I was just thinking what a “joy killer” materialism is. Though we don’t like to admit it, most Americans have this disease. I know I do- its just n
ot as bad as yours (ha, sarcasm). I remember the moment I realized at a deep level that I was materialistic. We were building a “house” for a family who lived in a garbage dump in Mexico. It home we were building was the size of a shed. The father of this family asked if he could have the nails that were laying around the shed (some of us were not that good with a hammer). He picked them up and straightened them so he could sell them. We presented this home (shed) to the family and the parents cried for joy. The father came up to me and said: “thank you for showing me. The week we spent building in this garbage dump (literally), we watched the other families and the community that lived there. The youth who were with me were amazed how happy these people were.
When I came back to the states I was sick over my own materialism and what I saw around me. That lasted probably a month and then the commercialism that radiates in our cultural creeped into me as if it went through the pores of my skin.
Materialism- the love of money and/or possessions is adultery in God’s eyes. Materialism will kill your joy.
Someone just gave me a catalog of really cool outdoor gear. I want like half of the things in that catalog. I’ve looked through it a couple times circling the things I wish I had. The truth is, the stuff we buy “lifts us” for a couple days or weeks, but then we need more. You can buy a new car or a new house, and the first scratch on the car and your more upset than thankful. After living in a new house for a year- it becomes no big deal. Our hedonism can only be quenched by God.
My joy came back when I started to realize that Jesus likes to “hang-out” with hedonistic sinners. It is those who are not honest about their “ugly side” that become self-righteous and judgmental. Jesus had a few choice words for those who did so in the name of God.
