Money is easy to spend.
There, someone finally said it. Now that this deep mystery of life is solved we can all go on with our lives.
*cough*
The reality is North Americans spend a lot of money on things that aren’t essential for our lives. I have been tremendously guilty of this for a long time.
Do $15 drinks really make my life better?
Do $300 shirts improve the quality of my relationships with friends and family?
Does being seen in designer clothes at high end clubs by people I’ll never see again really do anything to improve my sense of self-worth?
I certainly hope not.
When it comes to wealth, what is seen on the outside can often be very misleading.
Take Bernie Madoff, he was loaded beyond people’s wildest dreams, but it was all on the surface, there was no long term sustainability and he was literally robbing from people to keep himself afloat. Ironically, Bernie also gave lavish and expensive gifts to friends and family which caused many people to think of him as generous.
In the end, Bernie is going to sit in a jail cell for the rest of his life and all the money that he stole from others, along with the lifestyle it paid for, is gone forever.
Or take my Grandfather, he was a man who loved his family but loved money even more. After he and my Grandmother divorced, according to her he left behind a sizable debt, he remarried a younger woman who desired a standard of living that was beyond his reach. My Grandfather was working until he was seventy seven years old, literally right up until he became ill and died. In the end, he couldn’t stop working because he had lived in a manner that prevented him from saving for retirement.
These are some exaggerated examples of living beyond our means, but just what drives us to live like this?
Peer validation? Comfort?
I can’t imagine anything more embarrassing or uncomfortable than Madoff or my Grandfather’s life stories.
Proverbs 12:9
Better to be a nobody and yet have a servant than pretend to be somebody and have no food
Living from paycheck to paycheck can also be spiritually debilitating as money worries can be very distracting. If our debts are high, or we’re constantly pushing ourselves towards new monetary goals, this can sometimes overshadow important and valuable things in our lives.
Luke 8:14
The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature
Also, when we live from paycheck to paycheck to the point where our money is spent before we receive it, we have to ask: how easy or desirable is it to leave money for tithing? When we feel confined by finances it can feel like a burden to spend our money systematically without being able to indulge in something nice once in a while. But what are the things we want to indulge in, are they really worth it? Are they worth begruding our responsibilities and ability to help others when we can’t afford things we want?
2 Corinthians 9:7
Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver
Once I hit a certain level of success, I started to understand that money was pretty irrelevant to me personally. I don’t need much to be happy and so I started to embrace the idea that sitting in a night club in designer clothes was just not who I am as a person. Sure it was interesting to be stared at every time I walked in a room, or used the streets of San Francisco as a catwalk and turned heads everywhere I went, but none of that brought me closer to a fulfilling relationship or friendships that I truly valued and enjoyed.
It was usually the total opposite, people didn’t talk to me or thought I was someone I’m not because of the clothes I wore. I remember being out with friends and they would comment on how they felt like they weren’t dressed up and felt awkward spending time with me. This type of thing never crosses my mind with people I know, but the words stung when they came from close friends. The worst was hearing it from my Mom though.
I have never felt more alone than when I wear my wealth.
I agree..with the money and that- being choked by life’s worries. It seems to be the reality. I was thinking of limitation, loss, suffering and how that can actually turn the tables if we’re willing to accept it or reflect? I think a person has to have a desire in there somewhere? Just some thoughts-
Hi there. In my experiences, money can either make life easier or much more difficult–it all depends on one’s perspective and love of it. I was very wealthy as a child, and also very poor as well, which taught me that money is not what makes people happy.
I think welth just makes people greedy like that bible story THE RICH KID THAT VALUED MONEY MORE THAN JESUS.Imagine that kid had a chance for an experience that all the money in the world cant buy and he would rather go shopping at the mall.I hope if i was ever blessed with a lot of money i would stay HEAVANLY MINDED!!!:+}
Money is necessary in life. We can’t live off love, as they say, so we do need it to survive. Contrary to you, I’ve never had much and still struggle to make ends meet. However, I feel very blessed to be able to live w/o having a certain brand tagged to my belongings. If I own anything expensive it was a serendipitous finding on the clearance rack, ok…
But yet, I do at times envy those who can purchase expensive things on a whim and not have to calculate how many months or years it’s going to take them to pay it off on their credit card. I realize that most of the population is struggling and living beyond their means for the sake of making a good impression. All I have to ask is, who is left with the bill once the person u were hoping to impress has come and quickly gone? My point exactly. It’s not worth it.
One thing I have pondered over is when you have money and people are aware of this, how do you know who your real friends are? Are they with you because you make them look good, you share their financial IQ, or do they just like you for you? How do you know what their motives are? That to me, would be a frightful world to live in. But money is good. I wish I had more of it. I just wouldn’t want it to change my character or affect my values.
Hello. There are times when I am very prudent when it comes to spending money, but I usually just like to take friends out for social events when they can’t afford to go for dinner and a movie or something else fun. You are very right that people often live beyond their means for the sake of impressing people. I shudder to think what retirement will look like when they get older. Also, this reminds me of one of my favorite verses of all time: