How Much Is Enough???

I reminisced last weekend (being around my 8 year old niece in the town in grew up in) about my childhood and how I always wanted something. I could go on a $500 shopping spree (figuratively speaking) and still want something else that afternoon. No matter what I got, someone had something cooler that I didn't have or I saw a commercial for something I "needed".

When I moved to Jacksonville it got a little worse. We moved from a small "college" town to the big city to the "new" side of town and everyone seemed to have money. I guess that was just a small taste of what was to come when I hit college. When I hit Samford's campus I was surrounded by wealth. It seemed like everyone around me came from some "academy" and drove BMW's with personalized car tags. One of my best friends on my hall got a package almost every day containing clothes she ordered online. It was insane, but I was jealous, no doubt.


This was frustrating. Why didn't I come from this kind of money? Preachers and teachers, although very respectable "careers", welll....they just don't make much money. Money clearly isn't what drives them to do what they do. I guess that's why I started working at 15 years old. I decided I would get wealthy on my own. Sure my parents provided for me but if I wanted a beeper, cell phone or whatnot I figured I was going to have to work and get it myself (side note, why don't many Americans seem to get this concept that I picked up so young??). Anywho, after college, when reality really hit, I, unfortunately, decided that if I couldn't afford the things I wanted then I would just put it on a credit card and pay for it later. I hardly ever told myself no.

So here I am at age 30 wrestling with my desire for "more" stuff. But the question is, how much is enough? How much money and stuff will it take to make me happy? The only conclusion that I can come up with is I am already making enough and I already have enough stuff. True happiness does not come from anything it comes from someone. God. Over a billion people in the world live on less than $1 a day. World wide, high income earners (only 16% of the world) make more than $10,066 (well below poverty standards in America). So instead of comparing what other Americans have that is my new "standard of living." I am surrendering my desires for more stuff in hopes of gaining more of God.

This is the true test of realizing who owns everything anyway and where income really comes from. The truth is, it is all God's. I am just a steward of His resources. Would he be pleased with the way I have handled His resources in the past? Absolutely NOT. But I am striving to change that. I'm still trying to come up with an actual exact dollar amount that I can comfortably live on, when I have paid off my debt, still allowing for few luxuries, and then anything over that amount I will give away. I pray that God will bless me with the resources to one day be able to give away 50% of my income. Remember the tithe (10%) is only the starting point of our giving. (Giving In the History of Redemption)

So the question is, how much is "enough" for you?