Spending money and materialism

[_L]

The issues of spending money in relation to materialism has been on my mind a lot recently, and I am trying to figure out where to draw the line in regards to how i view spending money, and whether I may be too materialistic.

Often times I think about something I am buying and then think that this money could do so much help for someone else who needs it, which just a click of a mouse on a charity website. But I find it so hard to draw the line, sometimes I feel as though I should remove all unnecessary items from my possession, sell them and then give that money away. When I look in my closet and see several jackets, I feel as thought I should only have one and donate the rest. and sometimes I wonder if there is any room to spend money on a hobby. It just really makes me feel selfish sometimes, when I spend money on a video game, or a movie, while at the same time this money would be helping someone who is homeless or starving.

I’m trying to make conscious effort to not spend money frivolously on things I will never use, but i find it hard to draw the line with this issue. The phrase “to whom much is given, much is expected” comes to mind in this situation, how are we supposed to strike a balance between spending money without becoming too materialistic, while at the same time, justify our spending when this money could be better used for the benefit of someone who is in desperate need of help. I’d appreciate some insight on this.

 

[JRKH]

I think that “decluttering” is a good first step. It provides the opportunity to both shrink your worldy goods AND allow you to examine how attached you are to things by how hard itis to give various items up.
This might also provide good insight into you rbuying habits etc.

Spending, like everything - at it’s most basic level should Glorify God.

Peace
James

 

[cmscms]

Well this is a loaded question. And there are a lot of things to consider.

1-) If your depedents needs are met and you are spending left over money, there is nothing wrong with it

2-) If you are buying out of boredom of depression to feel better than there is a root issue to look at

3-) How many jackets do you really have. I live in Canada and I have 1 winter dressyJacket (given to me), 1 winter everyday/skying jacket (that I got second hand for $10), 1 nice leather jaket spring/winter, one spring jacket and 1 rain jacket and another spring jacket that is comfortable to wear when I ride my bike. I am hoping to add a spring dressy jacket as soo as I can find one at a reasonable price. That is a lot of jackets but they have accumulated over 5 years and they all have a different purpose. It is unreasonable to say I only need 1 jacket. I need dressy jackets for special occasions/job interviews. But I also need my day to day jackets for being able to move around comfortably.

Point 3 leads me to believe you are being too hard on yourself.

Just my food for though

 

[MtnDwellar]

I wrestle with the same questions…

I can find examples of rich men who were loved by God, ie. Solomon and Job. There are far more examples of Jesus telling us to let go of our material possessions.

One man, for whom I have a great respect, told me that we are called to give. Sometimes we are asked to give until we have nothing left.

My suspicion is that Christ wants us to give it all away, but that message would not be very popular, hence the message is watered down. If the priests told us to give up all unnecessary material items, the churches would have a lot less people inside of them. The path is very narrow. That may be one of the reasons.

 

[JRKH]

I wrestle with the same questions…

I can find examples of rich men who were loved by God, ie. Solomon and Job. There are far more examples of Jesus telling us to let go of our material possessions.

One man, for whom I have a great respect, told me that we are called to give. Sometimes we are asked to give until we have nothing left.

My suspicion is that Christ wants us to give it all away, but that message would not be very popular, hence the message is watered down. If the priests told us to give up all unnecessary material items, the churches would have a lot less people inside of them. The path is very narrow. That may be one of the reasons.

Each is called to “give it all away” but by different methods. This comes by way of the station and vocation we are called to in our lives. The Religious who makes a vow of poverty functions very differently from the married person who must care for spouse and children.
But in each case, the question(s) must be asked:
What do I “need” to live rather than what do I “want”.
What is the best use I can make of these worldy goods to give Glory to God.

In the case of a “lay person” with family, it may be that they do not give away as much money during their life, since they need to provide for children’s educations, old age etc. This does not mean they are extravigant and spending money on luxuries either.
Yet they might make provision in their will that each child get a certain sum and that the Church or some charity or charities get a certain sum or percentage of the estate.

The key is to be divorced from the attachment to things.

The verse reads that it is the Love of money that is the root of evil - not the money itself.

Peace
James

 

[AlanFromWichita]

I don’t see anything wrong with a hobby, as long as it doesn’t interfere with duties elsewhere. That goes for spending both time and money. I think hobbies are good because in general I think it’s good to have interests in things and to get good at things.

One thing you could do, is see that you probably spend money for God other than giving to established charitable organizations. For example, you might buy a car, without which it would be difficult for you to take your old jackets to charity and do other good works, such as shuttling people to church. Doesn’t mean it has to be the biggest and the best, but that’s all subjective. Sometimes a more expensive item lasts longer so you can look at function v. cost.

Alan

 

[jtodisco]

I wrestle with the same questions…

I can find examples of rich men who were loved by God, ie. Solomon and Job. There are far more examples of Jesus telling us to let go of our material possessions.

One man, for whom I have a great respect, told me that we are called to give. Sometimes we are asked to give until we have nothing left.

My suspicion is that Christ wants us to give it all away, but that message would not be very popular, hence the message is watered down. If the priests told us to give up all unnecessary material items, the churches would have a lot less people inside of them. The path is very narrow. That may be one of the reasons.

I’d also add that giving up possessions is not as difficult as you may be tempted to believe. You don’t need to do it all at once (though sometimes that can be the best way, like taking a off a band aid quickly). Personally I do a little review of everything I own about twice a year and give away any unnecessary items that I’ve picked up along the way. Think about how the great hulls of ships are cleaned off to remove barnacles and other filth that’s accumulated, this is a good analogy for what you can do in your own life. You have to make sure to use common sense of course. Christ propbably doesn’t think you should be driving a Lexus, but I’m sure He wants you to have something in your refrigerator to cook for dinner tonight.

The best advice I can give you is to take some time to meditate on the Scriptures, particuarly the numerous moments when Jesus or the Prophets are making a statement about wealth, and then examine your life. If you are still wavering, ask your priest for advice. But remember, the more you waver and doubt the more it could be that you are looking for some technicality, some excuse so as to be able to hold onto your excess money or posessions.

I hope that helped some.

 

[JRKH]

I’d also add that giving up possessions is not as difficult as you may be tempted to believe. You don’t need to do it all at once (though sometimes that can be the best way, like taking a off a band aid quickly). Personally I do a little review of everything I own about twice a year and give away any unnecessary items that I’ve picked up along the way. Think about how the great hulls of ships are cleaned off to remove barnacles and other filth that’s accumulated, this is a good analogy for what you can do in your own life. You have to make sure to use common sense of course. Christ propbably doesn’t think you should be driving a Lexus, but I’m sure He wants you to have something in your refrigerator to cook for dinner tonight.

The best advice I can give you is to take some time to meditate on the Scriptures, particuarly the numerous moments when Jesus or the Prophets are making a statement about wealth, and then examine your life. If you are still wavering, ask your priest for advice. But remember, the more you waver and doubt the more it could be that you are looking for some technicality, some excuse so as to be able to hold onto your excess money or posessions.

I hope that helped some.

Great way to examine ourselves.
On the other side of theis coin would be to do some volunteer work to see just who is out there truly needy. Whether the challenges are health, or wealth, or spiritual, these can be very enlightening as to what truly IS a necessity in our closet as opposed to on someone elses back.

Peace
James

 

[MtnDwellar]

I’d also add that giving up possessions is not as difficult as you may be tempted to believe. You don’t need to do it all at once (though sometimes that can be the best way, like taking a off a band aid quickly). Personally I do a little review of everything I own about twice a year and give away any unnecessary items that I’ve picked up along the way. Think about how the great hulls of ships are cleaned off to remove barnacles and other filth that’s accumulated, this is a good analogy for what you can do in your own life. You have to make sure to use common sense of course. Christ propbably doesn’t think you should be driving a Lexus, but I’m sure He wants you to have something in your refrigerator to cook for dinner tonight.

The best advice I can give you is to take some time to meditate on the Scriptures, particuarly the numerous moments when Jesus or the Prophets are making a statement about wealth, and then examine your life. If you are still wavering, ask your priest for advice. But remember, the more you waver and doubt the more it could be that you are looking for some technicality, some excuse so as to be able to hold onto your excess money or posessions.

I hope that helped some.

That is good advice. I suspect that the answers are very simple, just hard to accept.

My wife and I would annually go through our closets and give unwanted clothing and other items to charity. It made us feel good. There was clothing that still had the labels and unopened boxes. Surely some poor person will be thrilled - right? The problem was that we accumulated unnecessary things in the first place. We were basically making room for more.