A big house or a brood of children?
Investing in stocks or improving your marriage?
A vacation in Vegas or with the kids at a theme park?
There’s no question we can achieve more, have a finer home, and drive a flashier car if we go it alone. After all, tally up the cost of a family, and the expense sheet is longer than your flight to Vegas.
Here’s the thing, though. What good’s the money if there’s no one to share it with, or if the one you share it with makes your life miserable?
Money, things, fancy accoutrements are thrilling in the moment, but the excitement doesn’t last. More, more, more is all that begins to drive us.
Ecclesiastes 5:10 says:
“He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity.”
Let’s look at this in two parts to reveal the importance of family over finances.
Shoutout for Relationships No. 1:
“He who loves money will not be satisfied with money.”
In other words, the buzz fades. Money is a drug, and whatever you have, it becomes the new norm, and the thrill is gone. It takes ever-vaster amounts to get your heart racing.
Shoutout for Relationships No. 2:
“… Nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity.”
The flash of wealth is about being better than someone else. You’re never at the top of the pyramid, so happiness is impossible. You’ll always feel like you come short of the prize you’re chasing.
Our satisfaction comes from our interactions with others, ones that are not financially centered. A walk in the park, a day at a ballgame, time spent watching a favorite movie. Sure, money eases our way through life, but if every thought is about our financial flash and bling, we’ve missed out on the best parts of life.
Our core values are most fulfilling when they are rooted in our relationships with those at our side.
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