Luxury: a condition of abundance or great ease and comfort : sumptuous environment: something adding to pleasure or comfort but not absolutely necessary: an indulgence in something that provides pleasure, satisfaction, or ease
Merriam-Webster
Have you ever heard the phrase “Affordable Luxury”? The biggest rage nowadays is “affordable luxury” items. This is a marketing exec’s dream come true. But by definition, a “luxury” is something you don’t need: it’s something you want.
There are entire industries built around this tactic. Billions upon billions of dollars of stuff that people don’t need. Sometimes, you didn’t even know you wanted it until some salesman shows you. But all of a sudden “now you have to have it.”
What a crock of baloney.
The truth is, comfort is overrated. Convenience is overrated. Sometimes it’s better to work through something than just have an “Easy Button” (there you go, marketing in action…) Because when you do more, you learn more, and you make mistakes and grow. If everything is easy, then you never learn how to struggle through difficult things.
Sometimes people say “I’ve worked hard for this” as justification for buying something expensive or luxurious. But you didn’t earn anything that God didn’t give you the ability for in the first place. We don’t deserve it, we don’t need it, and almost every time, it ends up being all about us- and nothing to do with God.
That’s why filthy rich professional athletes and Hollywood types have so many problems. Having all the luxuries in the world doesn’t fix your problems… because our problems (as a human race) don’t come from a lack of things. Our problems come from a lack of God in our lives. And the more things we have in our lives, the more they tend to drive us away from God. Jesus explained it this way:
Mark 10:17-27 NAS
As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments, ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.” Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property. And Jesus, looking around, said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” They were even more astonished and said to Him, “Then who can be saved?” Looking at them, Jesus said, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”
Of course, I have some nice things I’ve obtained over the years. But I keep very few expensive things, and most of them were either given to me, gotten for cheap, or I repaired them myself. I’ve never bought anything just because I wanted people to know I’d bought it. I’ve never gotten an expensive item when a cheaper one will do the exact same job.
And even in the case of some things I’ve gotten, I find that they tend to take up more of my time and energy than I want them to. Do I want a nice restored classic car? Sure- but I don’t want the headaches and time/money investment it takes to build one. It doesn’t bring me joy to see it sitting there, rotting away. So I have to decide which is more important: keeping it just in case I can afford to rebuild it, or letting it go with all the headaches associated with it. It’s a luxury, not a need.
I find myself more and more being disgusted with luxuries in my life. They seem nice in the moment, and they promise all kinds of joy- but they rarely, if ever, deliver on those promises. They just suck up more time and energy that I could be using fulfilling my purpose.
Anyway, I’ve written quite extensively in the past about minimalism and living within your means, so the false promise of luxury is not a new topic for me. But for some reason, God is bringing it back to my mind. So I will think about it and what that means for me- and how that impacts my walk with God.
The last thing I want to leave you with is an encouragement: it’s not that hard to live simply. A few choices here and there can greatly impact your life and your walk with God. Don’t be afraid to go against the grain and say “I don’t really need all that stuff.” You and I both know, deep down, that it won’t fulfill us. It just takes some bravery and honesty to step forward and admit it.