Your life should be free from the love of money. Be satisfied with what you have, for He Himself has said, I will never leave you or forsake you. Therefore, we may boldly say: The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? Hebrews 13:5-6 HCSB
With Halloween behind us, we look forward to Thanksgiving. Interestingly enough, we celebrate Thanksgiving about a month before Christmas. Hopefully, it is a time to reflect on all the things in our lives we are thankful for. But sadly, often times it is a time of worrying about getting the perfect gift. We ponder on the things we will receive, and we also want to make sure we get what those on our list want.
I won’t say there aren’t times I think about something I would like to have for the holidays. I can, however, honestly say there is nothing I need. For many years, I would spend the pre-holiday evenings in front of the television watching all the commercials for the new toys coming out. I would say over and over again, “I want that.” My mom would always reply with, “Your wants will never hurt you.”
What mom was trying to get me to understand was it was okay to want something. It didn’t hurt to want or hope for something, but we had to be careful about getting things we did not need and could not afford. We have become a society that wants it and wants it now.
Even as adults, there are so many cool gadgets out there that we are like those little kids watching those commercials. We see all these things and think, “I want that.”
Our Scripture passage tells us we should not love money. We are told in 1 Timothy 6:10, the love of money is the root of all evil. So, what exactly is the love of money? Well, according to Bible.org, the love of money is defined as a decision or desire to pursue wealth for personal consumption and luxury. It goes on to say those who love money are willing to do anything for the sake of it, without regards to the morality of it. They don’t mind doing whatever it takes even if it’s stealing or killing to obtain more money. They feel no guilt over what they do to get it. They put the pursuit of money before the pursuit of God.
We are told in Ecclesiastes 5:10, the one who loves money is never satisfied with money and whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with income. The one who loves money can never get enough of it and will continue to do whatever it takes to get more.
This is not God’s desire for our lives. God wants us to focus on Him and trust Him to provide all we need (Matthew 6:33). When we rely on money rather than God, we will find we always fall short.
There was a time in my life when my job wasn’t good enough. I loved my job, but I wanted a better job earning more money. It took a while, but I finally realized I was right where God wanted me to be. Once I accepted this, God blessed me with raises and gave me a good income from the job I was doing.
If you find you are never content with what you have, I encourage you to serve God through working at a homeless shelter, domestic violence shelter, or through a food or clothing ministry. Serve those less fortunate than yourself and you will quickly learn to be content. You will realize God has provided all you need. You will see that He will take good care of you.
When we have God, we have all we will ever need. David wrote in Psalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want”. David knew as long as He had God beside his side, God would take good care of him.
As we enter this holiday season, focus on the true reason for the season. Be content with what you have and teach your children to do the same. Let them know that the greatest gift we could ever receive is salvation through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
If you have this, you have all you’ll ever need.
Have a great day!