T
twb1621
Guest
“…Now someone approached Jesus and said, “Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?” He answered him, “Why do you ask me about the good? There is only One who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” He asked him, “Which ones?” And Jesus replied, " ‘You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; honor your father and your mother’; and ‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” The young man said to him, “All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to (the) poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.” ( Mt Ch 19: 16,23)
Addiction, yes addiction. There is no other word that better describes what most of us succumb to when it comes to the so called “goals” we set for ourselves in this time of separation from God and family in the pursuit of “happiness”. Is this to say goals are bad? Of course not. But we need to consider what we choose for our goals and the level of importance we place on them. Can it be just a coincidence that the more we remove God and prayer from our daily lives, schools, public places and so on that the number one priority of the average individual becomes him or herself above everything and everyone else along with whatever “things” they can own or reward themselves with? …flamboyant, flashy objects clothes house and cars as one can afford or to their limit of affordability. And for what reason? And even more importantly, to what cost and to what or who’s sacrifice? Is it because those things are the best in quality or durability? Or is it because of Self pride and ego to show one’s self above others?
Lets say an individual buys a BMW automobile instead of a Chevrolet. Do they then keep that car for its useful life? Or do they go out and replace it in a year or two or three for another upper end automobile? Who would be so naive as to believe the lower priced car wouldn’t serve just as long as the BMW for the average time most would possess the upper priced car? But it’s about “Status”, feeding pride and ego so it must be replaced more frequently to serve its true purpose.
How much of an income does one require or how large of a home does a person need to possess to bring about comfortable living conditions before the home becomes nothing more than a house and again, a status symbol for self pride and ego. Now days so deemed large “luxury homes” that use to be constructed on acres and acres of ground hardly visible to their neighboring properties are being constructed on top of each other in major subdivisions with barely enough room to walk between them. Is it status?
Some will question what is so wrong with pursuing life this way and what is wrong with being “successful”? If you were truly Christian you would know the answer to those questions. If you must ask these questions, you are called to seek further knowledge in Christ. At what point does success become greed and then to what cost and to what or who’s sacrifice do we attain our goals?
If you must go beyond comfort to satisfy your pride and ego, you abandon the practices of humility and charity toward others as Christianity proclaims. Pride is proven over and over and over to be the foundation of all sin and those who absolutely hate to hear the term sin distance themselves from God because His word and His calling interferes with those goals that satisfy pride, avarice, lust, envy, gluttony, anger, and sloth, otherwise know as “the seven capital sins”.
A person who wishes to see themself as they really are must step back outside of them self and consider their priorities and the goals they have reached with the goals they continue to pursue. Is it that every goal reached and every item purchased turns out to be less than the satisfying object that they thought would make them happy? Do they have to go on to another object to further pursue satisfaction? And the big question that is hardest to admit to, “is there really a point when a person reaches total satisfaction through materialism and wealth? The honest answer is NO.
What lengths have they gone and would they go to get what they want as apposed to what they need to live a truly satisfying life? If a person can ignore the sight of one who has no home, food or reasonable clothing, to feed their self pride, it’s a sign. If a person can never get enough and can pursue their goals or objectives at the sacrifice and expense of their loved ones, friends and family, it’s a sign. There will never be satisfaction for people who are lost in the addiction of materialism. Addicted to what man wants them to seek, to acquire, to desire all to feed another mans (usually manufacturers) goals to satisfy his own pride, ego and greed.
For some very sad and unfortunate reason, most people don’t realize they are nothing more than pawns played by their own weaknesses, especially their pride driven selfishness until one day it dawns on them they have wasted the better part of their lives chasing goals based on artificial rewards and man’s own ideals. It is not until then that some will realize they have been looking in the wrong place for success, satisfaction and happiness and an awareness of emptiness in their heart leads them in the direction of God. For some it will be an expensive and very long path. For others they will realize sooner and return as “the prodigal son”. Yet for still others, they will never realize. Did you ever wonder why some of the poorest people monetarily can find such satisfaction, happiness and fulfillment with nothing more than their knowledge and love of God and their family?
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.” ( Mt Ch 19: 16,23)
Addiction, yes addiction. There is no other word that better describes what most of us succumb to when it comes to the so called “goals” we set for ourselves in this time of separation from God and family in the pursuit of “happiness”. Is this to say goals are bad? Of course not. But we need to consider what we choose for our goals and the level of importance we place on them. Can it be just a coincidence that the more we remove God and prayer from our daily lives, schools, public places and so on that the number one priority of the average individual becomes him or herself above everything and everyone else along with whatever “things” they can own or reward themselves with? …flamboyant, flashy objects clothes house and cars as one can afford or to their limit of affordability. And for what reason? And even more importantly, to what cost and to what or who’s sacrifice? Is it because those things are the best in quality or durability? Or is it because of Self pride and ego to show one’s self above others?
Lets say an individual buys a BMW automobile instead of a Chevrolet. Do they then keep that car for its useful life? Or do they go out and replace it in a year or two or three for another upper end automobile? Who would be so naive as to believe the lower priced car wouldn’t serve just as long as the BMW for the average time most would possess the upper priced car? But it’s about “Status”, feeding pride and ego so it must be replaced more frequently to serve its true purpose.
How much of an income does one require or how large of a home does a person need to possess to bring about comfortable living conditions before the home becomes nothing more than a house and again, a status symbol for self pride and ego. Now days so deemed large “luxury homes” that use to be constructed on acres and acres of ground hardly visible to their neighboring properties are being constructed on top of each other in major subdivisions with barely enough room to walk between them. Is it status?
Some will question what is so wrong with pursuing life this way and what is wrong with being “successful”? If you were truly Christian you would know the answer to those questions. If you must ask these questions, you are called to seek further knowledge in Christ. At what point does success become greed and then to what cost and to what or who’s sacrifice do we attain our goals?
If you must go beyond comfort to satisfy your pride and ego, you abandon the practices of humility and charity toward others as Christianity proclaims. Pride is proven over and over and over to be the foundation of all sin and those who absolutely hate to hear the term sin distance themselves from God because His word and His calling interferes with those goals that satisfy pride, avarice, lust, envy, gluttony, anger, and sloth, otherwise know as “the seven capital sins”.
A person who wishes to see themself as they really are must step back outside of them self and consider their priorities and the goals they have reached with the goals they continue to pursue. Is it that every goal reached and every item purchased turns out to be less than the satisfying object that they thought would make them happy? Do they have to go on to another object to further pursue satisfaction? And the big question that is hardest to admit to, “is there really a point when a person reaches total satisfaction through materialism and wealth? The honest answer is NO.
What lengths have they gone and would they go to get what they want as apposed to what they need to live a truly satisfying life? If a person can ignore the sight of one who has no home, food or reasonable clothing, to feed their self pride, it’s a sign. If a person can never get enough and can pursue their goals or objectives at the sacrifice and expense of their loved ones, friends and family, it’s a sign. There will never be satisfaction for people who are lost in the addiction of materialism. Addicted to what man wants them to seek, to acquire, to desire all to feed another mans (usually manufacturers) goals to satisfy his own pride, ego and greed.
For some very sad and unfortunate reason, most people don’t realize they are nothing more than pawns played by their own weaknesses, especially their pride driven selfishness until one day it dawns on them they have wasted the better part of their lives chasing goals based on artificial rewards and man’s own ideals. It is not until then that some will realize they have been looking in the wrong place for success, satisfaction and happiness and an awareness of emptiness in their heart leads them in the direction of God. For some it will be an expensive and very long path. For others they will realize sooner and return as “the prodigal son”. Yet for still others, they will never realize. Did you ever wonder why some of the poorest people monetarily can find such satisfaction, happiness and fulfillment with nothing more than their knowledge and love of God and their family?
