Greed

If, as Jesus taught, the quality of a man's life does not depend on his possessions, something is wrong with many of us, since we consider that not having everything we want is a true cause of unhappiness.

It is clear that living in poverty is no reason for happiness. The big problem is that sometimes all the goals of life are concentrated in the achievement of a certain economic status and the effort to achieve it totally consumes our time and our strength. How to find the necessary balance that allows us to live a better life, with decent and comfortable conditions, without falling into excess or overvaluation of the material or economic?

I met a lady who lived for many years in a good and spacious house, but she was not happy because the roof was made of wood and Spanish tiles and her life's dream was to live in a house with a concrete roof, what in Cuba we call plaque. . As due to her economic conditions, she was seeing further the realization of her dream, one day, convinced that she was not going to achieve it, she told me:

"I know the only plaque I'll ever have on my head will be the cemetery crockery."

Your comment may seem tragic to my readers, but it was the opposite. She said it laughing and convinced that after all, the concrete ceiling was not the most important thing. She had other family problems that needed more attention than the desire for another type of roof. Those other problems were making his life that much more unhappy.

Jesus taught that we should be concerned about laying up treasures in heaven, because they are not corrupted there. In doing so, he taught that the effort we make to strengthen our spirit is a more important investment. Spiritual wisdom and self-control to make wise decisions are treasures that contribute much more to our existence than material goods. They provide us with true quality of life and free us from many struggles and setbacks.

It is good to improve our financial conditions and we should all do our best to do so. But when Jesus said, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be" He was warning us that focusing our lives on money or possessions only makes us more and more greedy. We were created for more than filling ourselves with furniture or objects, however convenient they may be.

We were created for God, and the only thing that fills our hearts is a deep relationship with Him.

God bless you!