The fall of the stock market over the last few years and the subsequent loss in savings accounts, bonds, and 401k accounts have caused us to search for perspective. The frustration we feel is not based so much on the amount of money that we have lost as it is on the fact that we are pursuing the wrong goals. We spend an enormous amount of time and mental energy seeking three goals that work against our happiness and joy.
The first goal is control. The good idea of setting goals, having plans, and controlling oneself gets expanded into the false idea that we should be able to control everything around us.
The second goal is ownership. Satan’s goal has always been to motivate us to focus on getting and keeping and hoarding and having, which enslave us. People are spending more than they earn, and spending it before they earn it; judging themselves and others on how much they have; becoming jealous and envious of each other based on possessions.
The third goal is independence. Our society has elevated “being independent” to iconic levels, and we equate strength with not needing other people. Independence has become the goal of almost everyone, and the obsession of many. Life is just about me and about what I can do on my own.
It does us little good to scale the heights if we are climbing the wrong mountain. It is hard to break away from these three false goals. They are the very definition of “the world” (John 17:14-16), and most of us have spent our lives trying to achieve them because we are bombarded by messages of materialism. Next time we will examine three good alternatives to control, ownership, and independence.
Kyle Campbell