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Jesus tells us in Luke 12:15, ““Watch out 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.”

This is a lesson we need to learn, isn’t it? That life in Christ is not about all the stuff. How does this get twisted? Well, this gets twisted because Jesus told us that He has come to give us life and that life more abundantly. Jesus said He wants us to have an abundant life. And we hear that, and we hear how people twist that, and we hear the prosperity gospel preachers talking about this, and Jesus doesn’t want you sick. Jesus doesn’t want you unhappy. Jesus doesn’t want you poor and needy and destitute and hurting and suffering. Jesus wants you healthy, wealthy, and wise. Well, first off, if Jesus wants it, it’s going to happen. If Jesus wants it, it’s going to happen. Who can thwart the will of God? But what does He mean when He says that He’s come to give us an abundant life? The word abundant is a word that means capacity. He has given us a greater capacity for living than we ever had.

Why? Because now we can live in holiness. Now we can live in righteousness. Now we can bear the fruit of the Spirit. And beforehand, we didn’t even have the ability, the capacity to do that. So the word abundant is not even about stuff. If you’re hung up on stuff, and I know I’ve arrived or I’ve got the stuff, how much stuff do you have to have to be happy? A little bit more than what you’ve got, right? That’s how it is with stuff. It’s never enough because you’ve got what you’ve got. But then there’s this other stuff. And if I had this other stuff, it would match with all this stuff. And then I would have even more stuff.

No, it’s not about the stuff. It’s about the Spirit. It’s not about covetousness. In fact, Colossians 3:5 Paul writes, “Therefore, consider the members of your earthly body as dead to sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry.” How does the lust of eyes, how does covetousness equate with idolatry? Because if you are operating in covetousness, who are you making God of your life? Self. You’re making what you want supreme. It’s the ultimate idolatry. So Hebrews 13:5 says, “Make sure that your way of life 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.” What an amazing verse. You don’t need to be covetousness, you need to be content with what you have.

And what do you have? Well, let’s start with the top of the list. You have Jesus Christ who will never leave you or forsake you. Do you think that’s enough? More than enough. When Paul says it in Philippians, “I can do all things through Christ.” You know the context? The immediate context is being content. Why does he have to tell us I can do all things through Christ? Because contentment is not easy. But it starts with realizing I have Christ, and He has me, and that’s enough.

What about the pride of life? What about reputation? The desire for glory and preeminence? He’s already told us the false teachers want to have the preeminence. In James 4, James starts the chapter, “What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have, so you murder. You are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.”

Once again, we’re doing what we want for what we need or think we need or think we deserve. It’s all for self. It is selfish ambition, and it leads to strife. Colossians 1:18, Paul wrote, “And He is the head of the body, the church; Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.” We don’t need to fight for first place. It’s not about the preeminence because when it comes to us, what’s preeminent? Who is preeminent? Christ is preeminent and that’s all that matters. He should be first and foremost in our thinking, in our actions, in our words. He has the preeminence. God has given him the preeminence.

Quit seeking other things in his place. In 3 John, verse 9, John says, “I wrote something to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not welcome what we say.” There are those who simply love to be noted and noticed. And this is the warning from Peter. Those who are walking like this, driven by desire, walking according to the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life, these are false teachers.

These, especially these, God is reserving for judgment. But that’s not all they do. It gets worse. Stay tuned.