So everybody gets needs and wants confused from time to time, right?
And more than likely all of us have had a moment when we thought this car or that sweater or this pair of running shoes—things that we’ve told ourselves we need—will somehow transform the quality of our lives and fix all our problems.
When I was a junior in college, the thing that was going to change my life in a thousand ways was a Dooney & Bourke purse. I could picture myself walking to class with “my Dooney” (as I called it) on my shoulder, and I could imagine what it would feel like to open the Dooney and take out my wallet to buy my lunch at Popeye’s.
Because nothing says “easy sophistication” like using an expensive handbag when you’re ordering a two-piece spicy fried chicken dinner with a side of red beans and rice and a Dr Pepper.
Well, in the winter of my junior year, all my Dooney dreams came true when I finally received “my Dooney” as a Christmas gift. And after that purse and I drove back to Starkville, it made everything better for approximately four seconds when a friend of mine said, “Ooooh, great purse!” But then, in the strangest way, the thrill was gone. It was just the same ole me—only with slightly fancier baggage.
Ultimately that’s what materialism does to us. It’s a placebo. We think that it’s going to make us all better—and maybe for a period of time we tell ourselves it does—but in the end it doesn’t improve anything at all.
Because here’s the deal: shiny things make lots of promises they just can’t keep. Money and possessions don’t solve our problems as much as they expose them. They can’t fix what’s actually broken. But our preoccupation with them reveals that we are all looking to be filled up with something, we are all looking to identify with something, and we are all looking for some acceptance that we think the world and its trinkets can offer us.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with nice things—oh, heavens no! The problem is that we turn those nice things into idols (heyyyy, “my Dooney”). We elevate them to places of importance they were never meant to hold. So today, ask the Lord to open your eyes to the idols that block Him from your view. Ask Him to help you identify if and how materialism is holding you back from walking with Him. And then thank Him for the grace of a new perspective and a fresh start.
God loves you so much. He gives you everything you really need.
1. Can you think of a time when something shiny (so to speak) has captured your attention? What was it? Explain.
2. Now that you have the gift of hindsight, do you think you were looking to that thing to fix or change your life in some way? Did you have any acceptance or approval tied up in it?
3. What are some specific ways we can fight the good fight against materialism? How can we stand firm against the idol of stuff?
4. Read 1 Timothy 6:6–7. Write out the verses here.
Today’s Prayer