More is better right? Not always. This is the second of three posts on generosity, looking at Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. In the first post I looked at why it is that Jesus told us to store up our treasure in heaven, which means to give to those in financial need. Put simply, being generous to those in need is an easy way to draw close to God. Generosity aligns your heart and mind with God.

Greed Will Fill You With Darkness

Jesus gave a second reason for giving to the needy and it comes with a warning. It sounds a little cryptic, but read it and I'll unpack it for you:

The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!  Matthew 7:22,23

In other words: how you see the world will impact who you are. If you see the world through the eyes of greed, then darkness will fill your life. But if you see the world through eyes of generosity, your life will be filled with light. The choice between greed and generosity is also a choice between dark and light.

Jesus is helping us see how we can avoid a life of darkness and invite God to fill our lives with his light. This is helpful information!

Greed Will Separate You From God

The third reason to store up treasures in heaven flows from common sense:

No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. Matthew 6:24

In a slave culture, this made a lot of sense. Every slave knew how hard it was to keep two masters happy. But you don't have to be a slave to understand this dilemma. If you’ve ever worked two jobs at the same time, or if you are a stay-at-home parent and work a part-time job, the same is true. I know I can relate.

Years ago, I was a full-time farmer. Really. Long story. But then I had the chance to work at a local church in a part-time position.  I thought being a part-time farmer and a part-time pastor would be the perfect world! But it wasn’t. It was the worst because I felt like I was letting everyone down. When I was at church, I kept thinking of all the things I needed to get done on the farm. And when I was on the farm, I kept thinking about all the things I needed to do at the church.

So that’s when I decided that I had to say good-bye to my life on the farm and go full time into ministry. I couldn’t serve two masters. Maybe you've been in a similar situation.

Jesus said it’s the same way when you try to please yourself and God. You can’t make either happy. When you are being generous with your money to help others, you lament that you could be spending that on yourself. But when your greed overtakes you and you focus on yourself, you feel guilty.

There's only one way to solve this problem: you have to decide who you’ll serve. Will you serve God by being generous with your money, or will you embrace greed by keeping all your money for yourself?

You Have to Choose

Our culture worships money and is always looking for more worshippers to join the crowd. It's under the illusion that money will buy it happiness. But Jesus came to help us see what is true. Our love of money and material goods will fill us with darkness and move us away from God. We have to actively choose the path our life will take. Which path is for you? In the next post, I'll add one more thought from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount on .

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