Our Wants Enslave Us!

Most of us become slaves to debt by one not so ‘little’ sin. The bottom line is that we go into debt because of envy or we covet. We want. We want to keep up with the Jones’s. We want a newer car. We want a ‘better’ lifestyle. We want new fashions. We want a new ‘toy’ like a motor home or boat or a bigger TV. We want what we do not have and someone else does, or we want something better than theirs. That is envy. Dictionaries define envy as ‘discontent by another’s gains, success, etc. and a desire to have them.’

Debt is consequence of envy. Envy is sin (any ‘good’ Catholic knows that Envy is one of the Seven Deadly Sins). For those familiar with the Ten Commandments, the tenth Commandment says, “Thou shall not covet [want/ENVY] your neighbor’s wife”. That is NOT what the verse says, Exodus 20:17, Deuteronomy 5:21, “Thou shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.” Substitute the words for today; neighbor’s house, wife, housekeeper, car, boat, TV, etc.

The Bible defines it as sin. Remember Satan? He envied God’s power (Is. 14:12-14). Cain envied Abel’s relationship with God, and committed the first murder (Gen. 4:7,8 ). Joseph’s brothers envied him and sold him into slavery (Gen.37:11). The priests were envious of Christ, so they had Him crucified (Mark 15:10, Matt. 27:18 ). The Bible is full of instances were envy was the root sin of terrible deeds.

We say, “Now wait just a minute, I’m not envious. I am not killing anyone. I’m not selling anyone into slavery.” Yes, we are. We are killing ourselves, and selling ourselves into slavery. Look at a credit card statement. How many ‘things’ on that statement are really NEEDS?

Truthfully, how many things on that credit card statement are real needs, and how many are things that are just wants? We live in a world of instant gratification. How many TV commercials offer the opportunity to have it now and pay for it later? Every time one succumbs to that temptation, one is living in the world and of the world. Romans 12:2 says, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Every time we give in to the ‘now’ mentality, we add another link in the chain that enslaves us.

One will forever be a slave in sin and to sin until one faces reality and accepts that envy debt is a consequence of sin.