Part I is right here.
Money. It’s pretty much the dominant topic in the world today with the economies of most of the developed countries taking a severe hit in their financial markets. Stock markets are down. Lending is down. House sales are down. Even consumer spending is considerably down. In a market driven by capitalism and spending, this has a lot of people worried.
Many a finger has been pointed at many different targets, but ultimately, we have ourselves to blame. People were borrowing a lot of money to fund whatever they wanted. People got used to being able to find money — regardless if they could afford it or not — to help them build a life of comfort and relative luxury instead of trying to live within their means. We bought into the lie that we needed to keep up with the Joneses regardless of cost. Bigger and the latest was always better. As we bought into that, our comfort zone grew to include those things. If we didn’t have them, we were uncomfortable.
So, what happened when everything came crashing down? People’s lives of comfort suddenly became unaffordable and stressful as money and credit dried up. Lenders were starting to ask for their money back because THEY had lenders asking for their money back. All of a sudden, people were wondering if all this stuff was worth it, so they cut back their spending and re-defined what it means to live in a life of comfort.
My wife and I are in the market for our first home right now. I have been thinking about this issue for a while now. I’m very excited about owning a house and filling it with nice things because it is ok to have nice things, but I also realized that when you REALLY come to it, everything we have and own is all temporary and ultimately won’t last. We can’t allow a pursuit of a life of comfort overtake our lives and our pocketbooks because it will cost us dearly. It will cost us the incalculable cost of being able to give ourselves and our money and resources to the thing that matters the most: helping people get to know Christ and gain eternal life.
So, if getting a top-brand 1080p 120HZ 50″ plasma television becomes my number one priority instead of giving money and my time to people who genuinely need it, then comfort has become too expensive. I don’t want God to congratulate me on my television, because, really, He won’t. I want Him to be proud that I helped as many people see the truth about Him as I could with what He gave me. That alone is enough comfort for me.
– Matt
comfortcomfortabledebtgiveGodmoneytimetruth
Comfort Makes Me Uncomfortable, Part II
January 29, 2009
Calvary
Comments Off on Comfort Makes Me Uncomfortable, Part II
Matt
Part I is right here.
Money. It’s pretty much the dominant topic in the world today with the economies of most of the developed countries taking a severe hit in their financial markets. Stock markets are down. Lending is down. House sales are down. Even consumer spending is considerably down. In a market driven by capitalism and spending, this has a lot of people worried.
Many a finger has been pointed at many different targets, but ultimately, we have ourselves to blame. People were borrowing a lot of money to fund whatever they wanted. People got used to being able to find money — regardless if they could afford it or not — to help them build a life of comfort and relative luxury instead of trying to live within their means. We bought into the lie that we needed to keep up with the Joneses regardless of cost. Bigger and the latest was always better. As we bought into that, our comfort zone grew to include those things. If we didn’t have them, we were uncomfortable.
So, what happened when everything came crashing down? People’s lives of comfort suddenly became unaffordable and stressful as money and credit dried up. Lenders were starting to ask for their money back because THEY had lenders asking for their money back. All of a sudden, people were wondering if all this stuff was worth it, so they cut back their spending and re-defined what it means to live in a life of comfort.
My wife and I are in the market for our first home right now. I have been thinking about this issue for a while now. I’m very excited about owning a house and filling it with nice things because it is ok to have nice things, but I also realized that when you REALLY come to it, everything we have and own is all temporary and ultimately won’t last. We can’t allow a pursuit of a life of comfort overtake our lives and our pocketbooks because it will cost us dearly. It will cost us the incalculable cost of being able to give ourselves and our money and resources to the thing that matters the most: helping people get to know Christ and gain eternal life.
So, if getting a top-brand 1080p 120HZ 50″ plasma television becomes my number one priority instead of giving money and my time to people who genuinely need it, then comfort has become too expensive. I don’t want God to congratulate me on my television, because, really, He won’t. I want Him to be proud that I helped as many people see the truth about Him as I could with what He gave me. That alone is enough comfort for me.
– Matt
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