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The concept of “covetousness” is not often used in modern Russian and is outdated. The word means a passion for wealth, a person’s desire for hoarding, which harms spiritual development. It has an overtly negative connotation. To fully understand the term, it is necessary to turn to its interpretation by numerous Christian sources, since it is closely related to the concept of sin.
Meaning
Covetousness is a passion for profit or greed. These words probably didn’t mean much to a very young reader. But don't despair. Everything is quite simple. Under this now outdated definition lies the common love of money, property and the possession of things among people. That's the whole mystery.
Covetousness is a passion that is traditionally condemned by major religions, but tends to cause envy and lust in other people. For example, a person who rents or buys an expensive yacht for a trip on the river clearly suffers from covetousness. On the other hand, why does he suffer, maybe he, as in the famous joke, enjoys it. Of course, making diagnoses is a thankless task, especially in a world where many are literally obsessed with numbers, coins, salaries and achievements expressed exclusively in dollar terms. Therefore, let’s leave this topic for a while and move on to synonyms.
Evening prayers: what do we repent of?
The lyrics excite the senses, pour elixir into the soul and have no expiration date. Good luck with your creative experiments!
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Next, we must consider negligence, under which heading there are three points: 1) whether negligence is a special sin; 2) what virtue is it opposite to; 3) whether neglect is a mortal sin.
Words and phrases suitable for replacement
It is easier to assimilate new information through synonyms, but something tells me that replacements of the object of study will also have to be interpreted, but this does not matter. Here is the list:
- love of money;
- selfishness;
- love of money;
- passion for profit;
- unhealthy consumerism.
The love of money is an outdated synonym for the phrase “love of money.”
It’s probably worth explaining what unhealthy consumerism is. We live in a world where almost everything goes out of fashion very quickly, but not out of order: phones, computers, idols, popular books. A person seems to constantly live on the needle of new impressions, that is, he constantly needs to excite his mind and his feelings. A huge number of divorces both in the Western world and in Russia fit into this same line. The dominant emotion now is melancholy; in order to dispel it, a person spares no effort and does not consider means.
Covetousness in Christianity
It is in Christianity that the most complete interpretation of the meaning of the word “covetousness” has been preserved. First of all, because despite millennia, the concepts of sin and passion in Christianity and Orthodoxy are fundamental to the Christian worldview .
It is on them that all Christian teaching was built and still is built. And both in the first centuries after the birth of Christ and in the present, this worldview does not lose its relevance. In the Holy Scriptures the word “covetousness” appears repeatedly. Jesus Christ himself speaks about the need to beware of covetousness (Luke 12:15), because in it - in covetousness - there is no life, it deprives a person of life, kills the soul of a person. The Apostle Paul in his epistles repeatedly calls covetousness idolatry (Eph. 5:5), (Col. 3:5-6), and in another place directly states that covetousness is a mortal sin (Eph. 5:3). Mortal sin, even before physical death, kills the soul in a person, makes it incapable of fulfilling the commandments of God, and rejects a person from God.
A covetous person is a person who fell under the influence of this passion, grew its seed in himself, and became obsessed with this sin. For such a person, the desire for material wealth, their acquisition at any cost, becomes the main goal of life. Instead of serving God and neighbor, according to the Christian commandment, man begins to serve matter. The material becomes God for such a person and the covetous person serves him alone.
To achieve his goals, the covetous person comes into contact with a whole bunch of passions and sins (without them, the covetous person will not be able to satisfy his passion - receiving more and more benefits and material values) , among which:
- lie,
- slander,
- forgery and perjury,
- other sins.
Why did many Christian saints say that covetousness is the mother of all evils, the mother of all vices and passions. A covetous person becomes capable of even murder.
Beware of excess
What does this have to do with the synonym for covetousness? It's pretty simple. The entire machine of Western civilization works for the needs of a person with “fattened” needs, this is especially noticeable in America. The way of life clearly demonstrates this: the consumption of water and food. But the most obvious thing is pillows for the bedroom. Americans love a huge number of pillows that do not play any functional role; they are used only as a decorative element.
Of course, it would be easiest to illustrate the love of ownership using the example of new models of phones and other equipment that are released every year, which people are forced to buy with the help of marketing, but this is a little banal.
"One but fiery passion"
We are, of course, talking about covetousness - this is what holds up today’s world, its axis. There is nothing wrong with living well. Problems begin when a person seeks luxury.
But it is difficult to judge a modern Russian for his extensive desires. On the one hand, there is a big world where people are constantly getting richer and enjoying life. The gossip column does not allow us to forget how poor we are. Even middle class people in Russia are poor compared to Hollywood stars. On the other hand, a Russian person has a Soviet past behind him, which frightens him with its shadow and forces him to move forward and earn more and more.
Saints about covetousness
In the Holy Scriptures, the sin of covetousness is recognized as one of the most serious , killing the soul and alienating the covetous from God. Therefore, the Christian heritage - numerous writings of the Holy Fathers - devotes a lot of space to this sin in its sermons, writings and instructions. They explore in sufficient detail and depth the reasons for the emergence of this passion, how it grows and kills a person, and how and by what means to fight covetousness.
- John Chrysostom calls this passion unnatural, and it arises from the desire for glory - vanity and carelessness.
- Anthony the Great says that covetousness is born from lies, forgetfulness of mortal memory and the fear of God.
- Abba Isaiah calls this passion the mother of all evil.
- Ephraim the Syrian says that the covetous is alien to love; on the contrary, he hates his neighbor.
- Gregory of Nyssa points out the lack of peace among those who have enslaved themselves to this passion. They will never be peaceful, calm and happy with what they have and what happens to them.
- John Climacus defines a covetous person as a person bound hand and foot. Like a person who is unable not only to walk, but also to move.
- Ambrose of Milan believes that people groan and suffer more from covetous people and covetous people than from foreign invaders during wars.
- Neil of Sinai says that covetous people are never joyful, they are in constant sadness from too much care and worries.
How to defeat this passion, how to get rid of it? Here, too, the experience of Christian saints is very useful, who not only studied in detail the effects of this or that passion, sin on the human soul, but also in practice helped and are helping those who want to get rid of them.
Saint John Chrysostom believes that the main thing is to want this deliverance. Everything, he believes, depends on desire, just as one wished to voluntarily fall under this passion, one can also get rid of it through desire. And then you need to do things that are opposite to this passion. Loved to collect, start distributing, look around, find those in need and help them. Thus you will lay the foundation for deliverance. In general, doing things opposite to what you did in sin is a method useful in the fight against many other passions and sins. Then find the measure of using what is necessary, only what is really needed for life, and stop caring about more, do not care about it.
The main thing where you need to start fighting with any passion is to ask for God’s help in this , to pray and ask the Mother of God and the saints. Without God’s help, without these prayers, not only will we not be able to get rid of passion, but we won’t even be able to lift a finger.
“The fairy tale is a lie, but there is a hint in it...”
The reader probably does not understand what all this is about and why covetousness is so terrible and disgusting (the meaning of the word has already been discussed). He has one significant drawback, which entails a general disintegration of personality - the oblivion of spiritual values. It is clear that the last phrase is rather vague. But the visual image from the fairy tale about the golden antelope is clearly remembered. Raja is a victim of his own greed. It is easy to imagine how he, the poor fellow, does not sleep, does not eat, but only thinks about how to catch an animal that would bring even more money. Some of our modern business leaders or officials in the service of the sovereign seem to be just such “rajas.” But shouldn’t they refuse those riches that flow into their hands?
Getting rid of quality
To get rid of this sin, you need to admit its presence, repent and convince yourself of the need to get rid of it. After this, you need to change your way of thinking, learn to share with your neighbors, distract yourself from the desire to accumulate and change your social circle. To combat the problem, you can contact a psychologist.
The sin of covetousness has existed for many centuries and is an integral part of the characters of many people. The Bible and other religious sources consider this phenomenon to be the basis of unseemly actions that lead an individual away from God’s commandments. To overcome covetousness, painstaking spiritual work and a struggle with one’s own vices are necessary.
Wedge with wedge
Covetousness is a passion for profit, but does a person have a way out of the situation, because times do not choose? True, but pathological uncreative aspirations can be opposed to a productive line of behavior. For example, do not think about how good it is to be rich and famous or how wonderful it would be to get rich, but think about your calling, your abilities and talents. In other words, try to find yourself in life. And then, you see, capital will not keep you waiting, but you need to think not about them, but about life, creative tasks.
Of course, from the outside it may seem that millionaires are enjoying life. Let's take football players, for example. Nowadays only the lazy or frail do not dream of turning their feet to sports, but this was not always the case. 20 years ago, football had not yet become a business, and when modest young men began their ascent, they did not know what the game would ultimately bring them. They simply chose their path by working hard every day.
Everyone should remember this. Money does not fall from the sky if a person starts something from scratch and has neither influential relatives nor rich parents. You have to aim above money, you have to set yourself extreme goals. Moreover, we already know what “covetousness” means, so you don’t have to waste time on it.
