Keeping Up With Who?

So #5 on my list of budget busters is a tough one – keeping up with the Jones’.  I’m sure we all know we try to do it, but we don’t want to admit it, and most times we don’t want to stop.  Maybe you don’t see why it’s a problem.  I know I didn’t use to.  But then, as usual, God got a hold of me. You see in His Word He says “Thou shalt not covet…anything that belongs to your neighbor” (paraphrase of Deuteronomy 5:21).

Covet?  What does that mean?  It means to want things that other people have.  I have plenty of wonderful sweet friends who have been blessed beyond measure with things that I don’t have, but would love to have.  Herein lies my problem.  I don’t need these things, but I want them.  The problem gets bigger when I link these things with my happiness.  Maybe if I have a bigger, newer house…this kind of car…that kind of kitchen counter top….I could go on…surely then I would be content.  But, I know in my heart of hearts, there would always be something more that I would want.  

My dream home – someday if God wills I will live on the beach 🙂

What God is telling us is that He is the only thing that can fill that void in our soul.  That hole that we get caught up trying to fill up with bigger and better and more stuff.  So, I began to pray that verse over and over again with myself, and to thank God for all the things that I do have. Because, I am blessed beyond measure. Way more than I ever thought possible, and definitely way more than I deserve.  

There will always be someone who has more, or bigger, or better, or newer.  We MUST learn to be content with God has given US.  

There is this phrase that I heard lately, often on twitter or instagram (hence the hashtag) – #firstworldproblem. There are so many people who are simply concerned with whether or not they will have clean water for their children, food for their next meal, or even live another day.  People who live in one room ‘houses’ with dirt floors and cardboard roofs.  

Who am I to whine about this or that thing that I feel I need.  Now, hear me friends – I love pretty things.  I love making my house a home, decorating and beautifying it in my own way.  I’m not saying that having things is bad.  It is the focus of our heart that makes it bad.  It’s about contentment and being happy where you.  Sometimes I need to take a step outside myself and remember how wonderful things already are.  🙂  When I can balance my wants and my needs, my budget is much happier, and so am I.