Sold Out Live

Materialism is defined by Merriam-Webster Online as “a preoccupation with or stress upon material rather than intellectual or spiritual things”.  There’s a lie that we see around us and on television that says, “Happiness can be purchased — Life, Liberty, and the Purchase of happiness.  If I can just get a certain thing, then I’ll be happy.”  We get more and more.  If that were true, obviously the people with the most would be the most happy, but that’s just not true, is it?  Dr. Luke, in Luke 9:25, says, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?”  We may have everything in this world but still feel like we have gained nothing.

You see, we make a living by what we get.  We make a life by what we give.  Many times when college kids become young professionals, those who have not learned to be responsible with money tend to just be focused on buying anything they want.  Sometimes doing it to the point of getting a no credit payday loan without the readiness to pay it back responsibly.  Well, guess what? The antidote to a materialistic attitude is being generous. It is through giving that we learn to think of others instead of just ourselves, especially when we give to meet other’s needs.  If you’ve never tried this, I challenge you to do so.