Comparison is the Thief of Joy - Luke 12:13-15

I’ve really struggled with connecting with the scriptures recently, and I’m not sure why. The rest of Luke chapter 11 and the first 12 verses of chapter 12 is made up of topics that we’ve already covered so I’m going to skip past those parts again and update the previous entries with the new references. Starting with Luke chapter 12 verse 13, the Savior is confronted by a man who implores him, “speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me.” This issue with inheritance has plagued mankind since probably before Adam and Eve died, I know at least 2 families that have experienced shattered relationships because someone convinced senile grandma to sign some papers giving them everything before she was declared mentally incompetent. It’s been years and there are still people who won’t speak to each other because of hurt feelings over the dividing of an inheritance, so that this man is seeking the Savior’s help is nothing out of the ordinary in the course of human affairs. This is us so many times, we ask the Lord for help in a situation, but we don’t ask him to give us what we need, but we ask him to give us what we want. This man approached Jesus asking him to tell his brother to share with him, but Jesus tells the man what he really needs is not his part of the money, but to “take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” The IM quotes Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin as teaching, “Beware of covetousness. It is one of the great afflictions of these latter days. It creates greed and resentment. Often it leads to bondage, heartbreak, and crushing, grinding debt.”

I contest that the issue of wanting what someone else has is not a latter day issue as much as it’s ingrained in our human nature. One of the most remarkable lessons that I’ve ever learned in life is that the grass isn’t greener on the other side, it’s green where you water it. For instance, my basement flooded again last night, and I wanted to curl up into a ball and cry, and I was like “really Jesus, I really needed to deal with this right now?!” I started looking at new houses and thought, “ok that’s it I’m moving.” But because the Savior is most merciful with me, I realized that if I bought a new house because this one kept giving me problems, any other house would have problems as well, they might not be plumbing but it would be something else. The Lord also helped me see how incredibly blessed I am, yes, my basement flooded, but I have insurance to cover it now. My house might need some work, but at least I still have a place to live, at least I still have food to eat and water to drink and a good job. After seeing everything from the vantage point of gratitude I was better prepared to make good choices and be happy about my situation, who knows, maybe something good might come out of it, I wanted to redo that bathroom anyway.

By nature, we are covetous people, we want more stuff, we want more money and power, we want what other people have, and we are never satisfied with our own blessings. The process of becoming grateful and satisfied with what we have is the quest of a lifetime, and it truly is life changing. I’m a firm believer that nothing outside of us can fix what feel from within, there is no amount of stuff, no amount of money, no man or woman or child or animal that can fix what’s wrong with our hearts. If we seek riches or prominence, it’s a black hole. We seeking things outside of ourselves to satisfy yearnings we have within ourselves to be better people, and because the only way to satisfy those yearnings is to become more like the Savior. If we try to substitute anything else with Jesus, then it will not satisfy so we will seek more and more, it becomes a form of self-destruction. Jesus is telling that man that the inheritance that his brother is keeping from him will not make him happy, but living by eternal principles will.