What do we really want? If we all stopped and took a couple minutes we could come up with a pretty good list of things that have been on our minds over the last few days, weeks, and months...things that we want. These things range from Volcano Tacos, new music, and new clothes to boyfriends/girlfriends, less homework, and better relationships with our parents. Some of those may be true for you, some may not be but what is true for all of us is that we want something. We always want something. That's not a bad thing in and of itself, its a part of life and I believe its a part of the way that God has created us. I also think it something that we should actually give some thought to though.
One thing that we need to realize about our wants is that we live in such a way as to get what we want. Seems pretty basic right? It is and that's why we have to keep it in check. If we don't stop to think about what we want and why we want it, we can begin to live in ways that lead us to places that we don't really want to go. What we've experienced to be true in our lives is that usually the joy of getting what we want doesn't fulfill us for long. Ever gotten something you really, really wanted and it was all good for a little while and then the newness wore off and two months later you barely thought about what it was that you got again? These cycles happen often in our lives and we rarely take time to think about the fact that stuff really doesn't fulfill us. It never will be able to.
Last week we took a look at the world and thought about how different our wants are from people who live in different places and under different living conditions around the world. Take a couple minutes and check out
this site for some statistics.
This week we want to do something tangible, we want to take action to help do something about the wants of others. I'm asking you to sacrifice something this week; sell clothes to Plato's closet, do chores to makes some money, or maybe deep into that money you've been saving up for something! Bring it in and we'll all put our money together and we're going to help making a micro-loan through www.kiva.org that will allow someone in another country to work towards making their community a better place! The beauty of KIVA is that the person who we loan money to will pay it back and when they do well get to "pay it forward" again and bless another person and on and on. Your sacrifices, you giving up what you want can be a tremendous blessing to someone thousands of miles away! Talk to your parents about it, they might like to get involved too.
2 comments:
did you get Volcano Taco's from Seth? haha I'll write more when I read the whole thing
cool place to give money. We both learned of Kiva at the Leadership Summit. There are PLENTY of things that over my years of being alive I have wanted, but at a young age I was constantly told by my mom, think about your needs and whats. She always said that however bad you want something, do you really need it? I really took a lot of thought into this because you're right, we get those "toys" and play with and covet them for a few mere weeks. These wants always make us feel good inside, but in the long run we'll just find something else to make us happy. Good post, bud.
Grant
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