This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too

An elderly Cherokee Native American was teaching his grandchildren about life...

When I think about the war that rages in me I think perhaps it should not be two wolves, it should be two packs of wolves, wolves that as you feed them, they breed even more wolves of evil or wolves of good. The wolves that particularly interest me today are the wolf of greed and the wolf of contentment. Inside us we have two voices, one argues that having even more is better, the others argues we should be content with what we have and perhaps even make do with less. Which one should win? Which one should we feed by following its advice? We all want to be content, but contentment is not found in feeding our greed.

It is natural for us to want more. Children quickly learn the concept of mine. That’s mine. When I was a child there was an expression I heard at family dinners – my eyes are bigger than my stomach. We were expected to eat everything we took, but it was not unusual for our eyes to want more than we could pack in. It is natural to want, but Jesus taught in Luke 12:15: “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” This is the principle I have been chasing these last few weeks, arguing that desire and wealth and today greed do not fulfill the promise of lasting pleasure but instead result in pain and suffering.

We have considered our natural tendencies to suffer from Afluenza – the desire to have bigger and better and more things, and Credititis – the illness of taking on debt because we can buy now and pay later. A third malady is our tendency to never be satisfied with anything long term, which Adam Hamilton calls the Restless Heart syndrome. We are always looking for the next new and better thing. What we have loses its appeal when compared to the shiny new things. Our two year old car that could still go another 100,000 miles can’t compare with the one that smells brand new. Our 3G phone isn’t so good when the 4G service comes on line. Our old wife doesn’t look as good as our new co-worker. If we allow our restless hearts to drive us we chase an ideal all the way to disaster.

But how can we be sure that greed is bad, it certainly motivates people to action? Perhaps the people with the most stuff really are the happiest. Maybe someone should do an experiment. The book we call Ecclesiastes, it’s in the Old Testament right after Proverbs, is a report from a man who did an experiment in having everything he desired. He denied himself nothing. Come now, he said, I will make a test of pleasure, I will have whatever I desire. Greed is the excessive desire for more than one needs. And this man did a test to see if having everything he wanted, way more than he needed, would be fulfilling. He wanted to know what would happen if he gave into his greed?

He tried wine, or drinking to excess, he tried folly – doing whatever foolish or useless thing he felt like, he tried building bigger homes and gardens, he bought lots of slaves to work for him and herds and flocks – he had more stuff than anybody in the capital city of Jerusalem. He gathered gold and silver and treasures, he hired the best singers and entertainers and even had many concubines. He was famous. But in the end it was all vanity –emptiness- and chasing after the wind. The end result was nothing gained. His conclusion was that, while it felt good to gather all these pleasures to himself, in the end it left him empty and searching. Giving himself over to his greed did not bring contentment.

Of course, some level of discontentment makes for a great motivator to get us busy and accomplish things, so it is not all bad to want better things or want things to be better. The problem is when we allow our desire for more than we need, our greed, to devalue the things and relationships we have or destroy the commitments we have made. The hard part is deciding what to be content with and when not to rest. When should our self-control slow us down, and when should it force us on?

A Scottish philosopher and politician named James MacKintosh said (p. 56): “It is right to be contented with what we have, but never with what we are.” In other words, discontent should be a powerful motivator to “improve our moral character, our spiritual life, our pursuit of holiness, our desire for justice, and our ability to love.” In the area of material things we should be quick to say enough is enough. In the area of our moral character and our relationship with God and others, we should always be moving on toward perfection.

1. 
   Remember it could be worse. When something seems bad, imagine how it could be worse.
   
2. 
   Ask yourself, “How long will this make me happy?” When you consider something, ask if the lasting effect will be good.
   
3. 
   Develop a grateful heart. List out the things you have to be thankful for.
   
4. 
   Ask yourself, “Where does my soul find true satisfaction?” Recognize that things cannot fill the hole that only God can fill. Don’t expect more of people than they can give.
   

1. 
   Choose to reduce your consumption and live below your means. Pick a habit you don’t like and begin to cut back.
   
2. 
   Before purchasing consider your needs and wants. Always ask, is this a need or a want? What will happen if I don’t buy it?
   
3. 
   Use something up before buying something new. Many times new is not necessary. Take better care of your stuff. Reduce, reuse and recycle.
   
4. 
   Plan low-cost entertainment that enriches. There are many ways to interact and have a lot of fun that do not require a lot of money.
   
5. 
   Consider major changes that would simplify your life. Big ticket items like fancy cars and big homes can have an impact across your whole budget. Stop chasing the American dream of everything in excess and live a simpler lifestyle.
   

Paul says that in Christ Jesus we have been called to freedom (that’s Galatians 5:13), only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. How will we chose to live? Hamilton asks the question this way, Which tent will you live in? Discontentment or contentment. Feeding your Greed leads to discontentment. Simplicity and self-restraint lead to contentment.