I understand where you are coming from. Often times in life we take serious looks at ourselves and say, “Am I truly living it or am I deceiving myself?” The great thing about the rich young man was that he at least was willing to ask, “Am I doing it?” I think that one of the struggles when that question is asked is that humans are quick to try and react to it. I think that if you are serious about wanting to take action against your materialistic wealth that the most important thing to do is to remember not to act out of emotion, but to think it through. I have tried to sell everything that I own several times, and I have ended up buying everything back. So again, if you are serious about it, I think the best steps to make are slow ones. Try looking through your closet and anything that you have not worn or used in the past year (remembering seasonal differences) give away. I got rid of over half of my clothes that way. We must remember that just doing without is not the answer to our problems, but not having the desire is the answer, and acting on that is will give you peace. If the rich young man had been willing to go home and sell everything that he had, there would have been at least two thing that would have been needed. The first is time. It take a lot of time to begin to learn what you need and what is comfort and to seperate yourself from them. And the second is accountability. If we are not being held accountable we will make foolish decisions much more often by reacting not acting. There is a great book called, “Rich Christians in an age of Hunger,” by Sider, Ronald J. It gives many practical ways that you can learn to live modestly. Good luck.
nalex
Jul 29 2002
08:23 am
I understand where you are coming from. Often times in life we take serious looks at ourselves and say, “Am I truly living it or am I deceiving myself?” The great thing about the rich young man was that he at least was willing to ask, “Am I doing it?” I think that one of the struggles when that question is asked is that humans are quick to try and react to it. I think that if you are serious about wanting to take action against your materialistic wealth that the most important thing to do is to remember not to act out of emotion, but to think it through. I have tried to sell everything that I own several times, and I have ended up buying everything back. So again, if you are serious about it, I think the best steps to make are slow ones. Try looking through your closet and anything that you have not worn or used in the past year (remembering seasonal differences) give away. I got rid of over half of my clothes that way. We must remember that just doing without is not the answer to our problems, but not having the desire is the answer, and acting on that is will give you peace. If the rich young man had been willing to go home and sell everything that he had, there would have been at least two thing that would have been needed. The first is time. It take a lot of time to begin to learn what you need and what is comfort and to seperate yourself from them. And the second is accountability. If we are not being held accountable we will make foolish decisions much more often by reacting not acting. There is a great book called, “Rich Christians in an age of Hunger,” by Sider, Ronald J. It gives many practical ways that you can learn to live modestly. Good luck.