The Bible has a lot to say about greed, and it is never painted as a positive thing. 1 Timothy 6:10 says that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. In Matthew 6:24 Jesus says that no one can serve two masters, as you cannot serve both God and money. Hebrews 13:5 encourages to keep life free from the love of money and to be content with whatever one has. Ecclesiastes 5:10 notes that whoever loves money or wealth is never satisfied. Proverbs 15:27 warns that the greedy bring ruin to their households. We are starting to get the picture.
In Luke 12, Jesus tells the parable of the rich fool. It begins with someone shouting, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me” (vs. 13). Jesus’ response was that he is not a judge or arbitrator over him. The he said, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (vs. 15). Then he went into his parable about the rich fool.
In the story, the land produced abundantly. Instead of being generous with the excess, he thought “What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?” (vs. 17). So he tore down all his barns and built larger ones. It was his response that was sinful: “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry” (vs. 19). God told him that very night his soul would be required of him. The issue was not that he stored up treasure on earth but that he did so without being generous to God: “So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God” (vs. 21).