Materialism is the preoccupation with material things rather than intellectual or spiritual things. Because we live in a physical world, being concerned with and having material things is only natural. What we Christians must guard against, though, is the desire to accumulate material things to the exclusion of loving the Lord with all of our heart, mind, and might; and with all of our soul, meaning everything that we are.

Any obsession we have should be that of pleasing God; of desiring to glorify Him by virtue of allowing Him to live through our lives. To be preoccupied with anything else that would replace the preeminence of God is to make that “anything else” an idol.

Materialism is a deceit that fools us into thinking that we’d be happily fulfilled if only we had more, and more, and more. God as our all-in-all, and living through us, would prevent such deception. We know this to be true because of the spiritual thinking that He’s put into our minds and hearts.

He has told us that He knows what we need. If we don’t have it now, we should just wait and let God help us be content with what we do have. In our patience, God is glorified to others; and in our finally receiving, God is glorified too. Make no mistake about this. We will receive, if we do as told. God has told us that to seek Him and His righteousness first, is to gain all that we need to have (Matthew 6: 33).

Being preoccupied with God as our provider of all things will ensure that our priorities are in the right place. It will help us live the understanding that even though it is appropriate to want things that will improve our lot, and that of our families, life is not in the abundance of the things that we possess (Luke 12: 15).

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“Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.” (Ecclesiastes 5:10).

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6: 19-21)