But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
This is what immediately precedes the “love of money is the root of evil”, and it provides more clarity to me than its better-known successor. The problem isn’t money itself. People who have money can be perfectly fine. The problem is when someone wants to be rich, wants to have money. That’s when we fall into trouble.
The accompanying reflection is from Bernard of Clairvaux, a twelfth century monk. He wrote, “He who loves money is not satisfied; he who loves luxury is not satisfied; he who loves glory is not satisfied”. There’s something about having stuff that makes us want more stuff, having money makes us want more money, having fine things makes us want more fine things. A person who wants a better ________ will never be happy with their current ______. Even when they get the newest thingy, they’ll be soon discontent with it, seeking the next thingy. Phones and other personal technology are a great example, and I definitely get swept into that. In the past two years, I’ve had an Apple watch, and a Fitbit, and am now itching to figure out what’s next. Ugh.
How do we stop that endless cycle? For me, moderation is not the answer. I cannot regulate my desires for new and better, as long as I’m in the game. As long as there’s something technological strapped to my wrist, or in my back pocket, I’m always wondering about the next iteration.
Again, for me, the answer is to stop playing at all. Just say no. This has been a successful strategy for income. In the past two years, my family has gone from two incomes to less than ½ of an income. It’s amazing how much less I “need”, now that I just don’t have it. We are making financial choices very differently, now that we aren’t simply eyeing the next pay raise to support our next whatever.
Money itself isn’t the problem. The problem is that when we have a taste of something society has deemed better or more valuable, we get trapped into thinking we need the thing that’s better or more valuable. That makes us make choices that are self-defeating; how much fun is it to work so much to make money that you have no time to enjoy it?
For me, I’m about ready to take the watch off entirely, to step off that track.
This is what immediately precedes the “love of money is the root of evil”, and it provides more clarity to me than its better-known successor. The problem isn’t money itself. People who have money can be perfectly fine. The problem is when someone wants to be rich, wants to have money. That’s when we fall into trouble.
The accompanying reflection is from Bernard of Clairvaux, a twelfth century monk. He wrote, “He who loves money is not satisfied; he who loves luxury is not satisfied; he who loves glory is not satisfied”. There’s something about having stuff that makes us want more stuff, having money makes us want more money, having fine things makes us want more fine things. A person who wants a better ________ will never be happy with their current ______. Even when they get the newest thingy, they’ll be soon discontent with it, seeking the next thingy. Phones and other personal technology are a great example, and I definitely get swept into that. In the past two years, I’ve had an Apple watch, and a Fitbit, and am now itching to figure out what’s next. Ugh.
How do we stop that endless cycle? For me, moderation is not the answer. I cannot regulate my desires for new and better, as long as I’m in the game. As long as there’s something technological strapped to my wrist, or in my back pocket, I’m always wondering about the next iteration.
Again, for me, the answer is to stop playing at all. Just say no. This has been a successful strategy for income. In the past two years, my family has gone from two incomes to less than ½ of an income. It’s amazing how much less I “need”, now that I just don’t have it. We are making financial choices very differently, now that we aren’t simply eyeing the next pay raise to support our next whatever.
Money itself isn’t the problem. The problem is that when we have a taste of something society has deemed better or more valuable, we get trapped into thinking we need the thing that’s better or more valuable. That makes us make choices that are self-defeating; how much fun is it to work so much to make money that you have no time to enjoy it?
For me, I’m about ready to take the watch off entirely, to step off that track.
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