325 – Do You Have Enough?

#faithbites #faithjourney enough

Do you ever ask yourself when enough is enough? Maybe it’s around owning things or taking trips. Perhaps it’s around the dinner table when you are just full. It could be when you are looking at doing things for others. Or in this time of the holidays, when is buying gifts for people enough. Sure you can budget well, thank you Dave Ramsey, but is it enough? When is enough, enough? When is it time for us to just stop and smell the roses?

I’m the wrong person to be answering that question. I struggle with that every day. From eating too much to volunteering too much to just doing too much. At the same time, I wonder if the too much I’m doing is the right stuff to be doing. I don’t have the answer, but I suspect I’m not the only one who feels like that.

Scripture

• Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” – Hebrews 13:5
• For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. – 1 Timothy 6:10
• For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? – Matthew 16:26

Reflection

Money isn’t evil, rather the love of money is. At the same time material possessions aren’t evil, but coveting them over faith and love is. And we all know that what good is it to have the whole world but lose his soul? While these scriptures may not answer our question, I think it helps. If we you are doing something that takes you away from your family, worship, and praise, then it could be too much. If you are obsessing about money and things, then it could be too much. If you are spending all your time and energy at work and forsaking your other relationships, maybe it is too much.

For each of us there is too little, just right, and too much or in other words the Goldilocks zone. I don’t know about you but I’m never in the Goldilocks zone. I’m usually in the doing too much to get things I don’t need or impress others I don’t need. It is my hope through prayer, reflection, and true insight that I get there one day.

I also hope that I can raise my children to not love material things at the expensive of their soul and the non-material joys of life. If we all could do that, we would care less for our things and more for each other.

Charge

As we enter the holiday gift-giving season, aim for the Goldilocks zone. Set a budget that includes giving to your favorite charity or church. Have it pinch just a bit in your giving to God. Think about the person you are getting or making something for and how it will make them feel rather than the amount you are giving to them.

Lord, help me know when enough is enough. Give me your strength to say no when I need to and to say yes when it is your will. Allow me the insight to be ok with both answers.