Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:00 — 4.1MB)
We also expect too much of our possessions. The messages we receive all around us are that by owning things, we will find contentment and satisfaction. But, believe me, it’s a lie.
Before I came back to the Lord, I thought that status symbols would fulfill me, so I accumulated clothes and things to impress people and myself. When I moved to Chicago I bought a large nice condo, even though it stretched me financially to do so. And the reason I wanted that condo was because I thought living in that nice place would make me happy. Of course, it didn’t work.
We all fall into this trap, don’t we? What is it right now in your mind that you have been thinking: “If only I had this, then I would be happy”? A certain house? A new car? Designer clothes? Some new furniture? They’ll make you feel good for about one or two days, and then the glow wears off and you feel empty again.
Unrealistic expectations of things and possessions will cause you to be a slave to those things, and you’ll keep trying to get more and more to fill up the emptiness. But they never will.
One thing I have to keep teaching myself is to limit my time spent in shopping, in looking at all those catalogs that flood my mailbox, in dreaming about the things I’d like to have. I can so easily rationalize why I should buy that “thing” I’m looking at, and how invaluable it will be to my life. But if I don’t think about things or look at them as much, those temptations are fewer.
What I’ve noticed is that since I’ve begun to adjust my expectations about buying and owning more things, I’m able to enjoy the things I have much more. God wants us to enjoy the gifts he has loaned us, but we often miss the joy of what we have because we’re wishing we had something more.