Less is More

From Proverbs 1:19:

When you grab all you can get, that's what happens:
the more you get, the less you are.

Because I've been painting rooms in my house (we're downsizing, so getting it ready to sell), I've been listening to things. I love lectures on TED. They're always interesting. And it fills my mind with good stuff, not the junk I would hear if I just listened to the radio or the tv.

Anyway, I caught Rick Warren's talk about what happened to him after he wrote "The Purpose Driven Life." This is the second time I'd heard it, and I was repeating it because I enjoyed it so much the first time.

Something he said really struck me. He was talking about all the money that quite literally poured in from the book, because the book was so successful. He said this: "Every time I give, it breaks the grip of materialism on my life."

I'd never thought of it that way. Giving what I have to others breaks the hold that wanting more has on my life.

Wow.

So it's true -- when you want more, when you grab for more, more, more, what ends up happening is that materialism has you imprisoned. The wanting of the stuff overshadows the person in you that God has created. And God's Spirit in you becomes less and less as you pursue more and more stuff, influence, power, position.

There's a line I love from a movie I saw once. The movie was "Black Widow -- and the quote was this: "Rich is funny. It's never quite enough."

Could that be a truer statement? Again, Rick Warren, "significance doesn't come from status, because you can always find somebody who's got more than you."

Less truly is more. When you're planning to sell a house, the less stuff you show off, the better it looks.

So Lord, thank you for bringing this concept home to me today. Room painted, and pun intended.

xoxox

Sometimes It is Difficult

Sometimes it's hard to say you're sorry, especially when you think you're right.

And life just flat isn't fair. It almost never is. I wonder sometimes if there is any justice to be found.

However.

What is pride, anyway? What is refusing to apologise going to accomplish in the long run, even if it isn't fair or just?

Isn't it just going to separate me from the one who has wronged me? How ridiculous is that?

When I think about pride this way, I throw it right where it belongs -- back to the pit of hell from where it came. Pride isn't just bad behaviour. It's just plain stupid.

Lord God, please enable me to see with your eyes, past the injustice and unfairness, and throw off my pride for the unnecessary baggage it is. What is this thing anyway, and why am I carrying it around? I've been foolish Lord -- enable me to be wise. Thank you for Jesus and His amazing sacrifice that gives me your forgiveness -- Amen.

xoxox