I love shopping. Especially with my friends. I'm pretty good at it too.I love finding a good deal or a perfect outfit and buying it. I'm also pretty good at spending money. But why do I shop? Technically, I have everything I need. I don't really need another dress or pair of shoes so why buy more? Because I want more. "More", it's one of the first words we learn as a kid because we naturally crave more. Living in America I'm very familiar with the battle against materialism. According to Webster-dictionary.com materialism is "a way of thinking that gives too much importance to material possessions rather than to spiritual or intellectual things". I can only speak for myself personally but I think we can all agree that we to have bought into this kind of thinking. Just yesterday I was scrolling through my clothes board on Pinterest when I thought to myself that I would be so much happier if I had all the adorable outfits I had pinned. I had bought into materialism. I had given a significant amount of importance to whether or not I did or did not have something. Something so trivial. But it goes deeper. My happiness had become dependent on what I was wearing and what I looked like. You see happiness is based upon your circumstances. If your circumstances are bad you're not happy. If your circumstances are good you're happy, at least for a little while. Until we want more. Joy, true long lasting joy comes from only one thing and that is Jesus Christ. You see joy is based not on circumstances but on the over all out come of a situation. That's why we as Christians can have joy all the time. We have already won. When we die, we get to spend eternity with Christ. We've beaten death and that is why we can have joy.
In the first few verses of Ecclesiastes it says "Everything is meaningless". The passage continues to talk about how wealth and knowledge ultimately amounts to nothing. The only thing that matters in the end is our relationship with God. Relationship is the only eternal thing we have in life. All of our possessions are meaningless. They are a "chasing after the wind". So my challenge for you is to invest in the things that matter. Invest in God and the people around you. People's souls are eternal (clothes on the other hand is not). Share Christ with others and let them know how much you care about them. Chose to make a difference starting with the relationships that matter.
In the first few verses of Ecclesiastes it says "Everything is meaningless". The passage continues to talk about how wealth and knowledge ultimately amounts to nothing. The only thing that matters in the end is our relationship with God. Relationship is the only eternal thing we have in life. All of our possessions are meaningless. They are a "chasing after the wind". So my challenge for you is to invest in the things that matter. Invest in God and the people around you. People's souls are eternal (clothes on the other hand is not). Share Christ with others and let them know how much you care about them. Chose to make a difference starting with the relationships that matter.