I observe and listen to people daily. Many find their self-worth wrapped up in the latest name brand phone, a sleek new car, designer clothes, a big screen TV, a huge house in an exclusive neighborhood, influential friends, the pool in the back yard, their education, and the universities they attended.
I’m quite often reminded of a movie I saw once, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” In the movie are three quotations I have thought of many, many times.
“If a human has money, he buys and buys and buys and I think the reason he buys everything he can buy is that in the back of his mind he has the crazy hope that one of his purchases will be life everlasting! – Which it can never be….”
“I’m a rich man, Brick, yep, I’m a mighty rich man. Y’know how much I’m worth? Guess Brick! Guess how much I’m worth! Close to ten million in cash and blue chip stocks, outside, mind you, of twenty-eight thousand acres of the richest land this side of the valley Nile! But a man can’t buy his life with it, when his life has been spent, that’s one thing not offered in the Europe fire-sale or in the American markets or any markets on earth, a man can’t buy his life when his life is finished.”
“…human beings dream of life everlasting, that’s the reason! But most of them want it on earth and not in heaven.”
There was a young woman who worked with me but has since moved on to other employment. Nevertheless, each day I would see her and she would show me the latest pictures of herself. She was constantly buying clothes, even to the point where she could barely pay her rent. I asked her why she continued to have this kind of behavior. She told me it made her feel better about herself. I won’t disagree we all should be clean in appearance and dress in a way which is becoming. And too, looking your best helps build self-confidence, but this should not be the sole purpose of our lives in focusing on self exclusively.
This lady bought a Corvette but has never been satisfied with herself. She would post pictures on social media and send inappropriate pictures to a young man. Before she left I asked if she knew the pictures would like be shared by this man’s buddies. She was essentially handing a part of herself, which should have remained private, for her and her future husband.
Make sure what you own doesn’t own you. Satan is deceptive. Thinking your value is only found in “things” is dangerous self-deception. Find your worth in God’s Word. God will never fail you, and you will come to realize each day of how important you are to Him. After all, He gave His all, His Son, for you. You are of great worth!
“Too often we’re told we’re not important, we’re just peripheral to what is. ‘Get a degree, get a job, get a car, get a house , and keep on getting.’ And it’s sad, because one day you’ll wake up and realize you’ve been deceived. And all you’ll want then is to reclaim your mind by getting it out of the hand of the brainwasher, Satan, who wants to turn you into a drone that buys everything that isn’t needed to impress others.” ~ Unknown
Eileen Light