I apologize ahead of time for the rambling...
I am reading a book called "7" by Jen Hatmaker... it is about how Jen and her family took seven months to identify seven areas of excess and made seven simple choices to fight back against the modern-day diseases of greed, materialism, and overindulgence...
I am not sure how to take it all yet, I feel like I need to simplify things all the time... I know it is okay to splurge and indulge in things like a pedicure... but is it worth it? What if I decided that instead of using that money for a pedicure, new clothes or a drink from sonic or "fill in the blank" and put it towards something that would better the kingdom of Christ...but... I'm human and I do a very good job at justifying things... for a few months now ive been on the search for a double jogging stroller and finally I found one on craigslist that we picked up tonight. As I put it in my garage I notice that we own 4 strollers now... WE ONLY HAVE 2 KIDS!!! So I need to get rid of a couple right? Find someone who really needs one... but the greed in me thinks "I might need it someday" so do I let it sit in my garage and let it collect dust because "I might use it" or do I actually give it away?
My family has been blessed beyond measures... We live in a nice house, drive a nice van, and wear nice clothes.... While I know we got a older house... a used van... and shop at the goodwill most of the time I still have the wonder of whether or not I am letting materialism overrun our life... maybe once I've read the whole book I will be able to put all these thoughts to an end and have some answers :) but for now ill focus on Gods word...
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
“Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5
You are a great example! It is a challenge sometimes to deal with this whole "being human" thing. I may have to pick up the book! :)
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I certainly need to read this book....as Papa Blain always said, "you can justify anything in your own head"! I sure need to get much better at doing with less!!
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