G.K.Chesterton, one of the great writers of the last century, once said ‘happiness is not in having more, but in wanting less.’ That doesn’t make sense to most of us because we’ve been brainwashed by consumerism and thousands of advertisements whose only purpose is to increase our dissatisfaction with what we’ve got. And so we vainly search for that illusive happiness in another round of retail therapy, often made possible by digging our way deeper into debt; or else we retreat into resentment because we haven’t the money to buy our way to contentment. Meanwhile the Bible keeps reminding us that real wealth is in our attitude. ‘Godliness with contentment is the greatest gain,’ it tells us.
‘It’s not how much money you’ve got that makes you rich; it’s how content you are with what you do have.’