True Riches

What must it be like to experience the world as a fish, or an ant, or a bird? No houses to maintain, no job to master, no bills to pay. Sounds like freedom in a way. Then, why do I aspire to have a house, a job, and acquire material things that cost me dearly? Do I enjoy the aspects that make up my material life or do I just collect them out of habit or a belief that they bring me safety and security?

There are 712 Million people living in extreme poverty today. That is, those who are living on less than $2.15 per day. This reality moves me to work in the nonprofit sector to promote financial self-sufficiency for those in need. Fully 42 Million people in the U.S. live in extreme poverty. They suffer from financial lack and limitation in a way that I can barely understand. What what I do understand compels me into action to help break the cycle of poverty for future generations.

For me, $2 is not a matter of survival, it's an afterthought. When I am faced with seemingly endless bills, all-consuming work, and relentless responsibilities that come with my material possessions, I try to remind myself to simplify, declutter, and rise above earthly concerns. I have everything I need and just about everything I want. All I really lack is a mindset of contentment.

Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

Philippians 4:11-13

So that is my endeavor; to remember that I am rich beyond measure. That the best things in life are free. That the reason why I want financial resources is to buy things that will bring me joy, and that joy rushes in as soon as I turn my attention to all I have: my faith, health, family, home, work, clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and many, many more blessings. As long as my heart can dwell in contentment, my mind will fly free from a poverty mindset and I will remember that I am truly rich.