Fishing for Happiness in the Wade Pool of Greed

When relationships and marriages crumble, couples claim that it was due to their irreconcilable differences. True love, however, slashes through the red tape of "negotiations" and settles with forgiveness and reconciliation. The temptation to walk away from a relationship that is mislabeled as "unhealthy" is a glue stick fix in many cases to a broken board. You need a nail! We don’t work hard to keep what we have. We throw something good and precious and valuable away for a "fake" because at the time we are so blinded by discontentment, lust, and selfishness that we cannot see clearly what we want or even have.

Why do we throw away a diamond for a cubic zirconium stating financial standing or sexual satisfaction? These are circumstances that are subject to change. We use politically correct excuses to camouflage our behavior but miss the directive that love is the key to a solid relationship. Our coveting hearts push us to go bigger... buy bigger houses, TV’s, computers, cars, more clothes...Contentment takes back seat to our fleshly desires... Like fish... we chase after plastic crank bait that shines... and glitters... We take the hook, it's set, and we are consumed...

James 4:2-3 says it well, "You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure."

The Bible dispatches a BOLO on greed "Luke 12:15 “Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” Greed is a weakness. It is one of the Ten Commandments that cause people to fail the other 9... People murder for greed, they steal because of greed, they bear false witness because of greed, and commit adultery because of greed, and covet their neighbor’s house and wife and girlfriend and boyfriend and idolize things and possessions because of greed...How much does greed affect you? This Decalogue is a "moral compass" of sorts that guides us to a path of happiness and satisfaction instead of a path that leads to prison and capture....

Greed shows up on another "hot list" called the "deadly sins" or "cardinal sins"...these include extravagance, lust, sloth, greed, envy, wrath, pride, vainglory, and others.... greed is the root problem of all these as well...

Your current feelings of romance and satisfaction are based on your level of "work"... if you are a "taker" and "cut and run" at the first hurdle, you will always fail in the "stock market of love"... your balance will always be at zero because you invest minimal and want a big return... Nothing...even in relationships is that easy... When storms arise, when the market crumbles, when the money dwindles, credit rises, possessions collect dust, you sell your diamond for a fake... you are left with NOTHING

Search your heart for clear glasses... erase greed from your life... and learn to take shelter in the storms with a heart that puts others first.. And yourself last... you will finally find peace and contentment when you are satisfied with what you have now... if not... you will run your whole life on wasted steam... and end up lonely, miserable, fake, and with no purpose... Don’t squander love like your money...don’t waste your life chasing plastic minnows...