pursuit of worldly pleasures.  

When we do this, we put our souls at risk!

The world will bombard us with messages telling us that the pursuit of money is what life is all about.

As Christians, we serve a higher purpose.

Our Creator has commanded us to do better!  

When Jesus was tempted by Satan, He did three things to protect Himself:

1. He applied the correct scripture to the situation,
2. He allowed the Holy Spirit to work in His life,
3. He resisted the devil until the devil fled from Him.  

These are the same three things that we should do when Satan tries to tempt us. 

We are not alone in our battle against Satan and the evils of this world.

We can protect ourselves by putting on the full armor of God, as described in Ephesians 6:14-17.

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul referenced six things that make up the full armor of God:

1. Girding our loins with truth,
2. The breastplate of righteousness,
3. The Gospel of peace,
4. The shield of faith,
5. The helmet of salvation,  
6. The sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

To protect us spiritually during times of adversity, God gives us:

1. His Word,
2. His Spirit,
3. Our faith.

The devil would love for us to try to battle him without our armor!   That would make his goal of devouring us so much easier. 

If we are wise, we will take the devil’s attacks seriously, and do everything the Bible says we need to do to protect ourselves.

CONCLUSION

As Christians, we are to act differently than the rest of the world. 

In his second epistle, Peter wrote: 

• “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” – 1 Peter 2:9.

By focusing on God and His commandments and not money, we will stand out from the crowd.

This brings glory to our Father in Heaven.

We will conclude today’s lesson with the following two verses that remind us of the priorities that we as Christians need to have:

1. “Setyour minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth.” – Colossians 3:2,
2. “And do not be conformed to this world, but betransformedby the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” – Romans 12:2.