When More is Never Enough

Something needs to die?

When it comes to cake, I can still be greedy. I remember my father bringing a tray of an array of cakes to us as children—four hungry kids eyeing up the best cake on the tray. My brother reached out like lightning for the cream cake, only to be intercepted by my father, who said, "Good choice. Now, who are you giving that to?"

You can imagine my brother’s face! Greed, I learned (cough!), is not good; it's sneaky. It doesn’t announce itself or walk into the room and declare, “I’m here to ruin your soul.” No, greed is as subtle as a pig at a bar mitzvah. It dresses itself up as responsibility, as wisdom, as security. It whispers, You deserve this—just a little more, and then you’ll be safe... then you’ll be happy, secure, content and able to rest. Sleep. Relax.

And here’s the thing: greed isn’t just about money. You can be poor and greedy: it’s about control and self-sufficiency. It’s about building a life where you don’t really need God (or even people) because you’ve insulated yourself with enough possessions, enough investments, enough backup plans to make sure you’re covered.

Ultimately, it’s about worshipping the created thing instead of the Creator.

Which is exactly why Paul, writing to the Colossians, calls greed what it really is: idolatry.

"Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry." (Colossians 3:5, ESV)

Two Sides of the Same Coin

You will have spotted that it says "covetousness" in the verse, not greed. Greed and covetousness are closely linked but not identical—I would explain it as: greed is the insatiable desire for more—more money, more power, more security. Covetousness, on the flip side, is the desire for what someone else has; their house, car, iPhone or donkey.

It’s comparison-fuelled longing, the voice that says, I won’t be content until I have what they have. Covetousness does that old chestnut of comparing and contrasting, which never ends well.

At their core, both reveal the same misplaced trust. They whisper the same lie: You have ‘tons’ of ‘stuff’ but what you have isn’t enough. What God has given isn’t enough. You need more…

This is why Paul equates covetousness with idolatry—because both shift our worship away from

God

and place it on possessions, status, or success.

I'm not sure where and how Elon Musk with his net worth of $428 billion features in this, he has to answer for himself—I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to be richer than everyone and yet still covet or hanker for more, much more...

When Stuff Has You

Now, let’s be clear. It’s okay to have stuff. But don’t let the stuff have you. The problem isn’t money, houses, careers, or possessions. The problem is when those things become your source—when they hold your affections, dictate your decisions, and define your security.

Jesus raises the challenge:

"No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money." (Matthew 6:24, ESV)

Notice that Jesus doesn’t say, It’s hard to serve both. He says, You can't. Money—when it becomes your master—will demand everything. It will shape your priorities, consume your thoughts, and constantly move the goalposts of what you think you need.

Have you ever noticed that enough is always just a little bit more than what you currently have? That’s how greed works. It never lets you rest. It's a brutal taskmaster.

The Lie That Keeps Us Chasing

At its core, greed whispers the same lie that the serpent told Eve in the garden: God is holding out on you. There’s something else you need in order to truly live—you are incomplete without it...

It’s the lie that keeps us checking our bank accounts obsessively, the lie that makes us anxious about what we don’t have, the lie that fuels comparison and competition—and it’s exhausting.

The Gospel Tells a Better Story

The invitation of Jesus is not just to stop being greedy. It’s a change of focus, of values—a total paradigm shift. It’s to be free—to step out of the cycle of wanting, hoarding, and securing, and to live with open hands instead of clenched fists.

When Jesus is enough for you—becomes your enough—money loses its malicious, strong, iron grip. When your security is in Him, you don’t have to control everything. When your identity is rooted in His love, you don’t need to prove your worth by what you own. It's why generosity is so powerful—it breaks the back of greed. Every time you give, you’re declaring: Money is not my god. My trust is in Christ.

Paul is assertive, Put greed to death. Gosh! Don’t play with it. Don’t poke it with a stick. Don’t justify it. Kill it. Not because God is against your success or your possessions, but because He loves you too much to let you be owned by them—you already have everything you need. In Christ, you are rich beyond measure.

Provision? It’d take another 1,000 words to cover all the promises that God extends to those who are in Christ, other than to summarise it as: whatever you need... He is enough.