THE GIFT OF MONEY 27; WEALTH OR COVETOUSNESS?

"When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost." - Billy Graham 

Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. He was regarded as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century, he is often referred to as "the King of Rock and Roll", or simply, "the King". At his death he had three jets, two Cadillacs, a Rolls Royce, a Lincoln Continental, two station wagons, a jeep, a custom touring bus and three motorcycles. His Cadillac limo top was covered with pearl-white Naugahyde, and the body was sprayed with 40 coats of special paint containing crushed diamonds. Nearly all the metal trim was plated in 18 - carat gold. It was equipped with two gold-flake telephones, a gold vanity case containing a gold electric razor and gold hair clippers, an electric shoe buffer, a gold-plated TV, a record player, amplifier, air conditioner and electrical system for operating any kind of household appliance, and a refrigerator capable of making ice in 2 minutes. When Elvis Presley came to the end of his life, he died a lonely and unhappy man. Why?

It's ironic how life is; the things we think will satisfy us does not, and what God says will satisfy us we ignore. That's why Presley died lonely. He ignored the important things. It is very possible to be wealthy and still be very godly. Some of God’s outstanding people were wealthy. Very wealthy; Abraham, Joseph (he was second to Pharaoh in Egypt), Job was wealthy before his trials and even more wealthy after them. He was the wealthiest man in the east. Covetousness destroys any possibility of God’s gifts working in our lives. Covetousness and God’s blessing cannot both abide together
in our hearts. The Bible doesn’t condemn wealth. It does condemn covetousness - this makes wealth the aim of life. The important things we should really seek in life is what God alone can give us - the gifts of the Spirit.

Covetousness gives, Instead of love, suspicion and hatred, sorrow and heartache instead of joy, instead of peace, unrest, instead o f goodness, we have miserliness, instead of meekness, we have arrogance and in place of self-control, there's self-confidence.

There are many scriptures that support being wealth; however, the love of money (wealth) is the root cause of all evil, not wealth or money itself. God doesn’t condemn wealth - He actually desires it for us, but the "love" of it - which makes wealth the aim of life.