1. Getting xxxxxxxx will make me happy and better
You can change the xxxxx with anything you want. New car, new phone, new job, new house, new body, new vacation, …the list is endless. Yet, the bible has a lot to say about joy, and none of it has to do with new stuff. If your relationship with God and others is out of whack nothing in the world will fulfill you. Nothing. So, something new will only reduce your net worth (if not a capital good) and joy comes from within.
2. Your lifestyle corresponds to your income.
When our income increases and so does our lifestyle. This is actually true but is fully dependent on you. You can choose to increase your lifestyle even when your income is stable or you can choose to remain the same even when your income has increased. We wouldn't have any eternal treasure (Matthew 6) if every time our income increased so did our generosity, not our consumption?
3. You use net-worth to determine self-worth.
Imagine you’re getting on an elevator at a hotel. One of the cleaners gets on at the next floor, and to your surprise so does Osei Kwame Despite. Between the cleaner and Despite, who are you more intimidated to talk to? Who do you judge as more important? Let’s go deeper…as you stand next to these two individuals, without even saying a word which one makes you feel better about your status in life and which one makes you feel like you haven’t achieved anything?
In our country, wealth is the biggest measuring rod we use to determine success. Appearance is probably second to that. So when we’re around beautiful and wealthy people we feel a mixture of intimidation and envy. And when we’re around folks we perceive to have less money or attractiveness than us we feel proud about ourselves.
But is this how God determines a person’s value? If not, is it how you should?
Conclusion: I’m not against owning nice things or having wealth. I’m just against those things owning you. To be clear, the bible never says “don’t be rich.” But it is clear that our hope is never to be in wealth but in God. I Timothy 6:17-19 sums it up perfectly:
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way, they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly
PS. I’m sure there are more red flags than the three I listed, but these are the ones that pop-up in my life. If you can think of others, please post them in the comments section!
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Have blessed moments.
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