Page 32 - The Prosperous Way _ (APRIL 2024 v3)

THE PROSPEROUS WAY

The Miriam Webster dictionary defines covetousness as having “a
craving for possession of a thing, or to have an inordinate desire for
wealth or for another person's possessions.”

In scriptural terms, covetousness means craving or lusting after what
belongs to someone else instead of being satisfied with what is your
own. The last sin named in the 10 Commandments in Exodus 20 is
covetousness—"You shall not covet your neighbour’s house. You shall
not covet your neighbour’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or
donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour" (Exodus 20:17;
NIV). It is this covetousness, this greed, that the Bible, both Old and New
Testament, speaks so strongly against.

CONTENTMENT—THE GREED ANTIDOTE

If greed is such a danger to our spiritual well-being, how should we
guard against it? Let’s return to the passage that we studied in the last
chapter, but now with a different emphasis: “GOD IS ABLE TO MAKE
ALL GRACE ABOUND TO YOU, SO THAT ALWAYS HAVING

SUFFICIENCY IN ALL THINGS, YOU MAY ABOUND IN EVERY GOOD
WORK’’ (2 Corinthians 9:8). In this same word “sufficiency,” lies the
secret recipe for the “greed antidote.”

As mentioned before, the Greek word ”autarkeia” translated
“sufficiency” here can also be translated as “self-complacency“ or
“contentment.” To be content means to have an inward self-satisfaction
that is unrelated to your present circumstances. Here is a familiar
passage of Scripture in which the apostle Paul uses the root word for
sufficiency (autarkēs) in this sense of being content:

“Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in
whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with
humble means, and I also know how-to live-in prosperity; in any
and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled
and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering
need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me .”
(Philippians 4:11-13)

Similarly, in his letter to Timothy, Paul writes that: “Godliness with
contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and

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