There was no end to his toil,
yet his eyes were not content with his wealth.
—Ecclesiastes 4:8
“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have” (Heb. 13:5). How do you pull that off?
First, by grading the worth of your wants. Slick advertisers bait you, trying to sucker you into believing that abundant possessions and abundant life are synonymous. They’re not. Jesus said that life does not consist in the abundance of possessions (Lk. 12:15).
Second, by zeroing in on what you have, instead of casting a covetous eye on what you don’t have. An honest inventory of what you have will take your breath away. Here’s your Starter Kit: food, clothes, shelter, health.
You take it from there—grab a pen and pad and start adding your personal blessings to that list. You’ll walk away spending more time saying “Thank you” than saying “Give me.”
Contentment depends more on the
size of your wants than on the size of your wallet.